Groundbreaking Residents’ Audit serves as an inspiration to those who want to improve highstreets.

Produced in 2006, the Wood Green Audit came out of several consultation events organised by Residents Associations and the people of wood green. It provides a whole host of detailed recommendations for improvements to the area, many of these proposals have since been implemented.

For more information about the Wood Green Audit, download a copy here or please check out the Wood Green High Road pages

Introduction to the Wood Green Audit
Laurie Owen, the Chair of Parkside Malvern Residents Association (the lead organisation for the Audit), introduced the background to the Audit. He explained that there had been almost no consultation at all with local people in the first 6 months of the Council’s ‘masterplanning’ exercise. Therefore the local residents associations had decided to do their own audit of the High Road and surrounding areas, identify the problems (many of which were long-running and serious) and propose constructive solutions to ensure the area became one that Haringey residents could enjoy and be proud of. For the last 6 months, he said, Wood Green’s associations (representing an area with a total population of over 10,000 people) had collaborated, and produced the Audit. To ensure the fullest possible debate it had been decided, with the backing of the Haringey Federation of Residents Associations, to hold this Public Launch and Consultation Event. Detailed publicity leaflets had been distributed by local RA members to 4,000 local homes, and more were given out on stalls in the High Rd. He went through some of the key points in the Audit. In his view: ‘The Audit is in effect a Peoples Plan for Wood Green, and any plans that the Council come up with will have to be judged against it.’