Well it looks like we shouldn't give up on it quite yet
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Northumberland Development Project - Club submits bid to Regional Growth Fund (RGF)
The Club has today (Friday) submitted a bid in line with the deadline for application for funds from Round 2 of the RGF in respect of the Northumberland Development Project (NDP), the Club's new stadium and associated development scheme.
The RGF awards funding for projects that will directly create jobs through private sector enterprise and growth that will enable or unlock future private sector jobs growth, particularly in those areas and communities that are currently dependent on the public sector.
The NDP represents a multi-million pound private sector-led regeneration scheme for North Tottenham, one of the most deprived parts of Britain – in an area where 40% of children live in households claiming benefits and a ward (Northumberland Park) where 71.6% claim employment and support allowance (national average 1.5%). The area is heavily dependent on the public sector.
Chairman Daniel Levy said, "The NDP plans represent sport-led regeneration, anchored by our proposed new stadium. It would directly create thousands of new, private sector jobs, attract millions of pounds of additional expenditure in the local economy and lever further private sector investment into the area. As importantly, it would also protect the hundreds of current Club jobs, its existing economic impact and the valuable work of the Club's charitable Foundation in the local communities, by enabling us to stay in our current location.
"We are one of the few large private sector employers in the Borough and the NDP is currently the sole significant proposed scheme for creating sustainable private sector jobs. Quite simply the Club is the only private entity looking to invest, on this scale, in the Borough and reverse the decline of decades of under-investment."
RGF monies would be used to deliver a package of major infrastructure improvements which are vital if the project is to act as a platform for wider regeneration and crucial if the whole project is to be made viable. These would include station upgrades, public community space, employment and training facilities, restored listed properties, Combined Cooling Heating Plant, site enabling and public realm works.
In support of the bid, Claire Kober, Leader, Haringey Council said, "The Council and Club are doing everything possible to make this scheme a reality, but the hard fact is that additional public sector financial support is needed to stimulate regeneration in this area. Without this it will be difficult for the scheme to provide the catalyst to economic growth and job creation in an area of high unemployment.
"Approval to the RGF bid will help unlock the transformation of the area. RGF funds will contribute to vital infrastructure improvements which are key for the scheme to proceed in a sustainable way. This will then underpin not only the new stadium and associated developments but also further development of new homes and jobs in the wider area leveraging additional value from the RGF investment."
David Lammy, our local MP, added his strong support saying, "I support this bid by Tottenham Hotspur, which has the opportunity to transform an entire community with the highest unemployment in London. The plan to redevelop White Hart Lane is far and away the most exciting regeneration project in London after the Olympics, and it is encouraging that it is private sector-led.
"This Regional Growth Fund proposal will benefit everyone in Tottenham and I urge the government to agree to Spurs’ bid.”
Daniel Levy added, "We are working hard to make the NDP scheme viable and enable us to stay in Tottenham and redevelop our existing site. Public sector assistance for infrastructure and public realm works would enable us to deliver the project and the RGF represents the single most important route for funding. Our hope must be that there is a recognition of the real need for investment in the Northumberland Park ward and that this project presents a real opportunity to deliver sustainable long-term private sector-led regeneration."