My vision for a new Wood Green

Plans for a brand-new town centre to the west of Wood Green High Road, involving the demolition of a swathe of buildings, were dropped in 2018, and a new Wood Green Area Action Plan (WGAAP) is said to have been ‘emerging’ since then. So the crowds still tramp up and down the High Road, between the shops strung out along it and the bus stops and stations. The air pollution generated by the eleven bus routes and other motor traffic (not all sorted by going electric) is more than five times higher than the WHO guidelines, and those worst affected by this hidden killer must be the crowds massing around the fruit and veg stalls on street corners. They surely deserve a more suitable market area.

Behind the library there are still, however, the vacant areas mentioned in the WGAAP – under-used service yards and half-empty car parks (in addition to the six floors of parking space on the roofs of the Mall and Morrisons). If pruned, these would have potential for use as a market area. In turn, this would connect with the council’s shift in emphasis from trying to attract ‘big retail’ to community uses. Funding for a community garden on the roof of an underused car park has already been granted by the mayor of London, and medical services will be offered in the Mall.

These vacant spaces could be merged into a larger open area if the underused arcade that sprawls around the library were removed. This would leave space for a covered market near Morrisons, with open fruit and veg stalls along the back wall of the library, sheltered by a pent roof.

At the other end of this open area, the closed box of the Mall could be opened up with windows and doors. In particular, its main entrance should be moved from its current dark, poky, polluted position under the bridge, round to the end of the building, where it could open onto tables and a play area, with a cafe on the upper floor with a view over to Ally Pally.

This transformation would be helped if the squat, brick building lying between the library and the Mall – which houses Ezra’s Kitchen and a money exchange – could be removed. This would open up the market area to the High Road for pedestrians, while also allowing more space for the existing east-west cycle route linking Tottenham and Hornsey.

The layout of the covered market could be similar to that of market halls that have been rejuvenating town centres up and down the country – with stalls around the walls (complementing the shops in the existing Market Hall), surrounding an open central area full of tables, including a communal dining area. Diverse food outlets run preferably by local residents could be interspersed with other stalls, including those for mending, upcycling and sharing clothes and equipment. Workshops could be run in conjunction with the existing Community Hub in Caxton Road.

This open area could then be a focal point for shoppers at Primark and other big retail shops – which these days to cluster in and around the Mall, as well as for those attending the market or making use of the circular economy stalls. It would be within walking distance of the massive new developments in the Heartlands area, and would be within a few metres of the cultural quarter, with its new McQueens Theatre.

Businesses that are relocated would need to have the same rent/rates as they have at present, given that this is a communal space more than a commercial venture.

A group has been set up to explore these ideas – if you would like to join us, or otherwise comment on this proposal, please email [email protected].