Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
No Additional Customer Parking in Massive TK Maxx Arena Retail Expansion
A planning application linked to significant growth of retail space at the Arena Shopping Park revealed plans to increase staff parking by 50% whilst making no allowance whatsoever for additional customer parking.
The transition of Unit 3 at the Arena Shopping Park from Royal Mail Sorting Office to TK Maxx will see a 15% increase in retail space.
Given the atrocious traffic planning around the last growth in retail space on the site, my concerns on hearing the news of the change last year were about the effect on traffic.
My concern was heightened when I read the following glib statement in last year's change of use application from the developers:
The application premises are located in a sustainable location with good public transport links located in close proximity to the site. In addition there is a large resident catchment population thereby enabling local residents to either walk or cycle to the application premises.
In other words, they weren't going to consider the impact of the additional traffic at all.
It was somewhat reassuring to see that the Council's approval of the change of use application was subject to both a traffic management and parking management plan.
Last week the parking management plan was lodged (copy attached). This foresees the growth of staff parking at the Arena from 26 spaces to 39 spaces - a 50% increase. Despite the addition of 15% more retail space, it makes no allowance for any increase in the number of customer spaces however. With existing provision for 200 customer vehicles, one might have expected an additional 30 spaces.
As you may suspect, I'm neither a retail expert nor a traffic planner, but, unless there's an assumption of existing over-capacity of customer parking spaces I'm not immediately convinced of the logic that underpins this new parking plan.
Most worryingly for me however, is the effect of the retail space growth on the flow of traffic in and around the development. Those of us who have lived in the area for a few years will remember the traffic fiasco that accompanied the last increase of retail space in the same area.
We'll have to wait for the publication of the traffic management plan to see how the developers and the Council plan to tackle the issue this time round, but last week's parking plan taken along with past experience doesn't leave me feeling reassured.
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Tags for Forum Posts: arena shopping park, t k maxx
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523716.pdf, 518 KB
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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The following is interesting from Haringey's key strategic document, the Local Plan:
Haringey’s local shopping centres will continue to be supported in providing core local shopping facilities and services (such as convenience store, post office, and newsagent) for their respective local communities, largely catering for a catchment area within walking distance.
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By way of an update, this plan was approved. I checked after noticing yesterday that the main building work seems to be completed, and TK Maxx looks set to open soon.
The car park was at 100% capacity and I wondered where the new customers are going to park. According to the applicant's traffic management plan, there is plenty of car park capacity and video evidence to suggest that traffic flow in the car park works well. The application was waved through. Sigh.
Traffic Management Plan attached. Link to full application.
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541721.pdf, 315 KB
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I say it was waved through based on the comments in the officer's decision notice. There's been well documented disaster with the parking system on the Arena. The documentation shows no reference to that, nor any challenge to the rather glib assumptions made in the traffic management plan. I find that surprising. Let's hope everything proceeds without any problem.
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