Liveable Crouch End moves up a gear and other puns - a bulletin from the Neighbourhood Forum

[Adrian Essex]

Liveable Crouch End moves up a gear View this email in your browser

The car-free days of autumn At last TfL's new road-planning, car-stopping project, the Liveable Neighbourhood Initiative, is ready for the showroom and Haringey Council are about to take it for a spin. Get ready for the green light with a month of car-free events, public meetings and road-closure trials.  World Car-Free Day comes to Crouch End 10-4 Sunday 22nd September, Middle Lane This Sunday the southern part (Monkey Nuts end) of Middle Lane goes car-free as part of Car-Free Day. One of a couple in Haringey, the council promise pop-up parklets, picnics and a glimpse into our carless future. For info see Haringey’s website here, or from the Mayor of London here. Do take time to go see, if nothing else it’s a useful test drive for the first manifestation of TfL’s and Haringey Council’s ‘Liveable Crouch End’ scheme –   Liveable Crouch End Trial Road Closure – Middle Lane Not to be confused with the event on Sunday, this is the first concrete manifestation of the roads of tomorrow: a trial road closure, running for a fortnight from October 7th (this time the whole of Middle Lane, and please note there are related road closures on Weston Park and Hillfield Avenue – see map). Read more on Haringey’s LCE project page. The aims of the trial are to raise the profile of new public spaces and to measure the impact on traffic movement. Worth pointing out that this is not pedestrianisation – it’s simply closing the route to through traffic (except buses). People who live (and park) in the area can continue to access via the streets off Tottenham Lane. For our part, the Forum aims to gather views about the exercise – not least the effect on Middle Lane businesses and Rokesley School.  Liveable Crouch End Public Meeting 2pm Sunday September 29th Hornsey Library The local Lib Dem councillors (Crouch End ward) are organising a public meeting “to hear about what the scheme will entail, what the timeline is, and for any questions to be answered”. We’ll be there offering a bit of analysis and concern, hopefully of the constructive critical sort. £5m is a useful chunk of money for our local streets, and the aims of modal shift to non-motor traffic and the improvement of the public realm have significant support in our surveys. Read more.  Other Planning News We’ll report on planning matters more fully next month, but it would be remiss if we didn't record that the major Hornsey Town Hall development is now up and running. You can’t really miss it – expect demolition of the old Clinic (behind the Town Hall) in the next few weeks. Also unmissable are the builds along Tottenham Lane's Crouch End cinema quarter, and we hear rumours of another potential large residential project at the Jewson site near Hornsey Station. Lots of flats. Perhaps the extra people will help the high street a bit. It was also sad to see, in the last few days, the gutting of the Earl Haig as it transitions into its new guise as a children’s nursery. Keep an eye on our website. Don't forget to support your local coffee shop. The Forum are working toward a survey of Crouch End and the development of policies that can direct the way our community develops in the future – our Neighbourhood Plan – new members are always welcome, no subscription necessary, and open to all. We have 1,000s of people, local organisations and businesses signed up.

[Alan Roberts]

Why is this being imposed and inflicted upon us. None, repeat NONE of the people in my road wanted or asked for this chaos. It's all designed by trendy hipsters, too busy poking their unwanted noses into the business of the residents of Crouch End. It's a rubbish scheme, badly thought out, badly designed, hopelessly managed and designed to get the backs of the people of Middle Lane and streets off it. If this is supposed to be about pollution, well that fell flat on it's face from day 1. What took my mum 5 minutes to get to Queenswood Medical Centre now takes her (me as the carer) an extra 2 mile trip around the now jammed streets of Hornsey. Also if you now want to get to Park Road we now have to drive up to Town Hall then do a dangerous U Turn to get beck! It's a hair brained scheme designed by people who have a degree in eating avacados and no doubt don't live in the area or even drive. If these brainless dimwits understand Crouch End, the reason we live here as it's got no train or tube station so by virtue we use cars! Get rid of the gates on Middle Lane and give us back Crouch End as at present we've been annexed. Typical council forcing lefty green rubbish on us. Some of us have to use a car regardless unless you want to take my 87 year mum on your stupid bike! Hair brained or what! 

[N8Princess]

So, first Saturday of the trial period. Some observations (purely personal, based on walking round Crouch End at various times).

• Middle Lane almost free of car traffic
• Traffic along Topsfield Parade and Park Road about the same as usual or a bit heavier, but flowing freely.  
• Fewer cars using the side roads running between Middle Lane and Topsfield Parade than at the start of the trial. Fewer nose to nose confrontations.

The trial undoubtedly caught a lot of road users unawares. The chaotic scenes from earlier this week with ambulances flashing blue lights stuck in gridlocked traffic were not pretty and show this scheme needs a lot more careful thought before / if it is implemented. Emergency vehicles must be able to pass freely even in a perfect storm of major road works, poor weather and heavy traffic. Same for buses.

I witnessed and heard anecdotally of angry confrontations between motorists and the stewarding teams threatened with violence (stabbing !!) and verbally abused. This is not acceptable. They are doing their job in difficult circumstances and from what I have seen, they have been unfailingly helpful, polite and engaging with the public really well.

The scheme will inconvenience some, and benefit others. Whatever happens next, I hope further phase/s are handled better in terms of communication and consultation. 

[Alan Roberts]

It is still hideous. Walked to Priory Park this Sunday.... Dead. Morgue, horrid, felt like 28 Days Later. Businesses suffering. Still gridlocked. W7 being curtailed in Crouch End. To top it all the public meeting on Saturday was cancelled due to the fractious and conrentios nature. Security staff were getting aggressive at the barriers. It's been hell for the people of Middle Lane.

[Lyn Weber]

I live on Farrer Road and am fed up with it being used at rush hour like a speedway rat run,  Drivers usually 4x4's race to the last third of the road where the traffic is stopped and queuing to cross over to Cranley Gardens. There is also a noticeable increase in vehicles cutting down our road during the day.  The first week the additional traffic bypassing the traffic lights at the bottom of Muswell Hill, by cutting down Farrer Road, could also turn left to Crouch End.  In the second week they put up a no left turn sign which is pretty useless.  Because this pollution concentrating ring road scheme is likely to go ahead.  I want Farrer Road closed as a no through road.  I have also noticed an increase in vehicles queuing to get out of Etheldene onto Park Road, they creep out and block the left filter up Muswell Hill because they want to go down Priory Road at rush hour - really, really stupid and selfish driving it increases the tail back along Park Road.  

I fear for parents who walk or allow their children to walk to St. Mary's Infants, St. Mary's Juniors, Greig City Academy, Campsbourne and Highgate Wood Schools.  Haringey expect children to walk to school, yet they are exposing children to higher concentration levels of vehicle fumes because they are concentrating all vehicles on roads that are not fit for purpose as ring roads. Haringey is not reducing emissions they are merely concentrating emissions due to additional queuing and stop start driving. 

[Lyn Weber]

Liveable Haringey moves down a gear or 6 is more accurate?