Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Campaign for 30 minutes of free parking on Green Lanes: Is this localism?
Local Lib Dems on Green Lanes last weekend (Photo via Flickr)
The Harringay Traders organisation have long campaigned for cheaper parking on Green Lanes. Last weekend the Haringey Lib Dems launched their campaign supporting this demand with a call for 30 minutes of free parking on Green Lanes.
Some argue that this measure is essential for the survival of our high street since it is so dependent on visitors from around London and beyond, many of whom come for a day out at the restaurants, bakeries, clothes, shops and so on.
Others have suggetsed that a high street ought to be more focussed on serving a locally resident population and that reducing the cost of parking will only serve to attract more traffic to the area. But is Green Lanes just too big to put its focus locally in the current climate of failing high streets?
What do you think? Is this campaign hitting the nail on the head, supporting the spirit of localism and helping our high street to thrive? Or is it missing the local dimension?
Tags for Forum Posts: high street parking, high streets
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Justin Guest on
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Fair enough Alan, but the fact seems to be that the council grossed over half a million quid from tickets on GL last year. The comment still stands.
Now, perahps I could turn us away from the what is clearly a tangential statement and bring us back to my original point, that cars do not need to be parked on GL. There was a perfectly good mechanism for 2 hrs free parking on each ladder road that worked excellently for a great many people...
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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At the time, Justin, I intuitively made exactly the same assumption as lots of other people - that the nice big earner on Green Lanes was from overstaying parking meters. The truth is also that I had a predisposition to believe this. Because I think many the signs aren't clear and ought to be. (But that's a national government issue; they should pick up the phone to the Plain English Campaign!)
But as you saw, I was completely wrong about the figures from 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2010. So while - as you say - Haringey "grossed over half a million quid from tickets on Green Lanes", this related to the entire length of the A105 between the Hackney and Enfield borough boundaries. With a tiny number of fines related to parking bays.
Can I please ask you to consider a wider point - one I find increasingly troubling. The internet gives us tools to help check and cross-check facts. But it also provides a series of linked echo chambers where myths and half-truths can be endlessly repeated.
For example, I googled the phrase "green lanes parking tickets". A few entries down I came to this link: a webpage headed "London Street Generates £1m In Parking Fines".
No, not Haringey, but a street in Clapham. According to this website, Green Lanes Haringey "scraped into second place with a paltry £606,903." I've don't know where this figure came from. But from the pattern in 2009/10, and even if it was a different year, it seems highly unlikely that most or even a large part of that income would have been from parking fines. Though that is precisely what the website claims.
My wider issue isn't about parking. It's ordinary people trying to see and say truth among a flood of 'spin', 'narrative', exaggeration, rumour, cover-up and deliberate lying, whether by the media, political parties, or commercial interests.
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Permalink Reply by Jeremy Bevan on
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Excellent idea, I'm all for it. I can't see it not helping to increase trade for local shops.
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Permalink Reply by Sapphireblue on
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My residents parking permit, as I am at the Fairfax Rd end of Green Lanes does not give me free parking in Harringay/Ladder part. This means I can't pop up to Yasser Halim for a cake,or to any of the other shops - I am more likely to drive to Sainsbury's where I can park, or go to WG where I can also park. If I have time I'll walk or get the bus to G Lanes shops. Carrying heavy bags of vegetables (although I do it sometimes)is not really feasible as have back problems. This is reality. This is why local traders want these measures, because majority of us will pop in far more often to their shops if we could park more easily outside/nearbye. If its an effort to park we won't bother. We're all too busy. I've had several parking tickets along there. And the other day I rescued my car minutes from being towed away, coz I'd bought a ticket but misunderstood the complicated instructions re the permit times on the sign - I was grabbing some brunch at Obergine - had to leave it half eaten. I do walk or bus it normally but that day.... It's just too much hassle... and it is a deterrent when you're busy.
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A frank, interesting and in many ways refreshing comment. Since it tells the truth and avoids the usual political cant about walking/driving/public transport.
But as I'm sure you realise, it does pose a long list of tricky policy questions. Such as who gets to use the "public" highway for free; for which purposes and for how long. And whether it's a good idea to "withdraw" children from streets into cars.
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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on
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No! Me and the forty odd other people on the bus (which takes up 2 car spaces) will crawl even more slowly along the lanes while the 2 people in the car will benefit from being a few minutes closer to the cake shop. Does not compute.
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Permalink Reply by Kerrie on
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As a pedestrian, people parking and then doing U-turns in Green Lanes, thereby causing traffic/buses to come to a standstill, should not be encouraged.
I think a bigger issue re parking is streets where the restrictions run till 10pm every night, which is the case for roads around the back of Alexander Road/Wood Green High Street It is not necessary as there little traffic, the shops are closed and visitors to the cinemas would park nearer to it in the multistorey. A vistor I had the other night had to stand beside her car for 15 minutes before 10pm (2hr permit just expired, no point in putting another one on especially as they are such a pain to get hold of) whilst 2 traffic wardens circled in a car hoping to catch her out.
Is this the best use of council resources at a time of such severe cut backs?
Come on Haringey Council, think about this. A waste of resources and just plain wrong.
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Permalink Reply by Ian on
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I have cycled down greens lanes daily for years coming from work in canary wharf and can confirm that it poses extra dangers for cyclist due to other motorist and pedistrains. However with that said I do appreciate that local business need casual trade from non locals and traders would benifit if it is easy for a passing motorist to quickly stop and use a local shop when required. I too would love a paved area free of traffic with outside cafe space but is it realistic given green lanes is not covent garden with high level shopping outlets that would attract shoppers to browse for hours. what would be the point to have paved areas only for traders or certain type of traders to disappear forever. GL to me is like a hybred of a corner shop and small high street but like corner shops,people want ease and convenience of access without have to take a bus because there is no parking. Unfortuately as a person has previously stated, we leave busy hectic lives and there is still a big culture of car driving and someone who is commited to driving is unlikely to take the bus for a convenience quick shopping at GL. If you were opening up a new business, you would seriously have to consider the impact of limited parking and if we as residents near to GL want to have a vibrant GL, then we also need to consider from the traders point of view and compromise.
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If the buses crawled along even slower would that not put off bus users from visiting the shops? If I lived in Finsbury Park I might be tempted to pop on a 29 to get some exciting veg and a Gozleme, but not if that bus was going to crawl along at a snails pace. Planning often seems to exclude the needs of bus users and prioritise drivers and cyclists, even though I suspect that numbers wise more people travel up GL on the bus than any other way
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I think you're right that the vast majority of GL shoppers arrive by bus, the bus lanes should be enhanced so people are not wasting time sitting on a bus in traffic when they could be spending money.
However I'm kind of amazed you think planning prioritises cyclists at the expense of buses, I can think of no examples of this on or near GL! In fact the recent GL refurb has done absolutely nothing for people on bikes (despite the large numbers who currently shop by bike on GL and the obvious potential for improvements), a real missed opportunity to improve things for everyone (including bus passengers and drivers!).
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I received an email today from Haringey Lib Dems and I see that this is one of the Lib Dems campaign policies.
Interestingly I'm on their mailing list because I'd emailed them about cycling in Harringay and they had replied to tell me that they were committed to making cycling easier and safer in the borough ...
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