Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
What's happening to the Downhills Park cafe?
I was concerned to discover that as the summer holidays crept up on us, one of our favourite destinations for playing tennis and general hanging out, Downhills Park, was still without a cafe and, crucially, toilet facilities. I think its fair to say that for a park to feel welcoming and safe there needs to be some kind of facility for refreshments and relief.
After a cross little rant on Twitter, following an email about the park not being ready to host the usual tennis camp, I emailed Peray Ahmet, who is the cabinet member for parks (amongst other things), who replied today with the following ( she is aware that I will be publishing this, incidentally, as I always tell any councillor that I am likely to write what they tell me on HOL and other social media):
As you are aware, under its previous management the Downhills Park Cafe was forced to close due to a general lack of business. The building was also in need of repairs so the Council took the decision not to re-let the cafe to another tenant before these works were completed.
The building is currently owned by the Adults and Social Care department within Haringey Council as it was built with the aim of providing a space for people with learning difficulties to develop their skills and confidence.
Since the cafe’s recent closure, I have been in discussions with colleagues to try and transfer ownership of the building to the Council’s Parks team. Our aim is to lease the cafe to a local community group who will work in conjunction with a food growing project that the Council is planning for the park. There is no time line for this process as yet but I am happy to provide you with an update when we have confirmed the letting of the cafe.
While I appreciate the temporary loss of the cafe and toilet facilities is inconvenient for park users, the Council is committed to ensuring that the cafe has a long-term and sustainable business model that will allow it to operate successfully when it does reopen in the future.
It's sad that the lovely social enterprise that enabled adults with learning difficulties to get work experience was unable to get enough business to make a go of it but encouraging that the council want to let it to a community group and the the growing project sounds interesting. Let us hope we don't have to wait too long for this facility to return to one of Haringey's most interesting wild spaces.
Tags for Forum Posts: downhills park
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by geraldine mccarthy on
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Having just returned from my daily walk in the park with my dog, I can say that the council needs to act sooner rather than later about this as I've seen a deterioration in the park since the closure of the cafe. The last couple of weeks a large group of young men are regularly gathered outside the cafe and without any facilities to encourage them it begs the questions why and what they're doing there every single day. I have also noticed a reduction in the amount of families and people using the park from when the cafe was open, this does not bode well for the local area as I've lived here long enough to remember when this park was practically a no-go area and wasn't safe enough to walk through never mind spending time in, the introduction of the cafe and the work of the friends of Downhills Park absolutely transformed this lovely amenity into a welcoming and vibrant place and was used as a park should be for the benefit of the local people. I have on two occasions during the last week witnessed motor bikes being used, one was actually on the playing field and the other one today being driven on the pathway which leads to Downhills Park Road.
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Permalink Reply by Liz on
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I totally agree. As Haringey Council don't have park keepers, the park cafe and its users served as eyes and ears in the park. It's a shame that we don't have a time frame for this because, as you so rightly say, it doesn't take long for a park to deteriorate and put off users. The dog walking community in a big one in Downhills, so a little pressure from a few quarters might concentrate their minds.
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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Maybe they've never read Jane Jacobs on Parks and how and why some barely survive while others thrive. Or maybe they have and are making genuine attempts to reopen the cafe. Certainly there are no lack of examples including Lordship Rec and Markfield Park where Haringey itself enabled successful projects.
Interesting that Cllr Peray Ahmet begins her email by saying: "As you are aware, under its previous management the Downhills Park Cafe was forced to close due to a general lack of business."
Were you so aware? Do you know what official communication was sent out? And what went to HoL? - an obvious place to tell people and drum up business. I did a search - admittedly very quickly and I may have missed some threads - but could only find a listing of events in the park.
By contrast the Council is about to spend a pile of money on a cafe on the site of the disused toilets at the junction of High Road, Tottenham & Monument Way.
I may be completely & totally wrong but I can't see how sipping particulate-infused latte at this probably polluted location is going to work.
Maybe there was a better destination for the money?
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Yes, it was a slightly odd opening as I wasn't aware that lack of business was the reason that Hail was no longer operating the cafe. Indeed, there has been some surprise expressed via Twitter by regular park users such as members of the dog walking group that there was a lack of business. There *may* have been changes at Hail which affected this project, as advice and support services were re-commissioned and re-structured in Haringey this year in line with changes in the law re advice, so perhaps more to it than can be revealed publicly.
As to what I *knew* I had been told via Twitter by Claire Kober that it was a problem with the building and plumbing that caused the closure.
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yes there was a problem as they had no hot water for the last weeks of the cafe existing despite the staff requesting urgent assistance. This resulted in lack of business, In addition their nice cooked lunches were not available for take away as they were not allowed to buy containers, they were also denied lids for the take away coffee although had asked their management , repeatedly . There was a good, (if not thriving) coffee/sandwich business there. It was mainly frequented by dog walkers ,walking groups and in the week, Mums ( it was usually Mums not Dads !)- and families at weekends At the start of the year the Banc opened on West green Road abutting onto the park and many diverted there . It's generally good but not excellent and needless to say a bit pricey . Also I am wondering what has happened to the staff which included members of the Adult and Social care group . The group of men referred to in another post on this matter matter are engaged in much swapping of smoking substances , which waft around quite pleasantly but perhaps should not be there as its a bit of a no go area to sit down on the benches with kids.
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Permalink Reply by Sarah on
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Food growing! I'm on a very long waiting list for the Elmar Road allotments so count me in.
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Permalink Reply by Kieran Cullen on
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Thanks for that Liz. I walk my dog there every day and had no idea about any of this. It is very disappointing. The cafe is a valuable community resource, an important meeting place for local people. The whole idea about closing it because it is failing as a business is another sad example of the new order that believes it is reasonable to apply market economic principles to health and social care. I've posted an update referring to Harringayonline on the cafe website (or at least tried to). I'll have a look at Friends of Downhills Park next.
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Permalink Reply by Hugo Read on
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Thanks for the info Liz. I agree with all your points and it is certainly a big loss. That was one of our favourite spots in the holidays, as you well know. Let's hope something happens very soon.
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Permalink Reply by Pat Devereaux on
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Well there are more problems in store for Downhills Park as a whole if we don't object to the council slicing off a bit of the park to transfer to PocketLiving in a so called "landswap" deal see attached file
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The land swap amounts to 15m2 - that's the size of a small living room....
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That's not the point it sets a precedent for cutting into the park for other so called building projects
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