Bowes and Bounds Connected
A Community Network for Bowes Park and Bounds Green
Myddleton Road... A Street Worth Fighting For
We’ve spent the last 18 months focusing on making The Step the best it can be but we are now thinking more about the future of Myddleton Road and how we can all work to make it a better place. We don’t want to look backwards, we are where we are, but we need everyone including the relevant people at Haringey Council to share our enthusiasm for this street and, more importantly, the Bowes Park area to be bullish and belligerent about our future.
The potential for regeneration in this curious little “Bowes Park Triangle” of ours is immense. We have the excellent transport links, the availability of relatively well-priced housing and the enthusiastic spirit of a creative community. Look at the massive success of the Myddleton Road Market and how it brought our own community together and drew scores of new people to the area. This was a reason to be proud and must be capitalised on.
So we must ask ourselves why the heart of Bowes Park is a rundown, ramshackle street crippled with high density, low quality housing and the multitude of anti-social problems this brings? We must ask why illegal and ugly shutters out number open shop fronts at a ratio of five to one? Because this Myddleton Road does not reflect the vast majority of people who live in streets and roads that surround it so difficult questions must be asked of Haringey as to quite how the street has been left to rot and decay like this. We know of several people who have wanted to set up a business in the area but couldn’t find a retail space to let so we must ask why in less than 100 metres we have ten “property” companies whose activities contribute absolutely nothing to the local community?
We are not kidding ourselves that the solutions are easy and we know the historical reasons that led to the decline of Myddleton Road as a shopping street. There are probably many issues that we don’t fully understand but we founded The Step because we believe in Bowes Park and want to put back something in to the community as well as trying to make a living here. Without being too big headed we are bloody proud of what we have achieved so far but we want to make it very clear that if Haringey Council is not serious in backing the future of Bowes Park then we will move elsewhere and we will do this soon.
We didn’t open our business because we looked at the area and saw pound signs to get rich quick. We opened The Step because we saw a huge potential for long term regeneration and improving the quality of life here but nearly two years on, the signs are mixed and confused. On the one hand, the rubbish in the street is getting worse, anti-social behaviour is significantly on the increase and the quality of housing on the street is becoming ever more alarming and absurd. This is spreading to other roads in the area, make no mistake about that.
However…the positive news is that we know there are local people who want to invest in Myddleton Road. We know that there are many local people in Bowes Park both old and new who care deeply about the area. We know from personal experience that there are many people considering moving to the area but the ugly and seemingly unloved High Street is a big drawback for them. We have a brilliant street market, beautiful community garden, the Tin Tabernacle and an outdoor gym. In two years time wouldn’t it be brilliant if that last sentence was a paragraph?
So let’s not use the past as an excuse for passing more and more poor quality, high density housing in the area …let us use the future as a reason for saying no, this will harm the people who live here, your proposals are of no benefit to Bowes Park whatsoever. Let’s all of us work together to get that English Heritage money flowing in to Myddleton Road because if managed correctly it will make a world of difference.
It is also vital we engage with the certain landlords on the street because when we have spoken to them they don’t seem to have any idea of the damage they are doing to the Bowes Park community. They also don’t realise the huge potential of the properties they own…by train, we are twenty minutes from the City of London and the same from Shoreditch, the creative centre of London. Bowes Park could and should be the next big emerging area of our capital but a handful of cynical, short-sighted landlords don’t, or won’t, see this potential and have their foot to the throat of Myddleton Road. This is choking the life out of a whole area.
Do we throw our hands in the air and leave the future of Myddleton Road and, more importantly, the wider community of Bowes Park in the clutches of a handful of landlords who live far away from the boundaries of Haringey. We have put too much into The Step to walk away just yet and over the coming months we will be doing absolutely everything we can to put Myddleton Road and Haringey Council in the media spotlight…its blighted and bungled past and present, as well as its future potential.
Because it is a story worth telling and a street worth fighting for.
Let us know what you think by posting on our discussion on the Bowes and Bounds Forum.
Yours in hope
Nell and Mat
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Holly Shales on -
Nell I back your call and I am whole heartedly with you on the regeneration of MR, what we need is for everyone from the traders to property owners, the Local Authority and our councillors to come together and open up a realistic dialogue on what can regenerate the area, and what we as the local people can do to support business such as yours.
Since my move to Bounds Green about 6 and a bit years ago I have seen much change for the better the street is more organised, BPCA do a brilliant job as a result of their hard work we have the Myddleton Rd Gardens and the Community Gym, the step was a fantastic addition to the Road, but is it enough? No more needs to be done, but this can only be achieved when we have everyone on board and working together.
look forward to seeing you at the meeting.
