Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Warning - Giving Away Furniture
Hi everyone
Just wanted to offer a word of warning, after a recent (expensive) mistake...
We had a small bedside table that was in perfect condition and was no longer needed. I did what I've always done with small household items and furniture having lived in London for 15 years - placed it just outside my gate with a sign attached saying "free to a good home." A few weeks later, a penalty notice arrived for £400 for fly-tipping, and the threat of a £20,000 fine if I didn't pay on time.
I emailed the enforcement team, explaining this was a genuine mistake on my part and not an attempt to dispose of furniture illegally (would have been a terrible plan if so, given I was so easily traceable with the item being directly outside my property.) It was a very small piece of furniture that wasn't blocking the public pathway. And, more importantly, I'm not a fly-tipper - I recently had our kitchen renovated and paid hundreds to have the waste disposed of properly, and regularly hire cars to take bulky furniture or waste to the N22 recycling centre. The response was that the fine was issued correctly and I owed the council £400. Pretty annoying when genuine fly-tipping is a chronic issue on the ladder... case and point the soiled mattress at the end of my road two weeks ago, and the dismantled bed in the passage last week, but there we go... my wallet is now £400 lighter for the mistake. I suspect the owners of the mattress and bed aren't worse off but who knows...
But this is really just to say if you have furniture in good knick you want to give away, keep it inside your front garden gate. I've seen people nearby doing the same thing as me - not with rubbish but with clearly nice bits and bobs they want to offer up passers by - and would hate for anyone else to end up in my position!
Mx
Tags for Forum Posts: council, fine, flytipping
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Sarah on
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I think this was a bit harsh of Haringey.
In future I recommend using the app Olio to give furniture (and other items including food) away. It avoids putting things out in the elements too.
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Permalink Reply by Barbara Kentish on
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That's terrible! What a stupid thing for them to do! I sometimes see things I like outside houses and it seems such an easy way to recycle.
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Permalink Reply by Brian on
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Hi Marv I re-posted your post on the following Facebook groups: Crouch End Appreciation Society, The Real Crouch End Appreciation Society, and the Crouch End and Stroud Green noticeboard. It has received around 60 -70 responses and numerous comments (largely in support of you.) I think LBC Radio might be interested in picking up on this story. I could contact the choir leader who was also fined like you for leaving an item out for re-cycling. If it came to it how would you feel about telling your story on the radio? Regards Brian (Feel free to email me: brian@spoken4.net.)
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That's got me thinking - when you put it outside did you post about it anywhere online Marv? That's how the council would have linked it to you if so
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Permalink Reply by Marv on
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Hi Brian - oh wow, amazing to hear it’s had that level of response! Am glad the problem is now a point of discussion / on people’s radar as my hope in sharing was I could stop others making the same mistake. I’m afraid I’m just a little too shy to take the airwaves but very much appreciate you spreading the message.
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OK Understood, Marv. Your post here has been seen by at least 1500 people here and many more now on Facebook. I mentioned going to the Local Govt. Ombudsman. I think you would be pretty sure of getting your £400 back and, as a test case, this would mean that the Council would not be permitted to repeat this petty-minded fining of people for a charitable act of re-cycling. Plus they would have to re-imburse all those who were 'caught' like you. Let us know how you get on. BB
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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The obvious common sense response by the Council would have been to cancel the fine and instead give helpful warning/advice.
As a former Labour councillor for 16 years (until 2014) I must have sent in several thousand reports and photos of rubbish dumping and littering. Together with online posts of critical and satirical comments about Haringey's failures to tackle rubbish problems. So, Mary, if I'd been your councillor and suggested a fine was too harsh, I might have prompted some sarcastic thoughts by Council staff.
There is a far bigger set of problems than making fines fairer - essential though that is. The back pages of Haringey Online contain hundreds of examples of how residents have described, discussed and made suggestions about how things might change in how the borough tackles waste - if only as limited experiments.
Your efforts to turn waste into value are a sensible and ethical response to the obvious multiple crises of our society. As we risk choking on the waste products and pollution of endless "growth" - stuff, stuff and more stuff. At the same time as many of society's members are inadequately housed and fed.
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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A thug in hi-viz comes to your property as you’re doing something you’ve done for decades and you know your neighbours do too, and demands your email address and DoB (he already has your address) so he can send you a £400 fine. Totally, normal.
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Permalink Reply by Konrad B on
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The Council's contractors Veolia are themselves guilty of dumping waste. On Friday 18th, 9 or 10 bags of waste were dumped on the pavement at the junction of Elyne and Stapleton Hall Roads, they still haven't been picked up. Is this an offence and will Veolia be fined? Anyway I have reported this to the Council's flytipping web site, it will be interesting to see the reaction.
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Permalink Reply by John Harrison on
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This is not dumping, do you expect the sweeper to carry these full bags around with them? Sweepers leave bags at designated areas to be collected by a vehicle.
As for this post, the public highway is not a showroom for people to put their unwanted good, I don’t know why you think this is ok!
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Don’t worry - I’ve been charged £400 so, as I’ve clearly stated, I won’t be doing it again and have warned others not to do the same. That was the purpose of the post.
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Of course I don’t expect the sweeper to carry these bags all day, however I do expect Veolia to pick them up in a timely manner and not to leave them on the pavement for days. The bags in the picture were deposited on the Friday and not picked up until the following Tuesday. I don’t know how long Veolia’s contract allows them to leave bags on the pavements, being generous say two days, on the third day I think that the term dumping is appropriate.
John do you have some sort of connection with Veolia as I notice that of your five posts on HoL four concerned waste and or Veolia?
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