A developer has been criticised for not including plans for separate cycle lanes on part of a major housing scheme.

Councillors warned “shared space” for pedestrians and cyclists was unsuitable for a development that would include more than 3,000 cycle parking spaces.

It came during a discussion of part of the Haringey Heartlands regeneration scheme in Noel Park – a development that will create nearly 1,700 new homes.

The council’s planning sub-committee met on Monday (October 7) to discuss design and landscape aspects of two blocks of homes and surrounding spaces in Haringey Heartlands.

Cllr Luke Cawley-Harrison (Liberal Democrat), Crouch End, said: “I am struggling to see, with such massive amounts of cycle parking on this development, where the actual cycle lanes are.

“From the designs, they just look like shared gravel paths.

“As someone who regularly cuts through Alexandra Palace and has gravel cycle and pedestrian mixed-use paths, it’s horrendous.

“Or are you expecting cyclists to go on the road – and therefore will there be some spend on creating dedicated cycle lanes in the surrounding areas?”

Committee chairman Cllr Vince Carroll (Labour), Tottenham Hale, said shared spaces were the “worst idea ever”.

He said: “I do not think it works, as a pedestrian. I do talk to cyclists, and I don’t think a single one will think it is acceptable.”

A spokesman for the applicant, property developer St William, said the firm would be giving the council £250,000 to improve walking and cycling infrastructure on surrounding roads.

He said the scheme had been designed to minimise conflict between pedestrians and cyclists by designing it so that cyclists were discouraged from using certain routes.

But Cllr Cawley-Harrison called for segregated cycle lanes “around the whole area”.

He said: “At the moment, Turnpike Lane is incredibly dangerous, Wightman Road is incredibly dangerous, travelling over to Wood Green is pretty dangerous before this development happens.”

Emma Williamson, Haringey’s assistant director of planning, said the council wanted to move towards cycle lane segregation “in the most part” but it would not be possible in all places.

She added that work on surrounding areas of development was not as far advanced as on the Haringey Heartlands site.

But Cllr Carroll said: “We need to be thinking about the future. We need to come up with some way to ensure members that we are going to drive some kind of cycle segregation.”

Cllr John Bevan (Labour), Northumberland Park, proposed a condition that the application have segregated cycle lanes on this part of the development to encourage the developer to include them on later parts of the schemes.

The planning committee then passed the scheme unanimously.