News, comment and features

Palmers Green residents who are angry with the wholesale removal of trees from a trackside cutting have begun sending messages of protest to a Network Rail manager. Complaints relate to a section of track adjacent to the Fox Lane bridge.  On the western side of the cutting absolutely all trees and bushes have been removed along the section of track next to the new "Palmadium" housing development.  Quite apart from the visual impact, there will be an obvious severe affect on wildlife.......

Date: 7th/8th and 14th March Location: Palmers Green & Southgate (various locations) Details: Local residents are needed to help turn Palmers Green yellow for Marie Curie Cancer Care's Great Daffodil Appeal! Collections are taking place in the area on weekends in March and all funds raised will go to the Marie Curie Hospice in Hampstead and to fund local Marie Curie nurses. Marie Curie provides high quality end of life care for north Londoners with cancer and other terminal illnesses, in.......

On Thursday 12th March, from 1pm to 4pm, Enfield Town Market will play host to an unusual visitor - a KinoVan (or should that be "the KinoVan"?) The KinoVan - a "cinema on wheels" - will be showing cine clips illustrating how the borough has changed over the past hundred years.  And various experts, such as film archivist Louise Pankhurst, will be there to tell people about the borough's film history. The KinoVan belongs to Film London - London's Film Archives and its visit is part of a.......

The Enfield Society has just published the fourth volume in its series A History of Enfield.  "A Time of Change", covers the period 1939 -1969. It includes chapters on life in Enfield, Edmonton and Southgate during the war, the austerity of the late Forties, the difficult Fifties and the swinging Sixties. Written by Monica Smith, this hardback book with over 200 illustrations costs £18.50. It is available from Waterstones in Enfield town, online at www.enfieldsociety.org.uk and at.......

This week the ever ambitious Talkies Community Cinema announces its latest venture.  HERE proudly proclaims itself to be a "suburban film festival": HERE FILM FESTIVAL is about the diversity of interests, people and places in the suburbs of London. HERE is not in the West End, Southbank or Shoreditch. HERE in the suburbs we aren't the swanky super-rich, the celebrity glitterati or bearded hipsters. HERE is where the cinema creatives of London produce their best output. HERE is where life.......

Starting in April, Chickenshed will be running acting workshops for adults on Thursday evenings and for children on Saturday mornings. Adult Theatre Performance Workshop Venue: Chickenshed Theatre Dates: Thursday 23 April – Thursday 14 May and Thursday 11 June – Thursday 2 July Times: 7pm - 9pm Cost: £60 for series of 8 workshops Age: 21+ Duration: 2hrs Chickenshed's Performance Workshop is a series in which you will develop your performing skills and creative ideas using.......

The Enfield Transport Users Group (ETUG) has expressed its disappointment about the delay on the part of Transport for London (TfL) in responding to an integrated package of bus route changes drawn up by ETUG on behalf of Enfield Council. Enfield Council submitted the proposals set out in the Enfield Bus Review at the end of 2013.  The Review recommended changes to 29 bus routes running wholly or largely within the borough, aimed at achieving a number of objectives without increasing the.......

On Wednesday the community website Love Your Doorstep (LYDS) invited Councillor Chris Bond to record an interview about Cycle Enfield/Mini Holland for later transmission on the locally based internet radio station Radio JJ. Emma Rigby, the brains behind LYDS, used questions provided by her readers. The recording will be streamed by Radio JJ this Sunday (22nd February) at 8pm.  To listen to it, visit radiojj.co.uk/lyds........

Enfield Council has begun the first phase of consultation for a further Quieter Neighbourhood in the vicinity of Palmers Green:  Fernleigh Road QN will comprise Hoppers Road and all roads to the east as far as, but not including, Green Lanes, plus Winchmore Hill Green and the area to its east as far as Green Lanes, including Compton Road and Station Road. Residents will be sent a questionnaire but can also respond online - in fact, the Council are seeking responses from all members of.......

Work on the Fox Lane Quieter Neighbourhood has now moved on to the stage where selected residents are invited to participate in design workshops.  Colin Younger attended a workshop on 10th February. Following the presentation hosted by the Fox Lane and District Residents' Association, Enfield Traffic and Transport officers held a design workshop on 10th February at St Johns Church Hall. Overall this was a well-managed meeting and the discussions were good tempered. About fifty residents.......

Following the closure and boarding up of the Green Dragon in Winchmore Hill, a petition has been launched calling on Enfield Council to not allow the building to be converted into flats, retail or any other alternative use. The Green Dragon in its most recent guise: English pub downstairs, Thai restaurant upstairsThe online petition, initiated by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), says that saving the building as a public house is important because There has been a Green Dragon pub on or near.......

A national charity has launched a manifesto calling on future governments to prioritise improvements to the public realm and enable local communities to play an active part in planning such improvements. Civic Voice has as its aims making places more attractive, enjoyable and distinctive and promoting civic pride.  Its manifesto, Localism for Real, was launched this week at a Parliamentary meeting.  Southgate District Civic Trust, who are affiliated to Civic Voice and contributed to.......