There will be a meeting for everyone interested in the start-up of this Association on Saturday 15th November, at CUFOS at 4-5.30pm (behind the Palace, near the entrance to the Lab Spa, Top of the Avenue, N10 2QE).
Everyone who lives within the trangle of Crescent Road/Rise/Dagmar, Alexandra Park Road N22, and Albert/Durnsford Road to the Crescent Rise junction is welcome, whether they have already registered their interest or not.
The meeting is being held to set up the association formally, and to talk about the sorts of events it should hold and issues it can usefully deal with.
If you would like to be kept in touch with further developments and have not already signed up to the ATRA mailing list, you can register your interest and join the list by emailing alexandratriangleresidents@gmail.com.
You might like to indicate interest in any of the following things:
- General ATRA activities
- Local representation (to Haringey Council & Alexandra Palace)
- Social events (e.g. summer fete, Xmas, talks & events etc)
- Gardening
- Improving our shared spaces & amenities
- Other specific topics (e.g. parking, planning, other)
Former members of the PGRA please note - ATRA is not currently able to use the PGRA mailing list to communicate. Please email ATRA as above if you would like to be added to the ATRA mailing list. Any further details of the meeting will be sent by email to those on the ATRA list.
CUFOS (Community Use for the Old Station)
Replies
Hello All,
If of interest, this is the email text sent to those interested to help set up/revive the residents assocation. It would be great if people wanted to put themselves forward for the various roles as described:
Best wishes,
Michael
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Having planned and consulted for some time now, we are delighted to announce the first Annual General Meeting (AGM), which we are holding up the hill at CUFOS. Details are as follows:
Date: Saturday 15/11/2025
Venue: CUFOS, The Avenue, London N10 2QE
At this first meeting it will be a very open, collaborative opportunity for YOU to shape the group, to bring your ideas and more. There will be some 'formalities', such as electing some people for a committee and other roles, and that is completely open at this stage, so we would love to hear from you, ideally in advance of the meeting (on the day is fine too), if you would be interested in any of the following:
(interim steering group chair/general pulling-threads-together person!)
Building on the brilliant legacy of the Palace Gates Residents Association (PGRA), ATRA will represent residents at Haringey Council and with Alexandra Palace, organise events and help our community be an even better place to live in.
Who is it for?
For everyone living in the large ‘triangle’ from Albert Road to Bedford Road, just as covered by the PGRA.
We alredy have Alexandra Park Road Resistents association.No need for this new one.
Hello Christopher. Thanks very much for your comment. That is interesting, and possibly news to many people. Would you be able to share some links to information about Alexandra Park Road Residents Assocation please? It sounds quite specific if covering one road only, but it would be useful to know about in any case. Are there events coming up, consultation responses, things you could post about in here to help residents of that road engage? Anything similar to the Summer Fete and Carols which PGRA organised for so many years, positions on the committees at the Palace and with the council? All would be very helpful. Many thanks indeed.
To help contextualise, were you previously involved in the PGRA? As described, the purpose of ATRA is to pick up the baton from the work PGRA did for a great many years, covering that area as described. Unless another RA has quietly been established to take up those reins, the research we have done to prepare this suggests that it would be welcome with the many people living in the full range of roads covered.
All information gratefully received - thanks.
I refer to Alexandra Park Neighbours. You must know that. If not I suggest you join. Your group is mentioned in their latest email: To view the new comment, visit: https://alexandraparkneighbours.org.uk/forum/new-alexandra-triangle... PGRA was a downright nuisance with their crazy one way traffic systems, raising bolards, God know what, Fortunately with much effort their schemes were got rid of, the Council often, with local residents input, seeing their were unworkable.
Aha. Thanks, Christopher. It sounds like a few things would benefit from clarity.
- Useful to know that there isn't an RA just for Alexandra Park Road, though of course many roads have WhatsApp groups, which are great for sharing mutual aid and local info - thanks.
- This is the APN website, from which come APN emails. They are the same thing. APN is a wonderful community website, but definitely not the same as a Residents Association. Those who run APN were very much part of the PGRA, and they are very much part of helping us all to have a Residents Assocation for the area once more.
