Plans for Hornsey Town Hall advance, at last

It must be about a decade since I first wrote a leaflet for the local Liberal Democrats calling on Haringey Council to get a move on with plans to put Hornsey Town Hall back into public use.

It’s been quite an eventful tale of different plans since then, and all the time the clock has ticked on with such a wonderful site left mostly unused for year after year.

So it’s great to see the latest plans moving ahead and looking good. With the local Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts at the heart of them, it looks like we’ll have an outfit at the heart of the development which is committed to the long-term good of the community.

Hornsey Town Hall Creative Trust’s view on this is:

HTHCT supports Mountview’s proposal for the future of the Town Hall because it promises:

• A commitment to the restoration and maintenance of the Grade II* listed building, employing high quality and environmentally sound design

• A sustainable future for the Town Hall

• Generous public access to the historic areas of the Town Hall

• An extensive programme of community arts and educational activities and public events in the Town Hall, particularly in the Assembly Hall and the Council Chamber

• Vibrant uses for and access to spaces which have long been closed to the public, animating the building
• A positive contribution to the local economy

With Mountview making use of the building, surrounding land will be sold for housing to help fund restoring the lovely historic building. The amount of land to be sold is less than in some of the previous plans. Also, as the land is being leased to Mountview (on a 125 year lease), there is still some – albeit limited – control over the long-term future of the site.