Question 1. What do think is good about the area?
Waitrose! And some nice, smaller coffee shops opening up. Great charity shops, the Library, Westlakes. It has a station, a park, good buses, nice houses, all the ingredients for a great place to live
Question 2. What do you think is less good about the area?
Not enough unusual shops, shopping centre feels generally very down-market, compared with somewhere like Muswell Hill which has 2 good book shops, lovely cafes and more unusual, one-off shops. The tragedy is that wonderful individual shops like Grouts will be lost all over London and can never be brought back. Will also be losing C A Phillips shortly, Camera Craft has already gone.
Question 3. What would you like to see to improve the area?
Plant another tree on the triangle and tidy it up. Bring back Grouts! Need some proper restaurants like the sadly missed Café Anjou.
More street cleaning, tree planting, more waste bins, dog bins
Question 4a. Specific aspects – traffic
Haven’t found traffic to be any particularly problem as a pedestrian
Question 4b. Specific aspects – parking
Parking - There is limited parking everywhere in London. A lot of people park in the Fox car park. Hard to see how this could be improved though, there are just too many cars, not enough spaces. Plenty of space in Morrisons. I’ve never been able to park in Green Lanes itself. We should be encouraging people to walk to their local shops though and leave the car behind.
Question 4c. Specific aspects – clutter
I don’t think PG is any worse than any other areas. Can’t say I’ve actually noticed this.
Question 4d. Specific aspects – look of the shops/architecture
Look of shops - Without totally rebuilding the entire shop frontage, it’s hard to see what could be done to improve it. Most of the shop fronts are pretty ugly, but that’s the same in most of London. The Library building is a treasure and needs to be cherished. The planting around it is overgrown and full of rubbish.
Question 4e. Specific aspacts – type and range of shops
Attract more people to open shops / restaurants = lower rents!
Question 4f. Specific aspects – amount and use of pavement space
I think the pavements are sufficiently wide, perhaps stop shops from encroaching onto the pavement with their products.
Question 4g. Specific aspects – the Triangle public space
Plant another lovely tree to replace the horse chestnut! Either re-open the toilets with a caretaker or close them up completely, they are AWFUL as they are. I think it’s fairly pointless to design the triangle with seats etc, it’s not a public space – it’s a roundabout / junction.
Question 4h. Specific aspects – Greenery
Everywhere could benefit from more trees. Planters, once planted, are often neglected and end up full of weeds, litter and dead plants – there has to be a commitment to maintenance.
Any other comments
I think Palmers Green has the potential to be a great area but in a recession with so many shops closing down all over London, it’s hard to see what can be done to encourage shops to open and people to spend money in them. Does the council have any money to invest?