The mayor of Enfield, Cllr Margaret Greer, was in Palmers Green on Saturday to cut the ribbon to mark the opening of the refurbished Devonshire Square. Starting on 7th June, the smart new public space will play host to a six-week programme of events, including a series of workshops run as part of the 2025 Enfield Community Art Festival
The mayor of Enfield, Cllr Margaret Greer, cuts the ribbon to open the refurbished Devonshire Square, assisted by Cllr Sabri Ozaydin, cabinet member for environment and placemaking, and Clare Moloney, Enfield Council's placeshaping manager (photo: Adrian Day)Also attending the opening ceremony were Cllr Sabri Ozaydin, the cabinet member for environment and placemaking, Clare Moloney, Enfield Council's placeshaping manager, designer Takeshi Hayatsu, and members of voluntary groups Palmers Green Action Team and Better Streets for Enfield. Plus, of course, many other members of the local community.
Ahead of the opening, the finishing touch to the square was provided by children from Hazelwood School, who planted out the four new flower beds, supervised by Mark Roberts from Hortus Collective. Hazelwood School's contribution to the square won't stop there - pupils will be helping with regular maintenance of the new planting.
Devonshire Square's new signpost
The idea of creating a public square at the Green Lanes end of Devonshire Road can be traced back to 2019, when Better Streets for Enfield installed a "pop-up parklet" at the site. When the junction was closed off to traffic as part of the Quieter Neighbourhood scheme, Palmers Green Action Team were quick to spot the potential of the now traffic-free space, as Action Team member Liz Robinson explained in her address at the opening event:
"Our volunteer work has always been focussed on improving the high street for the community, giving residents a reason to spend their precious time and hard earned money locally. Over the last seven years we have run projects focussing on greening, street art, events and attracting new businesses to the area.
"We felt that the high street lacked a place to meet, a place to rest, for children to play and to host local events. At the time, we proposed our idea to Andrew Catcheside at Enfield Council, who has always been enormously supportive of our sometimes quite ambitious suggestions for Palmers Green."
Adrian Day from Better Streets for Enfield said: "This is a great example of how road space can be reclaimed for better use. The residents of Devonshire Road no longer have to endure rat running traffic speeding down their road, and Palmers Green has a much needed space for people to enjoy. And it shows how community organisations such as Better Streets and the Palmers Green Action Team can bring people together to improve their environment with council support."
There will now be à short gap before the launch programme for the refurbished Devonshire Square starts on 7th June. The programme, organised by Arbeit Studios in conjunction with the Palmers Green Action Team and Enfield Council, will cater for diverse tastes, including participatory art workshops, live music and circus performances and, of course, a summer market run by the Action Team. The art workshops will take place every weekend in June and will form part of this year's Enfield Community Art Exhibition.
The story of Devonshire Square
The speech by Liz Robinson telling the history of Palmers Green's new public space
Good afternoon, I am Liz from Palmers Green Action Team.
As some of you will know, our volunteer work has always been focussed on improving the high street for the community, giving residents a reason to spend their precious time and hard earned money, locally. Over the last seven years we have run projects focussing on greening, street art, events and attracting new businesses to the area.
We are proudly female led and our committee is made up of a cohort of seven women and a wider network of dozens of volunteers. We seven were not friends to begin with but were brought together by a common purpose. What began as a simple litter pick has grown exponentially.
As Clare [Moloney] said, over four years ago the committee had an idea: to create a permanent community square on the high street.
We felt that the high street lacked a place to meet, a place to rest, for children to play and to host local events. At the time, we proposed our idea to Andrew Catcheside at Enfield Council who has always been enormously supportive of our sometimes quite ambitious suggestions for Palmers Green...
A pocket park was trialled here by Better Streets for Enfield and the idea began to grow legs. The end of Devonshire Road was temporarily closed to explore what might happen if it was pedestrianised for good.
The space was awarded funding from Enfield to pilot this new square and to demonstrate the community value.
Street art was commissioned celebrating local poet Stevie Smith. Behind the scenes we worked with Stevie’s estate to ensure their permission and support to recreate her drawings on the floor as dot to dot designs and her poem on the wall.
Planting and children’s play structures were installed, working closely with Jan Kattein architects; amazingly the pilot space was longlisted for a RIBA architecture award.
Keen to prove the value of the space, in October 2022 we formed a voluntary market group and set about coordinating a quarterly event in the square as a proof of concept.
The women who run this market are nothing short of brilliant, all volunteers juggling jobs and families, they have given passion, enthusiasm and positivity. And every season (despite the weather) we have made it happen, tackling gazebos, admin and sandbags, while giving businesses a platform to trade, musicians a stage to perform. And local people another reason to get on their high street on a Saturday afternoon.
And now, after tenders, steering groups and extensive consultation on the design, we are complete and have a permanent community square, just like we dreamt up years ago
To realise this, in fact to realise any project in the public realm is no mean feat. Personally, I have learnt that when trying to bring these projects to fruition, the pace of change can be slow and challenging. Bur remaining patient and positive, being open to ideas and keeping the conversation going is crucial.
Our huge thanks go to both Clare Moloney for her support on this project in particular and to Andrew Catcheside for his constant guidance and encouragement over the years and for always being at the end of the phone.
But our biggest thanks go to our committee and volunteers who have given their time and their energy; there have been some tough days over the years but we have held eachother up.
I cannot wait to sit here together in the sunshine with a coffee, and plan our next very ambitious community project for Palmers Green and toast the realisation of Devonshire Square.
Links
Devonshire Square is now officially open! (Enfield Council Journeys & Places website 28 May 2025)
