Tottenham's new stadium raises objections from local group

Tottenham's Northumberland Development Project is coming under the ire of a local business consortium. The formal and public complaints come ahead of Spurs' date with the Haringey Council Planning Committee, on December 16th, to review their new stadium plans. Known as "The Tottenham Business Group", the coalition had to this to say about Tottenham's plans:

"We object to the new proposed development because [it is] overbearing, out of scale and out of character with a redbrick Heritage High Road.

"The shiny glass and concrete stadium facility is now 10 stories high and further forward than previously proposed.

"The proposal to restore and place a grade two building in a modern terrace on the Southern approach is an act of pure vandalism.

"We object strongly also to the loss of light and overshadowing that the businesses on the established High Road will sustain."

The crux of the issue deals directly with the removal of three Victorian and Edwardian buildings, but objections about the placement of the stadium, its size, and the effect it will have on natural light in the neighborhood are concerns as well. With ground already broken on the NDP's construction, and its approval from the Haringey Council Planning Committee a near foregone conclusion, it seems an odd time for the Tottenham Business Group to voice their complaints. This is the statement that the club responded with:

"The Club recognises that the three buildings - proposed to be removed as a result of the Northumberland Development Project do represent a regrettable loss of heritage assets.

"However their setting is already severely compromised and creates the unacceptable crowd movement issues as a result of the two-metre pavement width which forces crowds into the bus lane and the road.

"Our proposals replace these buildings with a stunning new terrace to host The Tottenham Experience which creates a much wider pavement width necessary for crowd movement."

In an undertaking as vast and expansive as the Northumberland Development Project, it was inevitable that expostulations would be made. This is not the first grievance Tottenham will face (see Archway Sheet Metal Works), nor will it be the last, but the timing of these comments are curious. Only nine days before Spurs' formal review with the Haringey Council and a major public condemnation like this seems more like posturing after failed negotiation, rather than genuine heartfelt concern. This statement is conjecture on a massive scale of course, but why weren't these objections made over the summer when new details about the stadium emerged? Regardless of their origins or timing, the disapproval of the Tottenham Business Group probably doesn't change things much from Spurs' end. It is lamentable that historical buildings will be brought down, but a sad necessity to an endeavor so grand.