On Tuesday I went to the Harlesden Town Centre design event, which I thought was a great success. More than 50 people attended, which I thought was exceptional given the cold weather and the slightly out of centre location.
We had a long discussion led by Alan Simpson. His web site gives you some idea of the stuff he spoke about. But we also had a lot of ideas from the other people present. This is just as well since the consultants are supposed to be faciliatating a "town team" of local people. Some of the ideas went beyond the likely funding, but the ideas I found most useful were:
The importance of independent shops in creating the Centre's character
The importance of ethnic diversity in creating the fell of Harlesden
The detrimental effect of the shabby approach from Willesden Junction up Station Road
The importance of having a performance space for the centre
The centrality of traffic and parking problems in Harlesden Town Centre.
You can find a full record of the comments made here.
There are two major future events which anyone can turn up to. The big one will be a design workshop on 19 and 20 March, which will be an all day drop in centre. Before that, there is likely to be an evening session on 1 March, probably again at the Unity Centre at 103 Church Road.
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