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Homes to be demolished to make way for £3.5bn development

Demolition threat: Dave Kingett, centre, his family and neighbours in Wood Green: Lucy Young
Demolition threat: Dave Kingett, centre, his family and neighbours in Wood Green: Lucy Young

Homeowners are battling plans to demolish their properties to make way for a £3.5 billion retail and residential development in north London.

Fifty-nine houses and flats would be levelled under a proposal by Haringey council to turn land between Wood Green and Turnpike Lane Tube stations into a major shopping area.

The plan includes 7,700 new homes, a new town centre, and more than one million sq ft of new employment space, including offices and workshops.

But some 31 period houses — many split into flats — on the fringes of the redevelopment area would be demolished. Campaigners say the Wood Green Fatih mosque in Caxton Road could also be lost.

Residents in Caxton Road and Mayes Road have submitted detailed objections and gathered more than 600 signatures on a petition against the plan. If it is approved homeowners could be bought out voluntarily by the council or forced to leave under compulsory purchase orders.

Haringey says the plan is a “preferred option” but is in the early stages.

Residents claim the redevelopment could go ahead without the loss of their homes which, they say, are only being demolished to open up a view of Alexandra Palace from the shopping area.

The campaign is being led by maths tutor Dave Kingett, 42, who lives with his wife and two daughters, aged nine and six, in a £750,000 four-bedroom Victorian house which they bought under a year ago. He said: “This is our dream home. We had every intention of living in it for the rest of our lives.

“For the proposal to be to take away these historic, beautiful family homes is totally wrong.” He added: “It doesn’t matter what they offer us.”

Labour MP Catherine West, for Hornsey and Wood Green, has spoken with residents about their concerns.

A consultation over the Wood Green Area Action Plan, which will guide planning policy over the next 15 years, closes on Friday.

Haringey council said that the redevelopment would “allow the town centre to get bigger and create a better connection to the Cultural Quarter to the west.” A council spokeswoman said that in a previous consultation last year “the public overwhelmingly came back asking for big changes”.