Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Ducketts common 'planted' area - opinions please!
Friends of Duckett's Common group would love Harrringay Online member's feedback on the 'planted' area that was recently fenced off by the bus stops at the Turnpike Lane tube entrance on Turnpike Lane. Our feeling is that it is now just an eyesore, adding to the Park department's workload. At our last meeting we discussed how to take things forward and we felt that given the current shabby and neglected state of the bed and the way large numbers of people are walking across it as a shortcut, it made sense to suggest that the council move the fence back to the previous boundary, abandoning this idea of a planted area. It would be great to have some opinions on the following question:
Should we ask the council to either:
a. Set the fence back to the original boundary of the common as it was before the development last year and return the planted area to grass
or
b. Set the fence back to near the original boundary as it was before the development apart from the corners on each side of the planted bed where the public has created paths/desire lines so that these new paths would be respected and remain outside the fence/outside the common. This option would relinquish a small section of park land to make way for footpath (setting a potentially dangerous precedent some of us felt) but would allow people to continue to shortcut the corner as they have been doing.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by John D on
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It's a triumph of " design " over common sense. I'm for option b).
Oh, and can we have the bench seats back please ?
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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a
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Permalink Reply by KTwok on
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The shortcut is, in my experience, mostly people navigating round the large number of waiting bus passengers at peak hours when they can almost block the pavement. Even when the fence was in it's original position I was among many of those that walked in the gap between the old stop/phone box and the fence to avoid trying to get past the busy bus waiting area. The current planted area is an eyesore and a complete waste. I don't want to set a precedent for taking parkland into pavement, but would appreciate a small gap at the rear of the stop to still allow pedestrians to pass if that's possible.
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Permalink Reply by Charlotte on
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I think the fence should be kept where it is, paved and have some more bins/ash trays. It is horrible having to squeeze through to get to the tube at the moment. Maybe some big planters?
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Permalink Reply by ant on
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Definitely (a) and agree with the worry about setting a dangerous precedent if the council feel they can take bits of the park. Public parks are precious and we only have a tiny amount of them compared to all the roads and footpaths. If there is not enough space around the bus stop / tube entrance on Turnpike Lane then redesign that area not nick bits of the park.
As I understand it the council would also like to take a chunk out of Ducketts Common at the Frobisher / Green Lanes corner as part of the Alfoxton redevelopment, and another junk out on the east side by the basket ball courts to make more space on the footpath for the bus stop on Green Lines by there.
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Definitely 'a'. It currently turns into a mudbath when it's wet and it's certainly an eyesore!
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A
Sometimes things don't work. Thanks to the friends of Ducketts common for their work
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Permalink Reply by Eilidh on
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I'm for option B. Trying to get to the tube in the morning is much easier if able to pass behind the bus stop.
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Permalink Reply by Pamela Harling on
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Yes it looks sad. Nice idea but the plants were not well chosen and I think it was quite dry after they were planted so they did not get established.
Since this is a heavily used area, why not do option a, pave the planted area (with a water permeable surface) and have some super big planters (like the ones behind Kings Cross station) so it still looks green and have some seats?
It could look great! Pamela
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Permalink Reply by Philippa JM on
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B-ish: It would be great (and cheaper?) if the bed could be kept but a diagonal corner path created along the "desire line" that's wide enough to allow bidirectional walking traffic but still maintain some nice planting (oh for some colour!). Alternatively as some have suggested have some large planters, but presumably that would be more costly, as would moving the fence again. I suspect those who pick A maybe don't go to and from Willoughby Road? Navigating the bus queue crowd (particularly when it's raining and there's brollys everywhere) is very frustrating and squeezing through the old gap was only slightly less so. Difficult for the elderly and less able, or anyone with lots of shopping! I agree with Charlotte, add another bin (with ashtray).
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