Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Benched!
Where have all the benches in Finsbury Park gone?
Walked along the inner road that runs parallel to Seven Sisters. There used to be a bench on the pavement either side, every 100 or so yards - now there is a single forlorn bench along the entire stretch from the Finsbury Park Gate to the Manor House Gate.
What has happened and are they coming back?
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Clive Carter
-
WHERE indeed?!
The council say they generate £1.2 million from our park over the summer. Their Events Team call it the "Events Season" (through intensive commercial exploitation by corporate customers).
A High Court ruling held that all the cash the council raises on the back of Finsbury Park, must be spent in Finsbury Park.
There is little or no evidence of such a sum being spent on our public park. Certainly not on the shrinking number of benches in various states of repair. Much of the money is going elsewhere.
It's a question of priorities. The council give far a higher priority to culture, while Finsbury Park is treated as one of their of their lowest priorities. In the long run, in my view, the park is too important to be left in Haringey hands and needs to be taken out and run by a responsible steward.
-
Permalink Reply by John McMullan
-
I disagree. Because the main openings are on to Islington and Hackney I think it was always setup as a cash cow for Haringey. I appreciate that I should not attribute to malice what I could attribute to incompetence.
I'm just looking at how Haringey was setup with the west having less representation than the east, split down the east coast mainline.
-
-
John, I'm not sure what you're disagreeing with!
It sounds like you agree that this public park is a low priority for LBH HQ, and largely for the geographic reasons you've pointed out.
The cynical council get away with the noise and disruption of their major events at Finsbury Park, because two-thirds of the aggravation caused by their corporate customers falls on the residents of other Boroughs. And they truly could not care less.
They would never get away with their Major Events in a park nearer the middle of the Borough.
Outside their Events Season, Finsbury Park remains a particularly low priority for the same reason: due to the location at the extreme southernmost tip of the Borough, well away from the centre.
-
-
"too important to be left in Haringey hands and needs to be taken out and run by a responsible steward" I disagree with that. Sorry, I could have been much clearer. I think that it's not something Haringey have stumbled onto. I think that there in the original planning of the borough, Finsbury Park was given to Haringey to milk. I mean, it doesn't even require that much maintenance outside of the restoration from the summer events.
-
Permalink Reply by Gordon T
-
Finsbury Park was given to Haringey in 1986 when the GLC (which ran it) was killed off, because it was within the borough boundary established in 1963. Whether Hackney or Islington expressed interest in taking it over I wouldn't know, but it would have needed extra legislation to vary the boundaries.
-
-
I don't think it was always set up as a cash cow for Haringey. Although it sometimes hosted events in the past, 10 years ago these went into overdrive when then-leader Claire Kober promoted her Major Event policy.
In the relevant Cab meeting, she said the council had considered "privatising" the park, suggesting that we ought to feel grateful for the policy (i.e. the politician's old trick of inducing gratitude for losing only one leg, when you feared losing both).
———
But what happened, is that swathes of the park are in fact privatised, every summer when the ordinary public might like to make the most use.
Under Leader Kober's successors—Joseph Ejiofor and now present leader Peray Ahmet—the commercialising policy has intensified, alongside the wearing of our park.
This managed decline includes the reducing number of benches, some of which are in a poor state of repair.
Unlike the ballooning rebel Borough of Culture 2027—and outside the gig venue period—benches for the tired, elderly or families are not a priority. Particularly when two-thirds may be foreigners* who might which to sit down and there are no PR or photo opportunities.
The maintenance that is required after the summer events is either not done, done poorly or typically, delayed until just a few weeks before the next "events season".
*i.e. Residents of Hackney or Islington who pay council tax to a foreign jurisdiction.
-
-
Pitch a tent, they don't seem to move.
-
-
Possibly casualties of the repeated summer music in that part of the park, since an unexpected bench in the dark is not just a trip hazard but a local crowd barrier come exit time. Elfnsafetee.
They could be removed, stored, then replaced afterwards for the next 10 months of public use but, naahhh it seems...
© 2025 Created by Hugh.
Powered by
