Since our inception in the 1970s as the Crouch End Playing Fields Protection Society through to our current organisation CREOS (Crouch End Open Space) we have had a great record of protecting and conserving this local green space.

• Saved the upper sports field (historically known as ‘Lower Five Acres’ and now used by Highgate Wood
  School and by the public) from development. (1975)
• Established the ‘Woodland Walk’ through the field historically known as ‘Four Acres’, linking
  the bulk of the Playing Fields with Queen’s Wood and beyond that to the Parkland Walk. (1993)
• Secured the statutory listing of the older of the boundary oaks (1980) and sponsored a survey of wild life
  on the Fields. (1986)
• Created a strategic plan for the enhancement of the Playing Fields in liaison with officers of Haringey Council. (1988)
• In liaison with the Council and local residents, thwarted development plans for indoor sports and retail
  centres mooted by a Swiss company (1984) and the creation of an additional road with housing on the site
  of the back gardens of Wood Vale. (1990)
• Persuaded the Council to block the traffic rat run between Park Road and Montenotte Road. (2003)
• Modified development plans for:
  – Highgate Wood School’s Science & Humanities block, thereby saving a listed oak. (1983–87)
  – the development of new housing on former Hornsey Club land at the end of Tivoli Road, reducing the
  number and density of the units. (1986–89)
  – the extension of the North Middlesex Club’s pavilion, reducing its bulk and ensuring that strict conditions
  relating to use were attached to it. (1993)
  – the change of use applications by the North Middlesex Club regarding the pavilion, outbuildings and restaurant. (2007–11)
• Given financial and practical aid to the Shepherds Cot Trust clubs in their pursuit of shared objectives
  including the demolition of the disused lavatory on the land of the Georgians Club. (1992)
• Successfully campaigned against the erection of a dome over the Georgians Club. (2014)
• Actively supported other local environmental groups in their successful campaigns for the preservation of
  the Parkland Walk, St Aloysius Playing Fields, Alexandra Palace and New River.
• Initiated the regular liaison meetings of Haringey environmental organisations under the chairmanship of
  Haringey’s Conservation Officer.

Throughout this period CREOS has regularly monitored Haringey’s planning applications. Committee
members have attended Development Sub-Committee and other Council meetings and negotiated with
Council officers. Members have regularly cleared the fields of litter, cut the grass, improved access and
improved paths, while encouraging the Council to optimise its resources to maintain the Fields (for example,
through the use of The Conservation Volunteers).

Last but not least, CREOS’s regular newsletters and social programme, including its Christmas party
and AGM, have raised CREOS’s profile with decision makers including local MPs, councillors and the
local press while providing a focus for contact between the committee and members.