Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Hornsey Rd garden centre - did it shut down?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Maddy on
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If you mean the one in Hornsey High st, then yes, they closed a couple of months ago.
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Permalink Reply by Alison P on
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That's a shame, yes that's the one. I think they really struggled too because of the parking issue - I'd sometimes want to go there but not be able to find anywhere to stop, so would end up at one of the bigger garden centres like Ally Pally.
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Permalink Reply by Dana Carlin on
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Shops can't really survive on Hornsey High St, they open....and then close. No parking or enough passing trade. That is why we, as residents, are in favour of the Hornsey Depot development. A medium sized Sains
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Sains 1.5x Muswell Hill, so not too big, free parking and 400+ homes on the High Street. We need the development.
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Permalink Reply by Chris Setz on
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Err, not sure most people in Hornsey agree they 'need the development', Dana.
I think it's true that there are around 55m people in the UK and more than 66m bedrooms. So it's not as if there is no room, it's just that some people have more room than others.
Do we really want every square inch carved up by large corporates to allow well-off young professionals to live in cramped city spaces?
The Condems want developers to profit from buying land and either leaving it empty to profit from price rises or building things at prices that prevent local people from living here.
The supermarkets suck the life out of the high street, creating 'clone towns' that have emptied shops all over the UK. They do things like give away newspapers as promotional offers that drive local newsagents out of business. They pay a premium for space so that only national chains can afford to rent near them, whilst claiming the increased footfall as a benefit they bring. When Sainsburys are trading, what do you think the effect will be on shop rents nearby? Who will move away and who replace them in those more expensive shops?
What is nice about living on Hornsey High Street is the 'character' of the place - the people, the spaces, the architecture, the history, the local facilities you can't get on the internet - a supermarket with rental slab attached helps none of us have a better life.
I think everyone should object to the Hornsey Depot development on the grounds that we don't need a large supermarket, we don't need any homes for already-well-off people and we don't need any more ugly buildings that have no local character.
Let's either give the depot over to housing the poorest or return it to a parkland we can all enjoy. If Sainsbury's want to build a supermarket, let them build it underground, have a collection point so people can order groceries on-line and collect, and make sure they pay a hefty Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) that is genuinely spent on enriching the High Street so that fine local businesses like the Garden Centre can prosper.
Come on new local cllrs, how are you going to spend the CIL locally?
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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Parkland? Are you in the Green Party now Chris?
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Posting on an internet forum? You in the Pirate Party now John
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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It's not just the Coalition, Chris. Or maybe you're a different Chris Setz to the person who rejected my description of the Koberites as red-rosetted Tories for - among other ignorant and misguided ideas - following similar but more extreme developer-friendly policies in North East Tottenham?
What we see happening is as Anna Minton wrote in her book Ground Control, quoting Sir John Sorrell: "... places created in the image of the retailer". Or in North East Tottenham in the image of the retailer and their partner football club.
You seem to be making a plea for the public good and the public realm as overriding values. If so, I'd heartily agree. This is also at the centre of Anna Minton's work - and Ground Control in particular. At it's heart is a fundamental disagreement between those who view people as citizens; and those who see us solely as consumers and customers. Anna Minton quotes property developer Crispin Kelly as an advocate for the latter.
"Management of public space hasn’t really caught up with the reality of what goes on there. The idea that public space needs to be managed and mothered by the state is left over from the notion that when we go out in public we are exercising our role as citizen."
"In fact now we are largely going out for entertainment and shopping, and the codes developed for shopping centres have turned out to deliver both what the punter wants and the investor needs: safe, clean and orderly places. Now these codes can be applied more widely."
"The fact that they are without character is accordingly inevitable. Interesting spaces have to be somewhat uncertain and edgy. They are unlikely to be strictly managed by anyone, public or private, and they are likely to transit from interesting to dull as they become successful."
Are our cities simply shopping malls? Or are they places where we as free citizens can meet, rub shoulders with and sometimes communicate and debate opinions with our neighbours as fellow citizens?
In the United States this issue has been the subject of judgements in the Supreme Court interpreting the First Amendment to their Constitution - including Freedom of Expression.
“Wherever the title of streets and parks may rest, they have immemorially been held in trust for the use of the public and, time out of mind, have been used for purposes of assembly, communicating thoughts between citizens, and discussing public questions. Such use of the streets and public places has from ancient times, been a part of the privileges, immunities, rights, and liberties of citizens”.
Are we "punters" content to rely on Sainsburys, Tesco or Asda/Walmart to grant us safe High Streets?
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But not the traffic perhaps?
Ever since I first heard about this planned development I wondered how the local roads would cope, especially Hornsey High Street which is already choked full a lot of the time.
I don't know if you know the area around the Arena complex on Green Lanes Dana, but I really fear for you that you'll end up with something very similar - ok so long as nothing out of the ordinary happens, but then gridlock for everyone.
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