Guest Blog - Etz Chaim School - A Mill Hill Resident responds to Action group blog - by Mr Boris Shedlyson

By Boris Shedlyson,

In response to your recent guest blog from the Anti-Etz Chaim/Save our Garden Centre Group, there are a few points that I would like to clear up:

They do not speak for me nor many other members of “the community”.

I don't want to be dragged into a slanging match, as a resident in Victoria Rd, I am very happy to see the back of the daily morning gridlock caused by the articulated 40ft lorries illegally parked up for hours outside Wyvales and performing traffic island destroying u-turns at the junction with Hammers Lane.

There will only be worse traffic if the kids are dropped off in articulated lorries..even if some parents should refuse to walk their children to school and even if some drive 4 x 4’s, they will have a whole car park to turn their cars around in.

You should also consider that the school could bring with it a pedestrian crossing, desperately needed on Dawes Lane, a benefit to the entire community. We have been trying for 15years to have crossings put in on Lawrence St and Dawes Lane, the school could help to make this happen, allowing young and old alike to cross into the park. There is not a single pedestrian crossing in the entirety of Poets Corner/Dawes Lanes/Hammers Lane, despite the number of schools, elderly and disabled living in the vicinity.

The Council should be pouring cash into improving the park amenities, not spending it on lawyers fighting this absurd cause.

The proposed school will be closed for the entirety of the many holidays, freeing up the car park for park users rather than be crammed with Wyvale's shoppers, benefitting the entirety of the community.

Wyvales took the decision to grab the money and run and in my opinion, treated their staff rather shabbily. However, they were never a Public amenity, they were a commercial organisation whose peppercorn rent allowed them to increase their profits.

The Mill Hill Park is the key, there is a cafe and the facilities desperately need upgrading and maintaining, it would be money better spent rather than fighting opponents to the school.

I realise how potentially divisive this subject is, we are all entitled to our own views, however, I could not hold my silence when we see outright lies being published in a public forum. These lies damage our reputation and indeed our viability in crushing economic times; we are trying to make a living.

Members of the action group have claimed that Finchley Nurseries doubled their prices,accusing them of somehow profiteering; this is hurtful. There have been no unusual increase in prices whatsoever as a result of Wyvales closure, Finchley Nurseries continues to offer many more discounted deals on everything from compost to bird food.

Finchley Nurseries, less than 2miles from Wyvales was here 60yrs before Wyvale...nobody asked them if it was ok when Wyvales were given the site practically free. Finchley Nurseries is part of the community in a way that Wyvales could never claim nor hope to be. Yes, it was convenient and people got used to it being there, however, to claim that it was in some way a beacon of light for community groups within Mill Hill is absurd. 

Did I mention that there is also a superb aquatics outlet at Finchley Nurseries Burtonhole Lane, off The Ridgeway, NW7 1AS, open 7days a week?

Support your local garden centre so that we can continue to help support the local community, support Mill Hill Park....and stop wasting our own taxes on expensive lawyers.

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Boris Shedlyson is a Mill Hill Resident. Guest blogs are always welcome at the Barnet Eye