Save the Hermitage Road Warehouses!

Posted: August 10, 2023

In the first weekend of August, the artists living in the Omega Works in Haringey Warehouses opened their homes to the public, to draw support and solidarity for their campaign. The event included music, drinks and snacks, all in the spirit of homemade ‘do-it-yourself’ crafting prepared by the community of people who are now under threat to give space to flats and commercial activity, to give space to business as usual.

The submitted planning application boasts to preserve the history of the artists living in the area, the same people whose opinion and feedback has been ignored and to whom a notice of eviction has just been handed to make it happen. In a typical scenario of aggressive capitalist investing, the people whose needs are supposed to be served are the ones hurt the most. The rent in the new constructed units will be much higher making it impossible for any of them to return.

A ray of hope is on the horizon in the form of the idea to submit a competing planning application prepared by a team of designers employed directly by the artistic community. Similar tactics have been employed recently with community based development plans for the Wards Corner and the St Ann’s Hospital in Tottenham. These latest efforts aim to set a precedent and create new paths of grass roots urban planning driven by the local communities.

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