The owners of Palmers Green bus garage, Arriva London ("a DB Company" - ie owned by the German state railways), have applied for planning permission to demolish two buildings next to the garage (to its east) and use the land as an open-air bus park. However, there are no plans to expand the number of buses which are housed at the garage - the maximum number will remain at 69. This number of buses is in fact rather too many for the size of the building, meaning that manoeuvring of buses within the garage is difficult and potentially unsafe, and the new parking capacity will alleviate this problem.
One possible consequence may be that buses running on route 141 and terminating at the North Circular will in future be able to turn round in the garage at all times of day. At present, in the evenings there is insufficient space in the garage, so 141s sometimes run empty all the way up to the centre of Palmers Green and turn round at the end of Hedge Lane (they used to turn round in front of the Town Hall, but that option is no longer available). Which is rather frustrating when you've been kicked off the bus at the Tottenhall Road stop, only to see the vehicle that you've just got off continue to where you want to get to! You'll still have to change bus or walk the rest of the way though, as there's little sign of TfL being interested in the proposed extension of the 141 to Winchmore Hill.
Palmers Green garage actually started life as the Rosalie Skating Rink in 1910, but by 1912 had already become a bus garage. Its history was described in the December 2013 issue of Palmers Green Life and there has even been a book written about it - copies can be found on eBay.
The planning application will be discussed on 27th January and can be downloaded from the Council website.
