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By SUNITA RAPPAI
 
Thirteenth estate agent a 'mistake'

Environment chief admits blunder

A BLUNDER by Town Hall staff allowed another estate agent into Highgate Village, a senior council figure has admitted.
Residents say estate agents are destroying the character of the area. The latest addition has brought the number to 13.
Speaking at the last of a series of debates organised by the Highgate Society last Wednesday, Camden’s environment chief Councnilor John Thane said: “Extremely foolishly, officers granted permission under delegated powers.” He said he was not involved in the decision.
Highgate Society chairman Robin Fairlie is now calling on the Town Hall to boot the estate agents out.
He said: “They have admitted it was a mistake so they now need to revoke the permission. They would need to pay compensation but if you make a mistake you have to rectify it.”
Residents and traders, who have already complained bitterly about the number of estate agents in Highgate High Street, have accused Parkheath bosses of sneaking in under false pretences.
The company was given the go-ahead last year after it agreed to operate its estate agency from the shop’s basement and use the ground floor as an interior design shop.
But signs outside advertising the estate agency – which bosses have since been forced to take down – and a video screen inside the shop featuring properties for sale have angered residents and traders.
Mr Fairlie said: “The idea that it is a shop is ludicrous. It is simply a ploy to get a foot in the door so in two or three years they can go to the council and get full planning permission for an estate agents.”
Parkheath boss Malcolm Terry said the company had added to the quality of the street by “taking over an incredibly run-down shop and smartening it up” – and accused opponents of victimisation.
He said: “It’s a bit of an old whinge. We have a retail business there and we sell quality products. Other retailers have said they are pleased to have us. I don’t know what else we can do.
“We did not realise that we needed planning permission for the video screen. We have since written to the council to asking for it.”
A Town Hall spokesman said that officers were writing to the company regarding the video screen, adding: “We are aware they are trying to get around the fact they do not have permission to trade on the premises as an estate agency.
“We plan to serve a discontinuance notice on the shop.”
Other issues that came up in the packed, two-hour meeting included an admission by Cllr Thane that he and his colleagues had never met their counterparts at Haringey council – despite the border of the boroughs running up the middle of the High Street and a discussion on why public toilets in Pond Square had been closed.
He was joined by his colleague Maggie Cosin and Haringey Cllrs Bob Hare and Peter Hillman.
Mr Fairlie said the issues of the toilets “was the absolute touchstone keeping this community together.”
Cllr Thane blamed Mayor Ken Livingstone for failing to persuade Transport for London bosses to share the costs of keeping the Pond Square toilets open.
He said: “I was asked to make a 12 per cent cut in my budget or I would have a £5 million hole going into the next financial year. We did go to TFL asking them to share the costs but they say they can not do it.”
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