Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
The Council
Is there anything Haringey Council does well? Does anyone have anything positive to say about it? Do they successfully represent any of the boroughs residents? I only ever hear complaints. Are they a "Rotten Borough" bunch of councillors? And if so how can we get them replaced with better councillors?
Or is it that the system of local government so fundamentally blighted by bureaucracy and cash limitations that they will never seem please the majority of the people?
Or is it that the system of local government so fundamentally blighted by bureaucracy and cash limitations that they will never seem please the majority of the people?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Liz on
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Phew big question. In a discussion with a Tottenham councillor about this not so long ago, there was one department who came up for praise, Libraries. The person who runs that department is a bit of a one off and has shaken it up and breathed new life into it. While most councils are discussing closing branches, Haringey has some of the busiest libraries in London, have extended opening hours and host all sorts of special events. So there you go, that's one thing they do well!
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Permalink Reply by Danzigger on
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Thanks - that's good to know. Libraries are brilliant, and incredibly important resources. However, I must confess I haven't used one for years!
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If you go in a small one like Stroud Green, you realise that for a lot of people its not about taking out books but accessing info; newspapers, free internet, resources. People study in there and children play and read in there. There are spaces for local people to display artwork, reading groups. Your library card now allows you to access certain databases (arts, business etc) and newspaper archives including the Times Digital archive) for FREE...I don't work for them by the way but I am amazed at how good they are!
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on
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Yes. This was not true up until about 2000 when the council plans were progressively to shut down and presumably sell off libraries, beginning with Highgate and Stroud Green and then moving on to close St. Anns and other small branch libraries.
Following opposition from local people, the council realised they needed to change their policy of closing branch libraries and replacing it with one or two super-libraries - great for staff & careers, not so good for the public for whom libraries are supposed to provide a service.
I was a small part of the local opposition (to the closure of Stroud Green library) and Haringey's former library-closure programme was the thing that first got me interested and involved in local affairs.
The libraries service had been seen as a Cinderella department and amazingly, the council did not see it as part of education and its funding was not part of the education budget. At one time, it was lumped in with sport (!).
The council brought in an outsider (Diana Edmonds of Instant Library Ltd.) who energised a demoralised library service and turned the thing around.
The jewel that is Stroud Green public library (50m west of Harringay railway station) is now refurbished and has the best opening hours it has had since it was opened as the first library in Haringey, in 1901.
The lesson from this is that Haringey council - who always believe they know best and who loathe consultation with the public (but pay lip service to it) - if left to themselves cannot be relied on to do the right thing. But they can be turned around from lunatic polices ... if people kick up enough fuss.
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Permalink Reply by RuthE on
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shame about Woodgreen library though, I find it such a depressing place Ive only managed to spend less than 2 mins in there. Its so dark and dusty, gives me asthma just walking in there. Last time I went in there (about 5 years ago, I just remember seeing an empty book shelf with Keith Cheggers autobiography on display (although his alcoholic years are apparently a good read). Have you ever been to the Forum in Norwich? Now thats what a modern day library should be like. The cinema Hollywoodgreen would make a good Forum type place wouldnt it?
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Permalink Reply by John D on
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Agreed Liz - libraries are pretty good. Bruce Castle too.
I think one major problem with the system of local govenment is that the councils are split into party-political factions. I wonder how many votes Nilgun Canver or Brian Haley would get if they didn't come under the Labour umbrella ? The way to get better councillors is surely to vote for the right people regardless of political affiliation. But you still get people whe say "I've always voted ....... and so did my father before me and I'm not going to change"
And regarding the alleged failings of the Child Protection Service, let's not forget that it was evil abusive adults who (allegedly) killed that child, not the CPS. We have a tendency to blame organisations, rather than individuals.
There would be a lot fewer complaints about rubbish in the streets if people didn't drop rubbish. I think the street cleaning is pretty good, considering.
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The failings of Haringey's Child Protection Service are more than just "alleged". Probably the biggest inquiry of its kind was instituted over the death of Victoria Climbie and it attracted national publicity at the time. LBH has had more than enough time to learn.
The extent to which the failings of the LBH Child Protection Service are merely "alleged" can be judged from The Victoria Climbié Inquiry. Lord Laming made 108 recommendations at the end of this exhaustive inquiry.
Nobody has accused Haringey Council of killing a baby or having a policy of killing babies. On the contrary, they have a laudable policy of protecting children from harm. Haringey set up a bureaucracy to prosecute this noble aim.
We have a right to ask questions about this service, because this is being done in our name using our money. Nobody blames the organisation for causing the abuse. But we ought to ask why the organisation failed to prevent it, when the 17-month-old had been placed on Haringey council's child protection register eight months before he died. We owe at least that much to the weakest in our society.
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Sorry Clive, I used the word "alleged" because I gathered the prosecution of the latest of these horrible cases was still in court.
And my badly-expressed point about the Child Protection Service was meant to say that in castigating the Service, we should not lose sight of the fact that it was the individual abusers who are primarily guilty.
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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I think it would be more than a mite tough to call Haringey rotten.
Everyone who's been on this site for a while knows that there are things I'd like to see changed in Haringey, but of course there are things it does well, others it does less well and things it doesn't do so well at all.
For me a big positve move will be as Haringey starts to take on board central government policy and work more closely with the people who live and work here. There is a tendency for many councils to be remote and poor at engagement. But you can't blame the councils alone. People have to take their share of the responsibility for not engaging.
A litmus test for me in this respect is when people reach out and offer to work in partnership with the council to get things done. We have a neighbourhood test case of this right now with the Harringay Charter. We suggested it to the local councillors. To their credit they have taken the idea on board. Now let's see if they really mean what they say when they state that they're willing to work in true partnership with the locals. Will it be real involvement, real consultation and really listening to us and taking our views on board - or will it be something quite different? The indications right now are good - but the prrof of the pudding etc.
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Permalink Reply by Birdy_Too on
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In the ten years that I have lived here the rubbish collection hsa got a lot better – honest, although fly tipping seems to have increased recently.
Also I moaned at the council for not having a comprehensive recycling service although more affluent areas of the borough did, Highgate, Muswell Hill etc They wrote back and explained they were having a new recycling truck and would be earmarked for Harringay as the people there showed great interest, including me and my two page letter.
The Library at Stroud Green and Crouch End are very good as are a lot of the leisure facilities in the borough.
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Permalink Reply by matt on
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It all comes down to funding. Sorry but it's pretty much as simple as that.
Good points;
1. Parks - lots of lottery money spent (e.g. Finsbury Park)
2. Pools - went to Park Rd pool for first time in years. Excellent refurb on the changing rooms. Whereas those at Tottenham aren't so good. They spent their money on the foyer and it ain't money well spent in my humble opinion.
3. WG High Rd pavement expansion/layout much improved from years back and excellent cycle park facilities.
4. efforts on recycling have been significant (although I'd like to know where it all ends up!)
5. Highways are a lot quicker now on repairs (especially if you say you saw someone go flying :) )
The not so good;
Customer services having been centralised. I'm afraid each time I ring up the old numbers I had for direct dept contact I end up being directed to customer services. The folk there do try but just can't seem to get to the point on any enquiry.
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