Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Ladder Input to Finsbury Park Improvements
The local Ladder residents' group was recently asked to make suggestions for spending £10,000 on regenerating Mackenzie Gardens in Finsbury Park*. The money comes from the Environmental Impact Fund which is funded by income generated by park events.
A number of good suggestions were made. One was to use the money to help create a quiet area in the park, absent of the normal park traffic.
I was pleased when this idea got support. So it was suggested, I think by the Haringey parks team, that the 'Ladder funds' are spent on statement entrance gates for the Mackenzie Gardens.
I suggested that Tottenham-based Metalcraft who I visited some years back be approached to make the gates and I'm delighted to report that a gate for the cafe end of the Gardens is now being made by them.
As part of the wider improvements project for the Park, the Mackenzie Gardens are currently being revamped, apparently using the Victorian planting scheme as a design guide. I was told last night that they're about half way through.
We're hoping that the new round of funding will allow the manufacture of a gate for the other end.
It's nice to see this tangible benefit from the concerts at last.
*The HoL platform is currently experiencing problems with adding and displaying images. I'd tried to add my photo of the Gardens from 2008. But no joy. You can see it on Wikipedia from when I revamped the article on the park back in 2008.
Tags for Forum Posts: finsbury park, finsbury park concerts
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Simon on
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Given the damage the concerts do to the park, fencing off half of the park for nearly a month and all the antisocial behaviour wouldn’t it be better to stop these events - if the Council were more competent they would find ways to fund improvements that did not have such unpleasant consequences.
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Permalink Reply by Nick G-T on
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I found the decision to award the money to Finsbury Park a little peculiar, considering the vast amount of money being spent on the park from events funding.
I’d have liked to have seen the money spent on another forgotten and somewhat neglected park - Fairland. Either maintaining and updating the current playground or providing a structure for older children. Perhaps this can be considered for future funding rounds.
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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I may have it wrong, but my understanding is that this wasn’t a grant in the normally accepted understanding of term. As I understood it, the money was to be spent on Finsbury Park. We were just given the choice of how it was spent.
The reponses so far go to show that one man’s good news is just a thorn in the side for another. Or, put another way, glad I shared this!
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I can't locate the LCSP's March minutes where this was mentioned, but I thought this was money to be spent within the ward. Apologies if I am incorrect.
It is no thorn, it simply surprised me that at a time when Finsbury Park has large sums of funding being spent on improvements e.g. £500,000 on a new playground, that perhaps this relatively modest sum could be spent elsewhere in the ward.
On having your suggestion taken up, well done.
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I'm pretty sure that as a result of the FoFP case, all monies raised by FP events have to be spent on Finsbury Park and Finsbury Park alone. It can't be used for other parks or other areas. So I think the range of choices for this money was pretty limited.
The 18-19 annual report of the LCSP distributed last night says the £10k was "towards the regenration of the Mackenzie Garden".
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An unpleasant and unforeseen knock effect of the ill-fated Friends of Finsbury Park legal action imho.
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Thanks for the clarification Tris. Finsbury Park may well be the smartest park in London in a few years time.
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This is helpful and suggests that Haringey Council could easily scale down the amount of events - only permitting the smaller less intrusive events that do not tie up the park for so long and prevent the local people who most need the park from using it. It would also limit the damage to the fabric of the park. A win win solution!
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So it certainly doesn’t look like there will be gates then. In which case my apologies for the inaccuracy of my last answer. From the first, the installation had always been described as gates. That had led me to the conclusion that there would be gates. What has been installed might perhaps be better described as an entrance arch or gateway.
Still, whatever it’s called, I guess it better defines the area and gives it back its name. I wonder if this will open the door (or gates) to it being managed and designed more as a separate little area.
Looking at Google maps yesterday to give the location of the garden, I noticed that the path that runs through the garden is part of the Capital Ring. Perhaps that made gates less practical?
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Hmm I don't think I know where Mackenzie Gardens are. Could someone tell me? Is it near the cafe?
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In this Satellite view from Google maps, it's the oblong area where the path is bordered with red flower beds. I've just added it to Google Maps.
This picture I added to the Wikipedia article on the park in 2008 also shows the Mackenzie Gardens.
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