Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Residents Association for Harringay Ladder
A number of HOL contributors have suggested that there is a need for a Harringay Ladder Residents Association (RA) - in particular so that those residents can be represented on, or have access to, various Haringey Council Groups, such as the Finsbury Park Stakeholders Group; and can also present a united front to the Council on matters such as parking, rubbish collection, developments, etc as well as promoting appropriate cultural events.
Membership would presumably be open to residents aged over 16 within the following boundaries:
Green Lanes West, from Endymion Rd to Turnpike Lane
Turnpike Lane South, from Green Lanes to Wightman Rd
Both sides of Wightman Rd and Alroy Rd
Endymion Rd
As a first step, it will be necessary to assemble a group of interested people to form an interim committee to discuss what form the RA should take and to agree a constitution, after which the RA can be formally established ( to be effective, an RA has to conform to various legal requirements ) . It would be necessary at an early stage to consider whether the proposed Ladder RA would conflict with any other RAs in the catchment area.
I would like to hear from anyone who is prepared to take part in this initial work ( and it will involve work ) by email to macbeast76@hotmail.com,. Please give full name and your preferred email address and outline any special areas of expertise that could be useful to the RA.
If you have read this far, thank you for your interest 
Tags for Forum Posts: residents association , ladder
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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Residents Associations are Evil. The council should just allocate resources fairly.
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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on
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Evil they may be John but I think we need to accept the reality that they get resources and have influence the way things work at the moment.
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I'd like to be involved John. Sent you an email.
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Permalink Reply by John D on
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There has been a suggestion that a Ladder Residents Association already exists in the form of the Ladder Community Safety Partnership ( LCSP ) and that a Ladder RA would merely duplicate this. Given that the LCSP has been in being for many years and we still have massive problems with rubbish collection, abuse of Finsbury Park, enforcement of the Ladder-wide 7.5 T and 20 mph limits, are Ladder residents happy with the present situation ?
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Permalink Reply by Stuart on
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Absolutely. As I understand it, the LSCP is a partnership - with other local bodies. A RA would be run by residents, for the residents. Different aims and objectives, right? But no criticism of the LSCP intended!
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Permalink Reply by Geoff Amabilino on
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I'm curious.
How do you see LCSP's aims and objectives as different? According to the HOL entry they have been involved in (copy/pasted):
- new and improved street lighting
- removal of commercial rubbish from Green Lanes
- twice daily collection of traders’ rubbish
- more trees and hanging baskets on Green Lanes
- a major effort to freshen up Harringay Passage
- opposing undesirable planning and licensing applications
Certainly they have been very hot on the last point.
Is it better to form a new body or join in with, influence and possibly revitalise an existing well connected organisation to further your aims and objectives?
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Would a self-appointed residents association (or any other structure) necessarily be any more representative or open? What is proposed here looks like a self appointed umbrella organisation - a group to represent the the whole Ladder. The same but different.
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" Self-appointed " is a loaded expression. If it seemed that many of the residents wanted an RA, who would appoint the association, other than those residents ?
The association could be as open as the members wanted it to be - which I would hope would be totally transparent.
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Residents associations have a different focus I think Geoff. For a start, an RA is to represent the people who live in an area, not businesses, and there are issues on which priorities differ. As an example you will have seen on this site the massive dissatisfaction with the domestic waste collection service. The LCSP is not a group that would lobby for changes on an issue like this, it's simply not in it's remit. RAs are open mechanisms to bring people together and give them a voice. The Gardens RA is an example of this. Surely that is a good thing.
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Hi Michael,
My point above was that perhaps with fresh blood the LCSP could change its remit to tackle the issues you want to focus on. I'm not saying it will - I don't know the membership other than Ian and Eileen. As far as I know it does not represent businesses - that is done by the Traders Association - but has worked with traders, as have GRA and WPRA, to the benefit of the area.
I have absolutely no problem with RAs - I am secretary for WPRA and know that while it takes a lot of work to keep things going there can be great benefits - but from this thread it looks like there isn't a lot of appetite for a new group, which is why I suggested using existing structures.
That said, I wish you well in your venture. If you've got a small core you could always try doorstepping people or leafletting so that you get those not on HOL etc. The latter has worked quite well for us on occasion.
Geoff
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I suppose Geoff that for me the difference between an RA and a body like the LCSP is that an RA can take a public stance on things that may mean being in opposition to or critical of things like council services or council policies, if that is what the members feel they want to do. Examples might be issues like waste collection or some aspects of the Green Lanes improvements, both of which have produced a lot of debate on and off this site. I think that a body like the LSCP might find it difficult to publicly say that it think Haringey have got it wrong and to campaign for change.
You are right of course that HoL is not the sole way to get something like an RA off the ground and to manage its activities. I don't think that anyone claims that HoL is representative of the people living in the area, nor is it meant to be as it is a public, open forum, but it's a good start and if an RA gets off the ground, it would be one of many ways that communication and debate can happen.
You are also right that nothing beats old fashioned door knocking and leaflet drops to try and get the widest section of the Ladder community involved.
At the moment I think this is about testing the water. If there is no appetite for it, of course it won't happen.
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