Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Out of the frying pan …
THIS article talks about building housing on former racecourses and in that context, mentions the former 'Frying Pan' racecourse at Alexandra Palace Park.
For a while it has struck me as odd that the whole of this park is earmarked by the Council for unspecified development in their (proposed) Site Allocations document (pages 144-5 of PDF, attached below - full Site Allocations document here)
There, ownership of the 'site' is described as "unified public ownership", which is a vague uncertain term. Legally, our Park is held in trust for us, the residents of London, by a Charitable Trust (currently controlled by the local council).
The height and form of any new enabling development should be subordinate to the original façade, and contained within the existing structure.
If all that's intended are improved cycleways and the like (?), then it seems rum that the 'site' is heading for the same planning status as sites slated for multi-storey development (such as at the southern corner of the directly-Council-controlled Finsbury Park: page 110 of the above document).
CDC
Councillor
Liberal Democrat Party
Tags for Forum Posts: Alexandra Palace Park, Site Allocations, allocation, development, document, frying pan, housing, site
- Attachments:
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Gordon T on
-
Didn't the Racing Post have a story about the racecourse being revived with show flats around it. Mind you, it was the March 32nd issue, and it's no longer on their website.
-
Permalink Reply by Hugh on
-
Clive, I've appended pages 144-145 to your post. I can see nothing there to give any cause for concern,
Since you've raised the issue, I'm sure people would be grateful if, in your role as a councillor, you could seek reassurance from the Concil that the park is protected and that there are no notions of opening it up for development.
Thanks
-
Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on
-
I raised this some time ago Hugh, naturally. As you'll have seen, the document went out for consultation months ago. All councillors had an opportunity to comment formally, at least about their own Wards.
As far as AP park is concerned, there are both vague answers and no specific proposals. AFAIK, there are no Planning Applications in train.
Even though you can see no cause for any concern, two things need to be borne in mind: (1) any patch of land that appears in the Site Allocation document is land that the Council sees as able to be developed over the next two decades and (2) any Planning Application for a site that part of a 'site allocation', is already on the first step to gaining planning permission, simply by virtue of being part of a site allocation.
-
-
I can certainly see cause for concern in the inclusion of the whole park, but is the plan really that little nuanced? I'm assuming that if the plan details what is proposed for each area it's not providing them scope to do what the hell they like just becasue the 'site' is included in the plan. Or do you have knowledge to suggest that my assumption is false?
-
Permalink Reply by Martin (Woodside) on
-
The frying pan, where John McCririck wants his ashes to be scattered.
The BBC article today, interesting reading: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-32796143
Where was the large building sited?, must have been to the east of APCC, obviously now demolished.
-
-
From what I can ascertain Hugh, from looking at the link photo, that the building was probably located along the palace lower path, probably where the big gravel 'lay by' is now. But I can't work out what the rounded balustrade belongs to in the old photo, unless it's part of the fountain or something now demolished, if it is the edge of AP then the racecourse would be too far to the west.
-
-
I wondered that also.
-
-
Some research on the Frying Pan yielded the following notes:
The course opened on Tuesday, 30 June 1868, in the park, several years before the palace building.
After 102 years of horse racing and interrupted only by the two wars, AP race course closed on 8 September 1970.
2,400 paying punters were there to witness it.
For the safety of the horses, the Jockey Club had decided to end London’s only racecourse. The tight bends had not been good for the horses. However, declining attendances during the 1960s had led to the track losing about £5,000 a year.
An apprentice racing jockey used to ride a horse there called Legal Star. This could not have been any reference to the Alexandra Palace Trust Solicitor, legal advisor for many years.
-
Permalink Reply by John D on
-
And this definitely helps
Ack Tottenham Journal
Is it possible Hugh's picture is laterally reversed ? - often happens.
-
-
Now I'm totally confused, this suggests that the building was in front of the west side of AP, nowhere near where the course remnants are on the map.
© 2024 Created by Hugh.
Powered by
