Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Five-a-side plans for Finsbury Park
From the Haringey Council website
Plans to build 10 new five-a-side football pitches in Finsbury Park are to be put out for public consultation.
If approved, the pitches would be set up at the tarmac area close to the Endymion Road entrance.
Apart from the pitches, there would also be floodlighting, a new changing pavilion and parking spaces. It is anticipated that there would be free or subsidised use of the pitches during off-peak hours.
With that odd logic that governs the council website, they do not appear to have put a link to the actual consultation info, but have no fear, I have tracked it down and you can read it here
Consultation appears to be by having 2 'open days' and inviting emailed comments on the proposal.
Plans to build 10 new five-a-side football pitches in Finsbury Park are to be put out for public consultation.
If approved, the pitches would be set up at the tarmac area close to the Endymion Road entrance.
Apart from the pitches, there would also be floodlighting, a new changing pavilion and parking spaces. It is anticipated that there would be free or subsidised use of the pitches during off-peak hours.
With that odd logic that governs the council website, they do not appear to have put a link to the actual consultation info, but have no fear, I have tracked it down and you can read it here
Consultation appears to be by having 2 'open days' and inviting emailed comments on the proposal.
Tags for Forum Posts: consultation, finsbury park, finsbury park 5 a side, parks, sport
Replies are closed for this discussion.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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It is anticipated that there would be free or subsidised use of the pitches during off-peak hours
Is this not enclosure of the commons? -
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Permalink Reply by Old-Age-Emporium(OAE) on
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Many thanks, Liz and John, for forewarning us about this dangerous enclosure of our secular space. Why should this sect of the Football Faith Fives be aided by our council tax to exclude the rest of us from what we've paid for so dearly from our twice-weekly lottery contributions? An acquaintance of mine was evicted from FP eighteen months ago, and members of his Silent Quakers Group outrageously set upon, simply for using a manicured square of grass by the pond once a week and calling themselves the Society of Friends of Finsbury Park. Anne Barwick, purporting to be spokesperson for the Real Friends of FP, promised a policy resonse from their Nov'08 AGM on the great Secular Question. We are still waiting. Meanwhile, are our commons freedoms to be further whittled away by our political masters and their 5-a-Side sects?
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Permalink Reply by Liz on
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Thanks Anne. Fair point.
As OAE's concerns are a different matter pertaining to the park, can I suggest further discussion is either conducted in a different thread or between the various 'Friends' directly.
We are discussing this new venture in the park and while I accept that the question of the free use of public space is pertinent, lets keep it general and not get too far into individual cases that take us away from the question in hand i.e. whether a commercial concern should be allowed to develop in a space that so far has been open to all and used for a variety of purposes.
Could I suggest a rapid ethnographic assessment of the space, ascertaining exactly who and how the space is utilised at present and how their displacement will impact on the current users of the tarmac as well as other park users? One persons empty space can be another persons place of enjoyment and before we exclude all but those who wish to pay to play, we should try find out how it will affect current users of what is now a free and open space.
I (like everyone else in this thread) will be communicating our comments to Parks as requested by the consultation. -
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OMG, light mid-winter humour however farfetched and ludicrous is becoming all but impossible on this site. I shall plant my mini idiocies elsewhere in future and try to avoid any cross-reference to earlier more enjoyable discussions.
Sorry, Anne, I seem to have missed your post-Nov'08 follow-up. No, my friends are not about to invade the Bowling Green. Thanks for the FOFP form, but you might not want to belong to a club I'd apply to join.
For the record, since one must be deadly serious on topics more serious than life-and-death, I'm all for 5-a Side football - so long as Finsbury Park is not about to be flogged off foot by foot to the money men. The Adidas adiZone may have been the thin end of the wedge. -
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Permalink Reply by John D on
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It seems to me, that if they propose ten pitches with changing rooms etc this will be a major commercial sports facility. Why don't they put it in the Lea Valley Olympic Park, particularly since they expect the users arrive in cars ?
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I notice that the open days fall in the school Easter Holidays - when many people who use the park will be away, for example, all those parents who have used that space to teach their children to cycle. Looking at the aerial view it's quite a chunk of the park that will disappear if the plans get the go-ahead and I think that floodlights, noise and increased traffic will affect the enjoyment of other park-users.
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Re: timing of the open days. That is intensely tedious. Last Easter they "mistakenly" granted a license to someone to cut down some protected trees on Green Lanes. This is called "gaming the system" and it seems they can't help themselves.
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Permalink Reply by PeterPiper on
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No!, No!, No!, Thrice no!
When will these people stop with their bogus consultations.
They gave part of the park to baseball pitches, and destroyed the cricket pitch, there are sports pitches on the Seven Sisters Rd. side, a rugby pitch, running track + NFL pitch, & tennis courts already.
What about those who just wish to use the park as a gentle place to walk & jog in the open air, and find somewhere peaceful to pass away a few hours? Leave it alone & let folk have an informal kick about when they feel like it - jumpers for goalposts!
Use the money to create sports pitches at the Heartlands High which can be used by groups out of school hours.
Still won't win the penalty shoot-out at the World Cup! -
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Permalink Reply by Birdy_Too on
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"jumpers for goalposts!"
Well we use dog turds it's easier. That dive to the bottom left as a goalkeeper can be a dirty affair.
I'm all for creating more space for sports, was there any uproar about the tennis courts or the planned exercise machines on Ducketts?
That piece of tarmac is an isore, where will all the remote control kids or MFT hunks go? Redveloping it would be a great idea IMO. I'm less happy about the 'commercial operator' side of it mind. -
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I think (and I may be wrong) that the issue for people is not that it is to be used for football but that access to what was previously open space for all is being restricted, particularly as it appears that a commercial operator will get the contract.
Re development, see my comment above. One persons piece of waste ground can be another person's place of recreation. Important to see what will be displaced and to where before putting up the fences. Footie pitches would be useful but could they be open and multipurpose and would the guys who currently play on the grass by Endymion be prepared to pay for the privilege and vacate the 'free jumpers for goalposts' sites that they use despite signs warning them not to?
It's important to ask the users directly including those who use other parts of the park for footie and not rely on a couple of days in the holidays and the hope that someone will notice that they can email the parks about it, if they get round to it. -
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Does anyone know how much the lunches cost?
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