Yearly Archive 2022-09-26

As part of our work writing a design code for the area around Finsbury Park Station we are holding a Design Day on 8th October. This is an all day (from 10:00 to 17:00) workshop that will look at ways to improve the area. Our consultants, ImaginePlaces, will provide models and maps for discussion. 

Numbers are limited and it is important that you book (contact us here) by 30th September.

We have been seeking the views and ideas from the public around the station. More of these sessions are planned and we welcome assistance from members! The information from the public engagements and from the online questionnaire will guide the discussions on the design day.

Finsbury Park & Stroud Green Neighbourhood Forum is a voluntary group of residents and people who work in the area that started in 2015. In 2018 Hackney, Haringey and Islington Council officially recognised us and we are developing a Neighbourhood Plan with statutory planning policies for the area. Our aim is to prepare a Neighbourhood Plan that after several rounds of consultation and a resident vote/ a referendum will become part of the planning policy for the area in all three boroughs. Please visit our website where you can find out more, join us and do follow us on Twitter!

We are also developing design rules / codes for the area around the station as significant new development is likely to occur there over the next decade or so. The Department for Levelling Up, Homes and Communities announced a pilot programme for groups across England interested in design codes. We applied and are one of 25 groups chosen for the pilot (only four Neighbourhood Forums were selected). Our design code will be for the area around the station. Funding for the pilot has enabled the Forum to commission ImaginePlaces and her team to help us.

A design code specifies rules that are expected to be followed in a planning application for development. It can also deal with many things in the public realm. We aim to align well with TfL’s and Network Rail’s aims around improved user experiences. We hope our design code will eventually make the Station Quarter a much more pleasant, vibrant and healthy place for residents, businesses, bus users, cyclists and visitors alike.

As part of the programme, we have been asking members of the public for their views and ideas for the Station Quarter. These ideas will feed into creation of the design code. The design workshop will build models and mapping to explore possibilities for the area.

Places are limited to 40 so booking is essential. Those unable to attend are most welcome to join us on Zoom on 19 th October. The 8 th October workshop is on the second floor of 113-115 Fonthill Road. There is a lift at the rear of the building. Please let us know if you wish to use it and we will send details of how to find it. (There will be signs posted.) The workshop will involve a walkabout to see some of the area. We will provide coffee/tea and a light lunch suitable for vegans. We are very grateful to Space4/Outlandish for use of the room and facilities. We look forward to meeting you.

Finsbury Park & Stroud Green Neighbourhood Forum and ImaginePlaces

Our selection as a “Design Code Pathfinder” brings with it £30,000. Not much as such things go but a help. A design code is probably most use where there is new development expected as it can specify many aspects of what is to be built. The Steering Group spent a lot of time considering what have the most impact in our Neighbourhood Area and what was doable with the resources available.

The London Plan picks out Finsbury Park as an area where housing development is desirable and Islington and Haringey have “site allocations” in the area around the transport hub. (A site allocation is planning-speak for a site where the planning department feel a particular development is desirable/likely to be approved. It does not mean that anything will happen unless a developer comes forward.)

The Steering Group decided that we would attempt a Design Code for the area around the station (see our Project Plan as submitted to Department for Levelling Up, Homes and Communities (DLUHC)). It would be part of the eventual Neighbourhood Plan that will cover our whole Neighbourhood Area.

Our design code may specify provision of green spaces, shop fronts, aspects of pedestrian, cyclist, and traffic movement – the public realm in other words. We cannot prevent tall buildings but can influence the layout perhaps. The new spaces around City North are not inspired with uninteresting facades, dead frontages and something of a wind tunnel. We would hope that our design code will make future developments pleasanter and better contributions to the area.

We are employing Imagine Places (www.imagineplaces.co.uk) as our consultants for the preparation of the design code. They are very experienced with neighbourhood planning and design codes.

A good design code has to reflect what the community wants. Similarly a neighbourhood plan must arise from local views and opinions. This means lots of engagement. We have already had an online general questionnaire (thanks to the 142 people who have filled it in! – we are now analysing and summarising the replies). More specific questions will lead to further rounds of consultation.

On 29th July (later this month) we will have a stand outside the Station Forecourt (Station Place) in the afternoon and will start getting people’s opinions about the station area. We have noted a number of responses to the questionnaire highlight how unpleasant the area around the station and particularly under the railway bridges is.

This session will be followed by workshops for 50-100 people to allow a detailed discussion of our thoughts for the area around the station. A central, affordable and accessible venue is important. We have a couple of ideas and welcome suggestions.

The DLUHC see design codes as being a central part of a revised planning system. A code sets out rules that must be followed. They ran an initial pilot in 2021 involving 14 planning projects. The pathfinders is a second pilot with 25 participants: of these 21 are local authorities and 4 are neighbourhood forums (we are the only central London one: South Woodford are a bit further out). DLUHC are not used to dealing with voluntary organisations where members are not available during office hours as they have jobs. They are gradually getting more flexible.

We hope that being part of a National pilot programme will give us a bit more clout to get more co-operation from agencies like TfL and Network Rail that have an important involvement with our area.

There will be an informal meeting of Finsbury Park & Stroud Green Neighbourhood Forum on Thursday 7^th April at 7pm.

Wine and soft drinks will be available with some nibbles.

There will be a short report from the Steering Group on recent developments (particularly our selection to be a “Design Code Pathfinder” and our developing association with My Place), a chance to ask questions and an informal discussion of the Area and what needs to be changed through our Neighbourhood Plan.

The venue will be SPACE4 on the 2nd floor of Fonthill House, 113-115 Fonthill Road N4 3HH. (Fonthill House is just to the south of the junction of Wells Terrace and Fonthill Road). Ring the buzzer labelled Event Space/Classroom for admission. We are very grateful to Outlandish for letting us use the room.

As covid is still with us and infections are rising we encourage you to wear a mask when you come to the meeting. 

We have just been selected to take part in the government’s Design Code Pathfinders project, beating several others from across the country, which gives us a great chance to make a real impact for the better on the local planning process.

We are also kicking off our community engagement phase, where you get to have your say. To lay the groundwork for a comprehensive neighbourhood plan, please help by giving us your opinions in this very short initial online survey: https://finsburyparkstroudgreen.com/

Over a 12 month period we will work with the government’s Office of Place to develop a design code for Finsbury Park and Stroud Green. This will set detailed requirements for development in the area covering almost everything that we experience living or working in the area.

This is an exciting opportunity although it is a huge extra work load. We would like more members working with us and taking an active role in working on the Design Code project and the Neighbourhood Plan. The only important skills we need are interest and being prepared to work hard!

If you are interested please get in touch!

Finsbury Park Needs You! Please help us to make Finsbury Park/Stroud Green a better place in which to live and work.