Environment Report October 2026
1. Haringey Parks Department – General
There is still no reply from Chris Cavalier since the site visit with Cllr Cathy Brennan on Monday 9th February 2026 (he had promised to send the Association an “improvement plan” for Muswell Hill), Brian Livingston sent a chaser email at the beginning of July.
Some of the items discussed during the visit and to be addressed by the Council are:
- Blaenavon Park (top of Eastern Road) – the rose beds require attention, new roses required to fill in the gaps
- Midhurst Gardens – the rose beds require attention, new roses required to fill in the gaps. Some of the stone edging needs replacing
- Fortis Green Road raised beds – both require attention
- Pocket Park – CC was amazed by the improvement works at the Pocket Park. The main outstanding issue is the uneven pavement but at the moment this is not within the remit of Parks.
- Sitting area top of Muswell Hill. This whole area and the path down to the Parkland Walk needs a lot of work on it
- Grove Lodge Gardens – the group walked down the path, CC had not been there before and he was taken by the woodland and thinks that it could really be improved if Haringey can find funding. He is looking into what can be done
- CC said that they are planning to bring the hard landscaping and Parks teams together which will make it easier to complete projects
- Provide the Association with of the contact details of the Parks PM dealing with Muswell Hill
Some good news, the large wheeled rubbish bins near Cranley Gate entrance to Highgate Woods have been removed and there is an area of new planting which has brightened up the area.
2. Pocket Park
Christine continues to look after the park and to make improvements, planting new plants, tidying up etc.
The uneven paving is the main item to follow up with Haringey Council but they have shown no interest in repairing it. A local resident has made a start and has repaired a few small areas of the paving.
3. New Tree at the Muswell Hill Bus Terminus
As previously reported the planting of the tree was rejected by TFL due to “the impact of sightlines and the area being extremely constricted”. This is another item to be followed up with the new councillors.
4. Rubbish at the Muswell Hill Bus Terminus
Rubbish regularly accumulates in the planted areas at the bus terminus and is often not cleared up. TfL is responsible for this space and so the Association will be going through Haringey to get this done.
5. New Trees in the Broadway – Local shops are helping to water
As reported in the Association’s August News & Events Update, Jonathan Popper (Tree Officer) and Brian Livingston visited the local shops in the Broadway and Fortis Green and asked if they could help water the tree outside their premises. All the shops were happy to help which was great news and some shops had been watering for a while.
The Council has also been watering the trees but not so often as they do not have sufficient water bowsers. Brian Livingston has flagged up to Haringey that some of the stakes require repositioning.
6. Muswell Hill Broadway Flower Boxes and the Trough
The geraniums planted on 12th June are still in full bloom and looking very good – they survived the various heat waves!
The trough plants were badly hit by the heat wave and the majority did not respond to the rains earlier in the month and have died. Brian Livingston is going to make a new start and put in new soil and drought-resistant plants.
7. Colney Hatch Lane Beds
The committee may need to carry out some pruning this autumn.
8. Weed Control on Footpaths etc
As reported at the last committee meeting, Brian Livingston had noticed that there were many more weeds than usual on the pavements and in the road gutters, and he had not seen any weed treatment this year. The Haringey website says that weed treatment is carried out three times a year, April/May, July/August and October/November. He spoke to Haringey and was told that the May treatment was only carried out in the wards in the east of the borough. He followed this up with the Council and was then told that the first treatment had taken place in June, and that “due to the exceptionally hot weather this year prolific weed growth and regrowth occurred across the whole borough”. Brian Livingston finds this an odd statement: firstly, he was told in late June that no treatment had been applied in Muswell Hill, but the Council has now changed its position, and secondly, he thinks the summer heat waves ended up stunting the growth and in some cases scorching the weeds. He is going back to Haringey to ask them to ensure that the spring treatment is carried out next year on time in April / May.
9. Street Bins etc
Brian Livingston has raised with John Crawley the suggestion of Anji Jones to replace the bins on St James Square which she thinks are ugly and inadequate. JC said he would make enquiries but he is not hopeful.
Brian Livingston has not heard back from John Crawley and so he has followed up with an email. The new twin bins installed by Barnet Council look larger and more robust and perhaps this design could be considered.
10. Grove Lodge Gardens Path and Ancient Woodland
As outlined in item 1 above Chris Cavalier is due to let the Association know what work the Council can carry out on the path/woodland.
11. Tree Officer
Nick passed on to Brian Livingston an email from Haringey Planning asking if the Association’s Tree Officer is still active as they have not received comments on the tree work applications for some time. Brian Livingston spoke to Jonathan who confirmed his activity had dropped off a while ago because changes to the categorisation of the applications made it very difficult to identify the tree applications. Jonathan checked the current system and found that the system now does identify tree applications and he has corresponded with Haringey Planning. Jonathan has emailed Nick to ask if there is a way of flagging to him the development applications which involve trees.
12. Marwood Square – Woodside Avenue Roadside Beds
A member (Angela Hobsbaum) wrote in to clarify that some residents are managing the wildflowers planted in the roadside beds; they do not want Haringey Council to get involved. Brian Livingston met with Angela to discuss this. When the beds were installed Haringey planted grass but they did not maintain the beds and they became overgrown. The residents then wrote to Haringey Council and got agreement to plant wildflowers and maintain the beds, although it is uncertain how well documented this is by Haringey Council. Because the wildflower beds look rather messy when not in flower the residents are concerned that the Council may come along unannounced and cut everything down. He advised that it would be best not to allow the wildflowers to get too tall as this may affect the sight lines for vehicles and be reported to the Council.
13. Marwood Square – Private Property Signs
The managing agent (Anchor) has recently placed “Private Property – Residents Only” at the entrances off Woodside Avenue, and some residents in the surrounding roads are upset about this and have contacted Haringey Council. It is understood that when St Luke’s Hospital was there it was accepted that there was a public right of way from Grand Avenue down past Simmons House Adolescent Unit onto Woodside Avenue, and Brian Livingston’s understanding is that this was written into the planning permission for Marwood Square. A Private Property sign has not been placed at the entrance near Simmons House and there is nothing to suggest Anchor is now trying to close off the right of way. Brian Livingston thinks that the new signs are as a result of tenants moving into the completed Cranwood House development and Anchor may feel that there is an increased risk of new residents to the area not being aware that the gardens are private, so Anchor has installed the signs to make it clear that the Marwood Square development is private property.
14. Christmas Tree 2026
Following the Association’s involvement last year Brian Livingston received an email from Haringey Council saying that they have reached out again to potential sponsors asking them to sponsor the Christmas trees for 2026 – they expect to know if they have secured sponsorship by the end of September. Haringey asked if the Association would be interested in “organising” a similar
event this year should sponsorship become available. He wrote back to say yes, subject to confirmation by the MHFGA Committee. He also asked for clarification that Haringey Council
would be carrying out the same activities as last year, basically appointing a contractor to supply, erect with fencing, decorate, electrical works, licences, take down etc. The Association awaits a response.
15. Police Matters (from Ward Panel discussions)
Nothing new to report since the piece in the Association’s latest newsletter which mentioned the robbery involving a knife at the junction of Queens Avenue and Kings Avenue on 28 August 2026, three people (aged 17 to 19) were arrested. Both the Muswell Hill and Fortis Green ward safer neighbourhood teams are short of a police constable.
