News on Down Lane Park Improvement

Since February 2022 Haringey Council and a Community Design Group (CDG) made up of local residents and community representatives, have been working with landscape architects Levitt Bernstein Associates, to co-design major improvements to Down Lane Park. Our co-designed plans for the park are built on what residents and park users have told us, supported by the council’s own, policies, strategies, evidence, and ambitions. The Summary of Public Engagement we’re publishing today summarises the findings from all of our public engagement activities between January 2022 and Summer 2023 and how this has shaped the planning stage designs for the park.

Alongside, we’re pleased to be able to share the final (planning stage) landscape masterplan for the park. This will be submitted to the Local Planning Authority in the coming weeks. Once submitted the Planning Authority will consult statutory consultees (Thames Water, Metropolitan Police, Environment Agency, Fire Brigade, etc). The application will be published on-line on the Council’s Planning Portal and will open for the public to view and comment. We will let you know when this happens so you can view the proposals in full.

Inherent in co-design are the principles of collaborating with the community and ensuring local expertise and lived experience shapes design. Whilst it’s never possible to accommodate every wish or desire, we believe we’ve realised a design that responds directly to what you told us, whether that’s widening pathways to enable people to move around more comfortably, upgrading and expanding lighting to increase safety, including a Community Hub building that is open longer and welcoming to all, introducing naturalistic and inclusive play for all ages and abilities, or designing in new basketball and netball courts with seating and lighting that appeal to young people and women and girls alike.

We hope you’ll agree the designs respond positively to the community and the council’s shared ambitions for Down Lane Park and we look forward to getting started on site from January 2024. Details to follow. For an update on the timeline you can view that here.