- It sounds as if you perhaps weren't a member of the PGRA. The PGRA was a constituted Residents' Assocation. As such, it enables the whole area to have a voice both as regonised representative body for the Council, and as a statutory consultee and committee member on Alexandra Palace committees, both hugely valuable things for us all. Since the PGRA ceased due to people retiring and the great upheaval after 2020, there has been no such representation for the area. Both the Council and the Palace are very keen for the area to be represented. That's a fairly fundamental reason to have our RA 'back'. Does that make sense?
- Speaking personally, my main involvement with the PGRA as a resident was through the absolutely wonderful Summer Fete and the Christmas Carols. Really special events over many years which brough the community together, and we'll hope to revive at least something like that, even if we don't manage the magic of David Rennie's water game! We were so lucky to have that for so many years. Extraordinary dedication to the community.
- It's interesting that you mention one way systems and rising bollards. Haringey Council has it as a strategic priority to make the whole borough safer, healthier and better for people, particularly in the east of the borough where population density is far greater than here, and a large proportion don't use cars. It sounds like you might be referring to the fact that the PGRA helped convene a group discussion to look at Haringey's plans some years ago? That would be fairly normal for a representative RA. All who get involved in the revived RA would be heartily encouraged to convene subgroups on things like public realm, traffic, safety, housing, absolutely whatever people like. It's just about bringing people together positively and offering a voice.
I hope that helps clarify somewhat? All best wishes.
I've lived here for over 30 years.I was a membner of PGRA throughtout their exisitence. I was not referring to the fact that the PGRA helped convene a group discussion to look at Haringey's plans some years ago? I referred to the various and persistent atempts to bring about one way systems and other traffic ideas which caued much upset in the area. Please don't misrepresnt my views with your assumptions as in your reply to me above.
Christopher, perhaps you know more about the specifics of the PGRA's work than others, but knowing the former Chair and Secretary very well, I would be quite surprised if there was any sort of position led by the PGRA. That wouldn't be their role. Representing residents' views, yes, proposing specifics, not so much.
On traffic and transport in particular, the Council are evidently continuing to explore ways to deal with the persistent issues of congestion, speeding, air pollution and the 184's challenge to get down Palace Gates Road (you perhaps remember the days when it took a different route?) among other long-standing challenges, but that's for them - an RA would simply gather and share residents' views, helping residents, whatever those views might be.
For clarity, I said 'it sounds like you might be referring', which I think is a rational question based on that fact that I was only aware of the agnostic PGRA convening on traffic and congestion issues. Absolutely just trying to help get clarity and make the most of the opporutnity this provides for all, in positive spirit.
Meanwhile, hopefully the rest of the points as corroborated by APN here help as regards the postive proposed function of a revived RA? Not least its helpful role in offering representation at the Palace and Council. No problem at all for those who have done their time with Residents' Assocations, but I'm sure all would be welcome to come along to summer fetes and have a slice of cake, join in with gardening, carols and other such things, assuming there are people to help organise! All good wishes.
Michael has given an excellent explanation a couple of weeks ago about the different functions of APN as a community website, and ATRA as a local residents' association. From APN's point of view it would be good to avoid confusion about this.
A Residents' Association is intended to represent a particular set of streets for purposes like communicating with council departments (including delegations to council committee meetings on things like planning applications), the Palace consultative committee, the Police safer neighbourhoods team, and so on. As a community website APN serves a wider area than specific streets or whatsapp groups, and links up with people beyond and with other community websites like Harringay Online and Bowes and Bounds Connected. You can see what we think of as our 'core community' on the website menu in 'About This Site', but there are members from further afield - Fortis Green, Bounds Green, etc. It provides for sharing news and views, things offered or things wanted, recommending tradespeople or services, on a regular basis, and advertising local events. APN can't be a representative body, and it's not really suited to organising events which require people to get together and work out detailed plans, like an annual fete - that is best done by a residents' association.
So APN and ATRA have different but complementary purposes and aren't alternatives to each other.