I love Elizabeth Place

It was quite a chilly autumn night when we went along to the Tottenham Green sports centre to a community drop in run by Haringey Parks department about Elizabeth Place, N15. We took loads of photos while we were there. Cllrs Mike Hakata, Zena Brabazon and Isidoros Diakides were also there alongside officers from Haringey Parks department chatting to the local community. Lots of positivity and excitement all around.

The entrance from Lawrence Road links with a zebra crossing. It is a bit overgrown and has become an only too popular place to fly-tip, much to the annoyance of us locals.

The park, seen in the cotton left had photo, is a linear pathway and forms a natural and safe cycle route between the Cycle Super Highway on the Tottenham High Road and the rest of the borough: through Downhills Park to the north west of Elizabeth Place there are links to the south of Wood Green and the rest of the borough via the Downhills Park Road and Langham Place and via Lordship Rec there are links to the north of Wood Green.

Elizabeth Place has lots within it - a multi-games area and a children's playground. There is also seating and plenty of bins. There were so many discussion about how this space could be made 'softer; with less 'boarders'; how it could be 'opened up'; more 'natural'; more sustainable and environmentally friendly with the entire life-cycle of all components from design and pulling raw materials out of the ground to longevity and de-commissioning be an important part of the considerations.

There were discussions about 'natural play' lead by Cllr Zena Brabazon, who brought authority to the conversation with her years of experience as a leader in Children's Services and now as the portfolio lead for children in Haringey's Cabinet.

The discussions were wide ranging and included suggestions about a grander and more welcoming entrance to the park and opening up space that are closed off due to barriers in the current design - like a line of bins and rocks and some old-fashioned and overly-functional seating.

Haringey Parks Service seem to have a very good system of working with people already in place. A lot of Haringey parks have 'Friends Groups' - people who love and live local to a particular park and liaise with the council about developments within the park.

On top of this 'vertical' structure of engagement, the Parks department seem to also have horizontal engagement projects that cut across all their services - I am thinking about the Changing Place work, People Need Parks project and the plethora of activity that we are aware of around accessibility for people with disabilities.