Finsbury Park future

JoeV

I admit I had to laugh with the suggestion that a 6-8 storey building might be considered a high-rise (sorry Andy!)<div><br></div><div>There's nothing inherently wrong with tower blocks -- b<span style="font-size: 10pt;">uildings are only as good as the people living in them.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 10pt;">I wasn't able to attend any of the consultation sessions, but from what I read in the planning documents and reports online, the proposals present very big ideas, but very little information about funding them.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 10pt;">There was something about Islington ringfencing £500K, with the hope for more. Don't know what that translates into, and nothing from Hackney or Haringay. I read somewhere about a </span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">£60K grant may be in the works from an arts organisation for public art - that's it.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 10pt;">In the end I think we'll see the the railway underpasses spruced, some new lighting and some bins.</span></div><div><br></div><div>(And from the model in the picture, the City North project is going to be massive. I've said this before but the towers blocks are fine to me but that (lower-rise) long wall of a building between them is awful.)</div>

yagamuffin

I don't see any problem with the bus station where it is, since the work to improve the station frontage it's quite a nice area only blighted by the building between it and SSR.<div>What would be nice is if those building were replaced with and some of the Rowans block demolished to open up the park, maybe with a nice open plaza area leading in to the park.</div>

ADGS

Rowans is one of the few things for young people to do in the area when the weather's not nice, not to mention being occasionally fun for the rest of us too, so I think that would be a real loss, especially for some nebulous idea of 'opening up the park'. To what? Two main roads? That's exactly the sort of thing I want parks shielded from - I hardly ever go in the bit of the park alongside Seven Sisters Road, for just that reason.

miss annie

Absolutely seconded.

Ali

It is the council that you should be telling this to not us

miss annie

Likewise for many things on this forum - parking, schools etc. However, it's nice to have a chat with other locals, non?

andy

@joev - there's this peculiarly london/uk perspective that says you either have 30 storey high-rises, or houses, and nothing in between. (and that towers are horrid and houses are nice). Even the 4/5 storey apartment blocks being put up these days are sort of second-tier in terms of quality. But most European cities have really nice big-gish, mansion block accommodation that gives the residential density you need for a successful community (so it doesn't sprawl) and are places people want to live, and are well-designed, soundproofed and well organised spaces.

Helicon

Rowans is not getting knocked down to make open space for the park, they are jumping at the opportunity to knock down their low rise and build much more valuable "luxury" flats on the park instead. I do feel sorry for the kids but I'm sure the cinema that will form part of the City North development will be very pleased the local competition for free time will be destroyed.<br>

Mirandola

Will City North have a gym? And will the gym have a pool?

miss annie

They are having TWO new cinemas in Crouch End! What one at FP, and the Odeon on Holloway Rd the young folk will have four cinemas within walking distance. But the cinema is quite an expensive excursion, about £12 for a ticket before drink or snack. Rowan's is a cheap night out. If you don't have, or mix with, teenagers it's easy to forget how limited entertainment options are. Not all the local young people have affluent middle class parents.

ShaftesburyRob

The idea of no Rowan's makes me shudder. And I'm as old as the hills!<br><br>I bloody love a bit of Rowan's on a Friday night. Bowling? Dancing? Table Tennis? Guitar Hero? There's nothing not to like!<br>

ChangN4N6

Rob, come down the Park Tavern this Friday and lets rock the box Chang

kittygal

Park Tavern great little Irish local, Dennis is a legend!

Papa

What kind of lunatic suggests replacing a bus station ideally placed outside a mainline railway and tube station with a public square and getting all the buses to stop on one of the most congested stretches of road I can think of, which when blocked has a knock on effect that stretches from Camden to Tottenham?<br><br>Why do you need a public square between the station and where the Silver Bullet run is? There's a massive bloody park over the road.<br><br>I am all for grand urban design and high ambitions but what is actually being proposed, is a street drinkers' plaza.<br><br>I'm also very dubious about all these high-rise buildings. The character of the area is three to four storeys, not ten, and more to the point almost every higher rise non-traditional building I see go up outside of prime Central London is the kind that will date extremely quickly and start to look shabby.<br><br>As Andy points out, if it was mansion block-style buildings being proposed it might be a different story.<br><br><br>

Ali

Archway being agood example

Papa

The <a href="http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=2&amp;cad=rja&amp;ved=0CDUQFjAB&amp;url=http://www.airstudio.org/content/2.research/1.Publications/8.How-to-Make-Archway-Tower-Disappear/ruth_ewans.pdf&amp;ei=QlzpUcbWENOa0AW6v4CQCg&amp;usg=AFQjCNG0mt79e1hHtuex0RvuMsHevQbDZQ&amp;sig2=Vdjuje_DSXAA9gPNiDYsZg&amp;bvm=bv.49478099,d.d2k">How to make Archway Tower disappear project</a> is a great peruse<br><br><a href="http://inition.co.uk/news/diminished-reality-how-make-archway-tower-disappear">Explanation here</a><br>

Mirandola

Thanks Papa L - second the recommendation for that link.

ChangN4N6

PL makes very good points. Chang

vetski

FP feature in today's Standard: <a href="http://www.homesandproperty.co.uk/area_guides/london/spotlightonfinsburyparkpropertyareaguide.html">http://www.homesandproperty.co.uk/area_guides/london/spotlightonfinsburyparkpropertyareaguide.html</a>;

DillysDad

The whole thing is pants. I urge everyone to get involved in the discussions and give them a real hard time. They have to be answerable or they will run away with things. And once they've done it, this place will be changed forever.

Kate Jones

<p>Just to reclarify - John Jones does NOT own the building that Sainsburys is in and we would NEVER rent to a large supermarket chain in our new building!! </p><p>We are putting an Art Project Space in our ground floor which will be not for profit and open to the public.</p><p>We did a street art project a few years ago - worked with some very talented artists to create imagery on some hoardings. The outcome was brilliant and we had no problems with local graffiti artists. if its done in the right way it is respected by all.</p><p>Someone made a comment not so long ago re Regentrification Vs Regeneration. Its an interesting question - we're trying to make Morris Place better for all, but no doubt will be accused of making it too nice! </p>

Arkady

I was mistaken about the current Wells Terrace entrance.  The current TfL/City North discussions do include a proposal to close it in favour of the new Western Ticket Hall.<br>