Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Make a Difference and help change Wood Green High Street
I don't think that I have ever disguised my dislike of Wood Green High Street and it’s never ending pound shops, takeaways and betting shops - Tottenham High Road is almost identical. So fed up of sitting and moaning about it, this weekend I decided to take some action.
Many of you will be aware of the current discussions taking place about rejuvenating Britain’s High Streets with Mary Portas even being appointed government advisor to look into how we encourage more independent retailers back into the high St and we revive this great institution.
Yesterday I had a great conversation with Mary Portas and also the lovely chaps at the Big Green Book shop and with the Karamela cafe on Coburg Road to see if we thought there would be interest locally in creating something exciting on our High St.
This could be anything from helping independent retailers to set up shop in Wood Green and in Tottenham, to ask Landlords to let empty shops be used for pop up shops and to charge a nominal rent for them, to encourage more of a 'scene' in Wood Green and in Tottenham, we have some great things already going on at the Big Green Bookshop and at Karamela and at the Chocolate Factory and yet no-one really talks about them.
I am also keen to work with some of the bigger stores already located in the High St to get them to put their hands in their pockets and help us clear up the High St by donating plants etc to create a garden in the sky to rival Crouch End and the new Roof Garden project taking place in Dalston
I am not talking about gentrification here or turning Wood Green into the next Crouch End just about the community coming together and taking ownership of its High Street and the local area and making it a better place for everyone to visit.
I am sure that everyone has a lot of great ideas and if you would like to get involved I will be setting up a community working group it really doesn’t matter what your talent is if you feel that you have something to contribute I would love to hear from you. Karamela have very kindly agreed to host a get together. This is going to be a huge task but if we work together we can make change happen.
Thanks
Tammy
Tags for Forum Posts: festivals, wood green
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by aidan on
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I've lived here about six and a half years, looks like I just missed the fun!
I think you're right that those small open spaces that we have need more thought.
But just taking away all the stuff that's broken and grotty would be a good start. I know money's tight: I don't expect shiny replacements. But at the moment it looks and feels like the council just don't care.
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Permalink Reply by Tammy Palmer on
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hey Jen I agree - I think the haberdashery scence is thriving I ofen go to John Lewis (its near my office in fairness!) and the haberdashery department is rammed full of people buying buttons and material - I would love something like that close to home so I could pop down on the weekend!
Also think that the marketplace is a great place for a bakery type stall - it doesnt need to a fancy bakery! and maybe a couple more flowerstalls - I often buy flowers from the market stall in the High Road but I as I love flowers I like browsing flower stalls as well and buying different things from different people!
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Permalink Reply by pamish on
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Burger vans, burger vans - even as a raving veggie, I listened to this with interest yesterday. Not your ordinary burger:
"This new "burger scene" where immense care is taken with sourcing the meat and using the right cuts, reflects not only a shift in burger eating, but also in attitudes to meat eating itself." That's the pop-up van. It' s a travelling gourmet slow-food extravaganza.
Don't put me on the list as coming to WG to buy one though.
Where would I go in WG for a gourmet (for want of better word) meal?
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Permalink Reply by matt on
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We need that bloke Oliver to .... oh no hang on a minute, he's just been in LA trying to teach people how to eat proper over there! In Ducketts common? I fear your latter scenario. Mind you the Green Fair does well when it pops up.
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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Wood Green Mall would make a great datacentre. Maybe even Apple or Google would be interested. We'd just shift all the good shops out onto the high street and bathe in discount electricity and fabulous internets.
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Permalink Reply by StephenBln on
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All true Tamara, but it's a High Road and not a High Street..
My take on that is that 'High Streets' belong to smaller towns and villages and have smaller shops etc.,
'High Roads' tend to be Suburban and are lined with shops and businesses ..
Wood Green is never going to have a High Street..
Shopping 'Mall' says it all - implanting America into London N22 - It won't work
Next time try the European model :o)
Photo: 07/06.2011
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Yeah but your example has no cars - no compare! As you imply WG can't go down that 'route' (even though we've discussed here before how the council thought about doing so decades ago before they dropped the tardis that is Shopping Shitty into the mix) so have to deal with that, to be fair Stephen (of Berlin).
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Strange Matt, in Berlin they call me Stephen (of London) (N4)..
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Ah you suffer from the soutpiel syndrome. Nevermind! (but we digress). :)
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Stephen, shame on you. The council are desperate to try this model but unfortunately the Luftwaffe were unsuccessful in their campaign to provide bypass routes for Wood Green High Street.
Tamara C is onto something, I hope it comes off.
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Come on John, let's be serious- you don't have to play the WW2 card..
The whole thing is much more complicated than just tarting up a shopping street.. someone, somewhere has to seriously start questioning how you live in London and to some extents in the UK..
Should 'once a week' shopping trips in the car to an oversized 'barn' somewhere. really be the way to go.. or are you all really serious about supporting smaller business on your High Streets/High Roads :o) by shopping by foot, maybe daily and buying smaller amounts of fresh food and not frozen stuff.. (the German way) - thus avoiding the need for so much parking..
Berlin made the conscious decision not to allow out of centre 'large barns' to be built and has succeeded reasonably, although not 100% in stopping shopping streets from dying..
That's the point I was making with this photo.. Can teenagers sit safely on your shopping streets?
To me it's sad how you've all bought into this 'buying into a lifestyle' thing - just listen to the way you compare supermarkets... projecting something just by the carrier bags you carry .. very sad
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Wood Green has turned into a nasty, aggressive place to shop. I see exactly where Tamara is coming from and frankly, posting pictures of pedestrianised shopping centres is only going to wind us up. The pedestrianisation of Wood Green requires the motorwayfication of Wightman Rd. I play the Luftwaffe card just to wind you up a bit. Mwah!
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