Forum topic: Palmers Green Triangle

This has got mixed up with wider planning potentially affecting the whole area around the Triangle, which is contentious, and on which I think much wider consultation is needed..

One issue is whether waiting for the wider scheme which might even remove the Triangle itself, is compatible with planting a tree in the current lay out. There are also it seems problems with the positioning of any tree, given the need to avoid the original root run, underground services, and the disused toilets, which need to be filled in. Councillors say that the intent to replace the tree remains, but your question is a good one given the unanswered questions about the wider scheme.

I understand that a particular tree was identified for planting but these issues meant that it went elsewhere.

Things have moved on. This is the latest statement by Enfield about the tree sent today by Highway Services.

[i]Highway Services have had every intention of planting a tree, going back to when the Horse Chestnut was removed due to major fungal and bacterial infection. But, recent investigation and feasibility relating to the minor improvements project and installation of the Focal Clock have determined that there isn’t a viable and safe location for a new tree.

Andy Robinson (Senior Tree Officer) and I have been discussing this issue for some time and with our Head of Service we have concluded that a tree cannot and will not be introduced into the current Triangle layout.

I can't imagine that this will be welcome, but, note the phrase " the current Triangle lay out". I wonder how to interpret this?

Palmers Green - Two Ward Forums’ discussions

For those wishing to see the Triangle retained and improved there was encouragement at both the Southgate Green Ward Forum on the 17th and the Palmers Green Ward Forum on the 18th March.

On both occasions Councillor Bambos Charalambous voiced determined support for the retention of the Triangle in its present form on behalf of all three Palmers Green ward councillors.

During the Palmers Green ward forum Sue Younger showed a collection of photos (courtesy of the Enfield Local Studies and Archive) of the Triangle over the years, illustrating the persistent tree cover, culminating in the large chestnut felled in 2010, the 1915 rose garden and later planters (also now removed).

She noted as an example of the significance of the Triangle in Palmers Green’s history the meeting of suffragettes in 1914 which couldn’t start because they were pelted with eggs and flour. A jeering male mob then chased Mr Goulden, Mrs Pankhurst’s brother, under police escort to his Winchmore Hill home.

A more recent example of the use of the Triangle was in February when the campaigning organisation, 38 degrees, launched a petition to “Save the NHS”. Cycle Enfield also uses the Triangle for their Doctor Bike stall.

In the following discussion, residents called for tree planting and planters on the Triangle. This would improve the current stark appearance and help counter air pollution.

Subsequent to the meeting Mark Leaver, the Town Centre Manager, has told me that a 3 year contract has been signed by EBRA with a garden maintenance company to replant and manage the existing planters to the north and south of the Triangle. It appears that they have to be grassed over to allow access to them while standing on the grass rather than standing by the roadside. Holes will be cut in the grass and plants inserted through them.

There was also a request for changes to reduce congestion around the Triangle. It was suggested that if the bus stop outside Smith’s could not be moved the 121 bus could stop around the corner on Green Lanes.

It was also pointed out that cars parked in the evening on the west side of Green Lanes immediately before the junction limit the view of the pedestrian crossing as traffic turns in to Aldermans Hill. Preventing this parking would reduce the risk of accidents at the crossing immediately around the corner. Councillors undertook to look into these issues, though TfL is the relevant authority.

Individually these may be small steps, but taken together they could add up to a significant improvement to the Triangle. This would be in line with the clear requests of residents who took part in the April 2014 Palmers Green public realm consultation, and views expressed at many ward and residents’ association meetings over recent years.

Colin Younger