Finchley Central town centre - a new public square

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Consultation has concluded

We need your ideas on a new public square in Finchley Central

We are committed to improving residents’ lives and making our high streets great places to live, work, learn, shop, relax, invest, socialise and visit for all.

We know from previous community engagement that you feel Finchley Central lacks an obvious ‘centre’ that can support local civic life.


Background

Our Town Centre Strategy, adopted in 2017, identified an opportunity for a public square outside Tesco. This could span both sides of the road, where the existing public realm is wider and could host a range of activities.

We have

We need your ideas on a new public square in Finchley Central

We are committed to improving residents’ lives and making our high streets great places to live, work, learn, shop, relax, invest, socialise and visit for all.

We know from previous community engagement that you feel Finchley Central lacks an obvious ‘centre’ that can support local civic life.


Background

Our Town Centre Strategy, adopted in 2017, identified an opportunity for a public square outside Tesco. This could span both sides of the road, where the existing public realm is wider and could host a range of activities.

We have now started the delivery of this project which aims to: 

  • create an inclusive space, where visitors of all ages and backgrounds are encouraged to visit Finchley Central 
  • create a healthier high street that also encourages active modes of transport, with a focus on improving the public realm environment for pedestrians and cyclists 
  • increase a greener high street to help with measures to improve the air quality within the town centre 
  • support the community to activate the Square and wider town centre by developing a community-led events programme and a regular market offer. 

We have also appointed a multi-disciplinary design and engagement team led by award-winning Kinnear Landscape Architects KLA) to work with the community to develop the programme and design for Finchley Square. 

Throughout 2020 the council and KLA hosted several workshops, online activities, meetings and other events to help co-develop and test the proposed designs. We intend to deliver and open the square in early 2022. 

The involvement, knowledge and insight of the local community is vital to making a positive impact in Finchley Central town centre. We want the community to develop a sense of influence over the town centre through this project. We have also started a working group so people can get involved.


We want your views

We are keen to give everyone who lives, works, runs a business or organisation or visits Finchley Central the opportunity to have their say. We have developed a set of proposals and designs based on the community engagement carried out over the last year and we now want to hear your views.

To find out more about the Finchley Public Square consultation please visit the Finchley Central Community website and read our consultation document.


How to have your say:

Complete a questionnaire

Tell us what you think about the designs, any ideas you might have, how you would like the space used and share your support for event ideas. Please read our consultation document and then complete our questionnaire.

If you are unable to access the online version we will also be locating printed copies for loan within the Finchley Church End Library, during the consultation period. Please call the library team on 020 8359 3800 - Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday – to loan a copy of the Finchley Square Public Consultation document.

Come along to one of our consultation events

Alternatively come and see us in person. As part of this consultation we are temporarily closing Albert Place so that we can test out the new public space and host a few small-scale pilot events. Come and see the design for Finchley Public Square, give us your feedback, ask questions, or share your ideas and support. We be there on the following days and times:

  • Saturday 7 August,10.00am - 2.00pm
  • Friday 13, August, 8.30am - 2.30pm
  • Tuesday 17 August, 10.00am - 2.00pm
  • Wednesday 25 August, Midday -6.00pm
  • Wednesday 1 September, 10.00am - 4.00pm
  • Monday 7 September, 5.00pm - 8.00pm.


Further information

For any further information or to request the Finchley Square Public Consultation information in an alternative format please e mail finchleycentraltowncentre@gmail.com.


Watch this space

Over the coming months we will also be working in collaboration with a cultural curator, Make:Good, to pilot a community event programme and art strategy for the public square. Please keep an eye on the website for upcoming opportunities to get involved and share your thoughts and ideas with us. The involvement, knowledge and insight of the local community is vital to the success of the new public space.

Consultation has concluded

  • We asked, you said, we did

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    We asked

    We asked for your feedback on the public realm improvement proposals for Finchley Central – ‘Finchley Square’. We also asked for your thoughts on the types and times of community activities you would like to see taking place in Finchley Square.


    You said

    We received an over 130 detailed responses to the feedback questionnaires. Our six pop-up events were very well attended, allowing us to answer many of your questions and hear your ideas. The results for the public realm improvement proposals were overwhelmingly positive:

    • 88% of your responses either directly supported the proposals to increase greening in Finchley Central (76%) or felt neutral (12%).
    • 80% of your responses either directly supported the proposals to make the town centre more accessible (62% ) or felt neutral about this (18%).
    • 75% of your responses either directly supported the proposals to strengthen the visual identity of Finchley Central (57%) or felt neutral (18%).
    • 78% of your responses either directly supported the proposals to create a community destination in the town centre (56% ) or felt neutral (22%).


    In terms of the community events; the most popular types were markets, exhibitions and performances; and the most popular time of day for the community events was from the lunch-time through to the evening.

    You can read the full results of the consultation and the many helpful suggestions that were made here.


    We did

    The findings from the consultation will be taken and considered by the Council to inform the final proposals developed for the Finchley Central public realm proposals, enabling the Council to start the delivery phase of this project, which presently is anticipated to begin by Summer 2023.