More planting and spaces for recreation are being planned at Wood Green Common and Barratt Gardens, reports Grace Howarth, Local Democracy Reporter

Wood Green Common (left) and Barratt Gardens (right)

Improvements worth almost £2million are coming to two adjacent Wood Green open spaces.

As part of Haringey Council’s ‘Adaptive Wood Green’ project, improvement works are set to begin this summer on Wood Green Common and Barratt Gardens, both in Station Road.

The council’s website states that a “new accessible multi-use games area” will be installed along with a “plant fostering scheme”.

In 2022, the council secured a £1.2million grant from the Mayor of London’s Good Growth Fund and Accelerator Fund. This is being put together with £794,000 of income from Haringey’s community infrastructure levy, collected from developers when they win planning permission, to deliver the wider project.

The improvement scheme for Wood Green Common and Barratt Gardens itself won planning permission in April and the work is expected to be completed this year.

The council states: “We have worked closely with residents, local schools, and other key stakeholders to create a better green space for people and to promote biodiversity.”

Black Rootz, a Black-led horticultural community group based at Wolves Lane Centre, will help deliver the plant fostering scheme, working with local schools, Heartlands Academy and St Paul’s and Alexandra primary schools, to teach young people how to care for plants.

Premier League and Football Association charity, the Football Foundation, will collaborate on the development of the games area.

Along with community feedback, the park’s plan is to deliver on the mayor’s aim to “reduce pollution in and around schools and to improve walking and cycling infrastructure”.

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