Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Finsbury Park Strategy Group to be established
Chair of Scrutiny Cllr Gideon Bull demanded that officers get the ball rolling on this by the end of the month.
I will post further updates when more information is available.
Emine Ibrahim
Labour Party Candidate (Harringay Ward)
Tags for Forum Posts: finsbury park, finsbury park events, finsbury park stakeholder group
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by John D on
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Clive, it's on a par with the careless, or perhaps deliberately misleading, wording of a Haringey flyer in a previous election which said that the Tories on Islington Council had prevented immigrants from voting. I thought this shocking and checked. It transpired that the Islington Tories had declined to support a Labour proposal to take special measures to encourage immigrants to vote, a very different thing.
As far as I know, no immigrant entitled to vote was prevented from voting.
I raised this with one of the Labour candidates who agreed that the wording of the flyer was misleading but said " It's just semantics isn't it ". Since semantics is about the meaning of words I could only agree.
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on
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John, I agree that wording is important. The establishment of The Finsbury Park Strategy Group is a major, important outcome – with just one or two provisos:
- It's neither major nor important
- It's neither an outcome nor established
- It's not strategic: Cabinet and Scrutiny have already decided the future
- It's not about Finsbury Park as a whole, but the residual parts, not yet rented out
- It'd be a group only in the sense that it'd be a group of council + selected compliant cronies
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Bonjour TBD,
Having another Strategy Group (one for Finsbury Park) cannot now affect the big strategic mistake by Cabinet and Scrutiny to privatise, regularly, the major part of our park. A Quango is offered as a sop, but what might it look like?
Possibly similar to an existing council-controlled Group?
I'm unfamiliar with the Green Lanes Strategy Group, but I am aware that its constitution has been questioned. Would a Finsbury Park Group be set up along the lines of the Green Lanes Group?
- invitees only
- non-elected appointees
- no admittance for the public
- no published agendas or minutes
- no public notice of meetings?
Source: HOL wiki
Would there be public consultation on it's set-up, and on the precise remit?
It's all moot. When, at Monday's Scrutiny meeting, the Chairman dramatically demanded that it [a Quango] be set up by the end of this month, the Cabinet Member with responsibility for parks responded, if that's what you want, that's what you will have.
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Permalink Reply by David Barry on
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If that was on a flyer then it was doubly missleading as there are no Tory members of Islington Council now, nor have there been any for at least the last 16 years.
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Permalink Reply by matthew cuthbert on
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The Hidden River Festival gave a good indicator what community festivals can do and bring
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25,000 is enough for any pop festival, over that and it looses the plot, the Hop Farm Festival is about this size and you can take your family camping, see the likes of Iggy Pop & Morrissey without any fears.
Finsbury Park Stone Roses meant police weren't able to get access through the crowd to do their job effectively.
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Over 20 years of gigs at Finsbury Park have been brilliant for me, with Massive Attack, Paul Weller, Fluke, New Order, Pulp, The Wailers, Benley Rhythm Ace, Fleadh & the TUC gigs, I wouldn't change a thing,
sure the events need better management and careful impact assessment on the park itself, but don't dump the gigs from the park.
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I wouldn't change a thing ... but don't dump the gigs from the park.
Matthew, you may have got the wrong end of the stick here. It is the Council that is proposing changing "a thing" – but changing things in the opposite way that you seem to believe.
Far from ending the gigs in the park, the council is proposed a big increase in the very biggest gigs. This, in order to raise far more money than is needed, merely to maintain Finsbury Park.
Disingenuous
There are few aspects of the council's new policy that have not involved deception. Even the Chairman of the Scrutiny Committee echoed and repeated criticism by members of the public, of representations of the Cabinet Member and his department as disingenuous.
This word cropped up several times (but the voiced criticism had no practical outcome, as the committee chairman later voted to support his party colleague. The fine words were for show, or good PR).
The Scrutiny Committee heard proposals from several on the committee for an increase in the number of smaller gigs, rather than increasing the size of the mega-events. These sensible compromise suggestions were ignored.
One of the things that struck me was, that the three hour meeting heard practically all the objections and they were many and varied. The chair could not be faulted for allowing a full, fair airing. And yet, despite the overwhelming reasons for caution, the ruling group-controlled committee would not check the Cabinet steamroller.
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Permalink Reply by GillianM on
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Hi Emina
Sorry I am a bit late to this but I want to express my unhappiness about this decision by Labour. What on earth is the point of setting up a strategy group to give residents a voice when the existing Friends of the park did speak out and were ignored on such an important matter as the effective selling off of our park ? I'm afraid to me the strategy group is so obviously a complete sham to detract from what has really happened.
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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The Green Lanes Strategy Group is formally a committee of the Council which together with backing from a cabinet member seems to have given it teeth.With that in mind, some questions for you, Emina. (You are allowed to phone a friend or even go 50-50).
Does the proposal for a Finsbury Park Strategy Group also suggest that it will be a council committee?
Is there any clarity on what the residents' "voice" which actually mean? Will they be shouting in an echo chamber or is there some process by which their voice as expressed through this group will be given some weight?
Who will be deciding on whether a group is established and it's make-up, powers etc? Will the residents' voice also be heard in this part of the process?
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Hugh, we've come to the end of another month and I think its time to conclude that there is not and will not be a Strategy Group in respect of Finsbury Park (you will recall a Strategy group for FP had been promised by the end of January).
Although there are references to a "Strategy Group" on this thread, I have not been able to find any reference to it on the council's website – or anywhere else on the web. This shouldn't surprise anyone, since the strategy (to sweat the asset) was set by the Cabinet Executive months ago: the last thing the Labour-led Council wants is any new, revised or competing strategy.Our park is under threat from the entity charged with its stewardship.
I have heard that a "stakeholder" group may have met once. As far as I am aware, it was not advertised and the public did not witness its deliberations, let alone allowed to participate. I've not seen anything formal or official. "Membership" appears to have been by invitation only and being a stakeholder is defined by the council. There appears to be no published agenda or Minutes.Even if the stakeholder meeting had been called a "Strategy group", its clear that the private group will not undertake strategy. I doubt the so-called "stakeholder" group can make any decisions.
Is this not a sop and sham?
Is there any reason to believe its a voice for residents? Or add anything to what wasn't there before?Did the stakeholder meeting have any remit, powers or constitution? There's scant evidence of its meeting. Will it meet again? Would anyone notice if it didn't?
Disclosure:
am a prospective councillor candidate
Highgate Ward | Liberal Democrat Party
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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Clive, perfectly valid questions. But . . .
(1) Why not make things a bit easier for everyone by posting your comment at the end of this thread in date order, rather than under Hugh's comment on 16 January? A short recap paragraph could be an intro for new readers.
(2) Have you followed up Emine's suggestion of joining or linking-up with the Friends of Finsbury Park Group? If so, with what outcome? I'm not insisting that everyone must always work through established groups. But wouldn't you agree that there can be strength in numbers? And that the thoughts, observations, and knowledge of local people already involved should be respected and listened to?
(3) Apart from looking on the Council's website, what steps have you actually taken to find out what has or hasn't happened? For instance, have you sent in any questions to the Council. E.g. by email or Freedom of Information Act requests? Have your three Stroud Green ward councillors asked? Obviously they have an excellent reason to be kept informed as the ward runs along almost the entire length of the park.
As you know, I share your worry about the ruling KoberTories' approach to "sweating the assets". But then, they are only accommodating to the existing system London-wide. Which sees publicly owned assets as a cost and a burden to be sold-off and exploited. Not as real or potential common-wealth.
(Tottenham Hale ward councillor)
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