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Permalink Reply by Caroline Simpson on
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There is already a Neighbourhood Plan. That was and still is an Action Plan really.
see http://www.haringey.gov.uk/index/housing_and_planning/planning-main...
or download here.
Much of this still needs to be done.
Maybe also needs a 'Review' so long as that doesnt take ages and ages.
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Permalink Reply by Lindsey Berthoud on
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Thanks Caroline, downloaded and skim read - really helpful.
Was there ever an update to the schedule, reporting on actions achieved? That list might help the community meeting next week. Dare I ask, is there any one person responsible for the plan at Haringey?!
Strikes me there are elements local people can drive forward, like raising awareness of the conservation area and promoting civic pride, pushing for public art, and, as talked about elsewhere here, reporting crime, rubbish etc.
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Permalink Reply by Richard McKeever on
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Caroline I think this is a fascinating document.
Now a decade old it was written in the context of a very different national government policy framework and an unrecognisable financial and economic situation in local government. However the current coalition government's "localism" agenda probably means there is space for a commuity-led response to some of the issues of concern.
I agree with Lindsey that a very strong part of the response is to identify which of the aims and activities can be taken forward by residents, business, the Community Association and the wider local community without the need of further LB Haringey involvement. Beyond this futher tiers of activity may require LB Haringey permission - and finally those that need resources from the council.
I think anyone expecting significant council resources or any new money to be expended here will be disappointed - but there is much that coud be done to improve the street with a simple implementation of current council regulations, supporting concerted community action in a much loved - and sadly neglected road.
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Permalink Reply by Carolyn Brown on
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I have managed to raise my objections and comments to one of the application, unfortunately I was unable to comment on the others as the site crashed. This has been in the last 10 mins. Has anyone else experienced this sudden crash?
Carolyn
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Permalink Reply by Holly Shales on
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Hi Carolyn
The site seems to be fine, try again.
Holly
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Permalink Reply by Caroline Simpson on
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Some people have written to say that they are worried about commenting on planning applications as they dont wish to give their name and address.
In fact you only have to give your name. Give your contact details etc if you wish.
The Comments cannot, as you will understand, be entirely anonymous.
But you DO NOT have to give your address.
I have just confirmed this with the Planning dept today.
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Permalink Reply by Clare on
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"Some people have written to say that they are worried about commenting on planning applications as they dont wish to give their name and address.In fact you only have to give your name. Give your contact details etc if you wish.The Comments cannot, as you will understand, be entirely anonymous. But you DO NOT have to give your address. I have just confirmed this with the Planning dept today."
Thanks for that Caroline. Nothing to stop us now.
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Permalink Reply by Daniel Cowan on
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Other than the planning issues and anti-social behaviour, one thing that is forbidding on Myddleton Road is all the unsightly shutters. A while ago Caroline Simpson came up with a proposal to have "Shutter Art" on the shutters, made by putting computer generated images on vinyl on the shutters. See http://www.shuttermedia.co.uk/
Residents on the Myddleton Road Strategy Group (MRSG) were keen on this, but council officers did not think this was approriate for a conservation area and could potentially reward landlords who had put in formerly unlawful shutters. I think that shutter art is appropriate for improving the street and as the shops are closed when you see the shutters only reward local residents rather than the landlord.
An alternative I noticed in Bermondsey recently is to have colour co-ordinated shutters on diffferent shops. See photo here: http://www.bowesandbounds.org/photo/bermondsey-shutters?context=user
What do people think of this idea? We would obviously need to find substantial funding to implement it.
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It would not be new shutters themselves, just a vinyl stick on facing.
I understand your point about giving something to the landlords for nothing (or not very much), but sometimes you can't get to win-win in life.
The ideal would be to remove most of the shutters, but I can't see this happening. You need to be pragmatic sometimes.
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Tom,
Spray painting is an interesting idea, but it would have to be done to a very high quality to get approved by the council conservation officer.
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Permalink Reply by Caroline Simpson on
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None of the external shutters were 'approved', if by that you mean were they applied for and given permission. They are not allowed in a Conservation Area.
Many have slipped through because they were on for 4 years before the council took action. Then they cannot be removed by enforcement action. That is why the MRSG used some of a grant to remove some of the external shutters near the western end and replace with internal ones. To show that it looks better and is just as secure.
Some are still in the process of having enforcement action taken. On some it still hasnt even started so far as I know, despite being the street with most such actions in recent years. On at least one there is an Appeal in process.
It is the mind-set of the owners and tenants that must really be addressed. They must begin to see that it makes the street a more attractive place and therefore one with more trade, and potentially more profitable for them. The problem is that many of the owners/traders do not rely on that sort of trade so it doesnt affect their pockets. It is a tricky one!
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