Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
A Dangerous Junction Haringey Will Not Make Safe
We have a junction which Haringey Council will not keep safe. The problem is quite simple; there is a traffic island at the bottom of Muswell Hill containing plants which are allowed to grow over drivers’ eye level. The result is cars cannot see traffic coming from other directions. It is especially dangerous when the traffic lights change, as I discovered when I nearly ran over a motor cyclist not long ago. It happened because we could not see each other. Pedestrians are also at risk because they suddenly emerge from behind bushes and cannot be seen until they are on the road which is a little too late. Drivers need to see pedestrians before they are on the road.
As far as I can ascertain, Haringey will only these plants back if someone like me reports it. Haringey should keep the plants cut to a safe level and commit to it.
Has anyone got any ideas on how to get Haringey to do the right thing before there is a serious accident?
On the next post, I have described the saga that has prevented a simple piece of maintenance being done as a matter of course.
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
-
Oh come now! As you drive from Muswell HIll (land of zebra crossings) towards Tottenham you will find the junctions and high streets get more driver friendly until you get to places like Willoughby Rd/Green Lanes and Lordship Lane/Downhills Way/The Roundway where pedestrians are either ignored or actively discouraged from putting a foot on the road.
-
Permalink Reply by Mr Wodjacallim on
-
Driver friendly? I am talking about safety and the need to see other traffic and pedestrians !!!
It sounds like there may be more poorly maintained junctions. I would be surprised if the Priory/Park Road junction is the only instance of its kind, there are likely to be other similar junctions in the Borough.
But if pedestrians are ignored,someone at least knows they are there. Not being seen is much more dangerous..
-
-
I have had the same problem with the planters on Umfreville Road near the Harringay Passage becoming so overgrown that you have to bend right into the road to see past the foliage when crossing by which time your head could easily be taken off by a speeding van or lorry. I report it via the Haringey app when it gets bad and they usually cut it back within a day or two, but it regrows very quickly. I would recommend using that route.
-
-
I cannot say that has been my experience. It took 2/3 weeks to get the plants cut - and the Haringey would not commit to ensuring they remain at a safe height.
Have you read the Full Saga I posted?
-
-
The planters outside North Harringay school were forcibly moved by the council because of just this reason. Depressing that they don't have the same standards for themselves.
-
-
Well I would not like to see them taken out simply because Haringey cannot be bothered to maintain. The real issue is the resource has effectively been hijacked for Councillor's vanity projects. Councillors Weston, Jogee etc are probably blissfully unaware of it.
-
-
The Full Saga
We all know what Haringey can be like, it will not commit to maintaining the junction as a matter of course which makes no sense. This junction has been the unsafe on three occasions in the last two years. The first time was in December 2015 when a safety consultation was conducted and the problem was highlighted. The Council stated its intention at the time to “declutter” the junction which probably meant to prune the plants. The Council did nothing I can see.
In April 2016, I reported the issue again after a near miss involving a motor cyclist I nearly ran over because we could not see each other. At the time, Haringey would not commit to maintaining the junction on a regular basis.
Earlier this month, I found the plants on the junction needed to be cut, so I made another complaint because the junction should never be in the condition I found it.
I received a reply from the Parks Manager to tell me the traffic island is visited and maintained twice per year. I live round the corner and I am certain it could not possibly have been maintained twice per year. Even if it were, the flower bed contains a young sycamore tree which can grow ten feet per year. It also contains wild flowers which can easily grow above driver’s eye level in weeks, let alone six months. The Parks Manager then went on to say “We are happy to attend the site more often in response to requests from residents” and appears not to grasp the point this work needs to be done before anyone notices it because it is a safety issue. The Parks Manager also said “I am not aware of the safety consultation you refer to”. Plainly, if anyone had ever mentioned the safety consultation to the Parks Manager, he might recognise the need to keep the plants below eye level without having to be told.
I made an FoI request to find out how the junction should be maintained and the Council’s Policy on it. The reply from the Feedback and Governance Officer said “Please see our website for information on road safety” http://www.haringey.gov.uk/parking-roads-and-travel/roads-and-stree... The link did not provide the information I requested which they must have known before they sent it. They must also have known the Park Manager would know where to find the information because he subsequently said Parks Dept was responsible for maintaining it every six months.
The Feedback & Governance Officer wrote to me and made the following statement “As the flowerbed has now been cleared, there is no urgency in this matter.” Clearly they had not grasped the point that the Council needs to maintain the flower bed more regularly. They also grumbled about my contacting the Operations Director’s Assistant to escalate the issue. The Director’s Assistant, as you would expect, pushed the issue back to the Parks Department. A very good way of going round in circles which is what has been happening.
As the issue is not being dealt with, I expected Haringey’s Director of Operations to be involved and to resolve the issue. Haringey has written to me to say “The Chief Executive or Director of Commercial & Operations would not deal with such matters personally”. I would expect the Director to be involved if the matter had not been resolved. So it is fair to conclude Haringey is an unmanaged organisation. If someone does get seriously hurt, the Director of Commercial & Operations will almost certainly be involved and end up as the next Sharon Shoesmith.
Apart from the last two years, Haringey has maintained this traffic island without any problem. At least 18 years to my knowledge. Something evidently happened two years ago which resulted in repeated failures to maintain the traffic island. It looks like it started when a man described as the Beast from Barnet started a transformation of Haringey which has filled the Council with an extraordinary number of “Strategic” Directors.
A few local community groups like Friends of the Park and Residents Associations in well off areas can arrange for the Parks Department to mow an area in a matter of days as Councillors Jogee, Weston and Mann can confirm. Yet, it takes two or three weeks to get plants on a traffic island cut if you are not well connected. I had no idea parochialism was a Labour Policy. It is also a result of a silo based mentality described here. http://www.harringayonline.com/forum/topics/haringey-transformed
This organisational culture may also explain why Bay P and Victoria Climbie happen in Haringey and rarely anywhere else.
Haringey Council has a duty under the Road Traffic Act to keep roads in this Borough Safe. Senior council officers do not take responsibility nor do their staff. It seems the Director of Operations and Senior Councillors prefer to devote their attention to big projects like the regeneration of Tottenham at the expense of our safety. It is not the only show in town
The Parks Manager wrote in his reply this kind of conduct does not open Haringey to ridicule or expose it to legal action. I do not agree, if someone is seriously hurt, it could expose Haringey to a compensation claim of up to £5M. There are plenty of similar situations where Councils have had to compensate for failing to maintain roads properly.
Senior Councillors need to look at both why it is not possible for Haringey to safely maintain a traffic island and why it cannot be resolved without going public or being escalated to senior management. One suggestion I have is that Senior Councillors should tell the Director of Operations what is likely to happen if he will not see this issue is resolved.
© 2024 Created by Hugh.
Powered by
