Sohail Ali and his hopes for Turnpike Lane

Sohail Ali

Harringay Green Lanes has undergone wide-reaching refurbishment in recent years and these improvements have not gone unnoticed, with other parts of the Haringey Borough hoping to follow suit. To sustain future regeneration, Haringey Council set out the Wood Green Area Action Plan (WGAAP) early in 2016 year for investment in the regeneration of Wood Green and the surrounding locality. The WGAAP aims to improve the high street and social life of the area, develop transport links and create a residential-led town centre with a focus on new homes. One street hoping to benefit from the plan is Turnpike Lane.

We spoke to life-long resident and jeweller turned estate agent, Sohail Ali at his company Gaya & Co Properties Ltd to find out more about the locality, its enterprising Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi or South Asian-origin population and his hopes that the street will be renovated.

Born in Mauritius, Sohail  moved to Turnpike Lane at just 3-months old, he and his family have had strong ties to the area ever since. His Father, originally from India and Pakistan started his business career locally over 40 years ago, selling Indian clothes door to door before opening a shop on Turnpike Lane in 1979 and moving to a larger premises in 1982.

Sohail cares deeply about the street and has lobbied the council for improvements. “I’ve been connected to Turnpike Lane my entire life and I approached the council because traders were struggling over parking,” he explained. “We managed to get pay and display and loading bays for the street. From there we established an unofficial Turnpike Lane Traders Association,” he said, adding that more work was needed.

He explained that the area needs investment, “the whole of Haringey has been regenerated but Turnpike Lane hasn’t, but now we’ve been promised by local councillors that they’re going to do something about this and regenerate the area.” “Growing up here was beautiful” he said, explaining that his fingers were crossed that the WGAAP would deliver changes for the benefit of the local community, businesses and future generations. “We’ve also joined the Haringey Business Alliance now, and we are getting so much support from traders in Muswell Hill, Green Lanes and Wood Green, we can only hopefully see things getting better for us,” he said.

Sohail added that Turnpike Lane had the potential to become a hub for South Asian culture and business because of the area’s large long-standing Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi-descent population whose first generation began to settle in the area in the late 1960s and early 1970s. “We’re a very cosmopolitan street, and for me Turnpike Lane should be a top Asian area like Southall Broadway, Wembley, Brick Lane or Bethnal Green, but we haven’t been able to establish ourselves yet. We’ve seen what’s happened in Green Lanes and we want to get there too.” The South Asian-origin community has contributed hugely to the character of the street which includes shisha cafes, Indian restaurants, markets and clothing stores.