Forum topic: Palmers Green Triangle

Over time, bit by bit, times change and things happen to urban space. It’s inevitable: transport solutions evolve so new systems and features are needed, a fire destroys a building and the replacement is at odds with its setting, a vehicle collision happens so a safety measure is installed, someone donates a sculpture so a site needs to be found; a jumble ensues. It’s a familiar story. And whilst this happens the place loses its cohesiveness, sightlines are lost, buildings are no longer in harmony, clutter abounds. Something along these lines happened to Palmers Green, particularly as a result of the growth in traffic.

And then the iconic old horse-chestnut tree, much loved locally, died at The Triangle. Like most people I was saddened by the loss and keen to replace it, but fortunately others were more perceptive. They were already using the demise of the tree as a spur to re-visualize the Triangle and the streets which feed it into a cohesive, pedestrian-friendly, social space. The joke at the time was that the Triangle should be Squared, that is, redeveloped as a town square where traffic would move calmly through at a maximum speed not higher than 20mph; preferably more slowly.

The Council reacted favourably and appointed consultants to look at the possibilities. Their report was broadly conducive to the idea that much could be done to improve Palmers Green, but of course these are difficult times financially so progress is on hold.

Unfortunately it’s now clear that the delay is being seized upon as an excuse to return to patch and mend, rather than seizing the chance for Palmers Green to lose its national epithet of Palmers Brown. That’s a real shame because there is much to build on, and, provided an outline design is done, quite a lot which could be done a bit at a time. Why wait for a 20mph or lower speed limit, or removing the unacceptable clutter of pavement railings, or doing some of the repaving work as finance permits? Haringey appears to be spending millions on improving life for its residents pedestrians, and cyclists. Why not Enfield?

Next time you are on foot in Palmers Green try breasting the railway bridge at the eastern end of Alderman’s Hill, and taking in the view as you do so. From this vantage point the excellence of the Victorian red brick that lies before you is evident, and marred only by ugly clutter and undistinguished surfaces at street level. Much more than replanting a tree needs to be done to create a space which rectifies the problem, but the good news is that whatever is done can still include a tree or trees.

One of the changes suggested in the consultants’ report is that the railway station should be better integrated into the town. No doubt this would incur a fair bit of expense and could not be done soon, but given the need to conserve resources and keep London moving without choking ourselves to death on traffic fumes, this is too important a change to miss. Why abandon ideas with far-reaching benefits because of short-term impatience?

Take a short walk from the railway station along Alderman’s Hill towards the park and you will encounter a very wide pavement, ripe for conversion to a social space. Within the overall plan this could be tackled early, providing a home for trees until more money is available for the bigger tasks on the Triangle and ‘High Street’.

At the recent area forum Del Goddard, forum chairman, Palmers Green councillor and member of the Council cabinet, was quick to seize on the possibility that the ideas for improving our place should be ditched. Personally I don’t think he’s representing the interest of people in his ward to best effect. The status quo is not good enough for reasons embracing health and well-being, community cohesion, thriving local business and conservation of resources.

Let us demand that Palmers Green be made a better place.

The last week has seen engagement on this subject by two Council Cabinet Members both suggesting action is to be expected in the short term but both making the point that due to the pressure on public finances we may be looking at a cut-back scheme, at least in the period being addressed, which would however endevour not to compromise long terms plans.
The original concept, basically seeking to make the shopping centre of Palmers Green more attractive for traders, residents and visitors alike with benefits to trade, community and social life for all, was developed ground-up by residents and businesses working together. The political response was strong and a substantial depth of consultation input provided by some160 locals running to an equivalent length A4 report.
Consultants (paid ones rather than locals) were engaged and a series of technical work followed including video asessemnt of pedestrian movements, traffic speed / volume data generation, identifying the ability of the Triangle's ground to take traffic in new areas and more. Their final report can now be found on the Fox Lane and District Residents Association web site.
Our Council knew that central money would be required for the roughly £1m project but now a plan was available "on the shelf" capable of being employed immediately a funding pot came to light - as they at least used to before the financial pressures now being faced. The alternate was an annual bid to London authorites where our area would be in competition with other parts of the Borough subject to major regeneration activity such as Ponders End and Edmonton. So far so good and fair in the round.
The current initiative would seem to be looking at planting a tree, planting the 6m triangular clock secured by the Business Association through the priority fund and removing at least some of the remaining clutter on the Triangle - just stop and have a careful look what is actualy there.
So not the ideal Plan A but as a Plan B which offers something and doesn't compromise Plan A which we may now see before the 2018 local election depending how the land lies.
Local consultation, communication? Now that's sadly another matter as often seems to be the way

I agree with Colin. The scheme recommended by the consultants might improve the environment for pedestrians, but it would remove the Triangle - a notable feature of Palmers Green. I think something more imaginative is needed, incorporating a triangular island, and certainly the Council must not go ahead with this scheme without better consultation.

I've now uploaded the consultants' report to this website. You can find it/ here .

As regards the clock, is there a picture of it anywhere?

The Council fully intend(ed) to consult fully before taking the next step. Certainly a "Triangle" is symbolic and remains firmly in one option.

The consultation was widely publicised through Area Forums, Resident Associations, Green Lanes Business Association, leaflets, posters, flyers, web siste(s) and probably more with channels to receive comments as varied as RA's, local retailer colection boxes, e mail, verbal 1-2-1 opportunities and others. That the response exceeded even that for Southgate Town Hall (in number never mind much greater depth) despite its 10 000 + targeted requests plus a raft of Council supporting initiatives suggets it was relatively succesful in raeching out to and then collating local opinion. Obviously some individuals will have slipped through the net for whatever reason albeit as someone who requested to go to the firstCouncil driven consulattion exercise Colin is unlikely to have been one of them.

There’s no doubt that a pattern is emerging: the two most debated Forum topics at present are the ones about the future development of Palmers Green, and the escalating number of betting shops. Which is interesting and important because the two subjects are closely intertwined.

Betting shops are able to move in because other traditional shops are closing. And significant causes of this phenomenon are out-of-town shopping centres, supermarkets, and, more recently, internet shopping. Locally we have little or no influence over this but, assuming that none of us want the town to die, we can do things which retain the essence and social function of a town centre i.e. providing services, local shopping applicable to current needs, restaurants and cafes, and space and seating for social interaction.

And first of the things that can be done is to enable Palmers Green to shed its national epithet of Palmers Brown. We can improve its ‘liveability’ (tailor it to the needs of people rather than traffic), reduce the dominance of traffic by introducing a 20mph speed limit, make it safer, maximise the benefit of the red brick buildings on the high street and Aldermans Hill, encourage shopkeepers to visually harmonise their frontages, evaluate and re-pave the spaces, use more planting especially trees, bring Broomfield Park into the town by calming traffic, and, high on the agenda, re-evaluate the role of The Triangle as the town’s core image/social space.

In my opinion it’s important that we all forget our mindset about how traffic is managed at The Triangle, and think more about flow than speed. And it’s certainly important to use the consultants’ report (https://www.pgweb.uk/images/documents/palmers-green-environmental-improvements-final-report.pdf) about the development of the town as a starting point, not the only way forward.

Unless we succeed in making the town a more desirable place for local people to find other types of local retail and social outlets we will attract betting shops and their like. Ultimately we even risk losing the town as we know it.

Is there any news on the replacement tree in the triangle? Is it ever going to happen?