Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
A Finsbury Park Benchmark
Benchmarking
An unusable park bench, sited within a stone's throw of the Haringey Council Events Team offices in the background.
The "150" on their wall refers to the 150th anniversary of our park. Would the original Victorian designers, builders and gardeners not be appalled at the current, run-down state of the park they founded?
At upper left is the main entrance for vehicles. About 100 metres inside, sits one of the first two park benches available for the public. Four battens are missing
Is every penny of the £1.2 million Event income really reinvested in our park? Is the placing deliberate?
Meanwhile, 11 (eleven) park benches in better condition than this are locked away in the park Nursery, near the Manor House entrance.
Many months ago, those benches were removed from the long straight carriageway that runs through the area of the council's major Events hire premises.
They were in the way of the council's customer's Event. A few years ago, a wise Councillor remarked that the council had forgotten who its real customers were.
Rather than leaving the park benches in position and inconveniencing their commercial customer—or moving the benches back and forth between Events—it was thought best to keep them out of sight in the Nursery, where weeds now grown up between them.
Who cares?
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Tags for Forum Posts: Cllr Emily Arkell, Events Team, Finsbury Park, Haringey Council, Simon Farrow, bench, park bench
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter
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WERE they left in place, about a dozen park benches would inconvenience the council's big hire customers.
The Events Team—who dominate Finsbury Park—have done their level best to conceal several of them from public view.
Quite recently, an orange skip was placed at one end of the row of benches (upper right). This has the not incidental effect of further hiding the benches from casual glances from the plant Nursery entrance
However, many are currently visible over the nursery fence alongside the big poly tunnel
General taxation and council tax payers funded our benches, including the newer, black metal ones among the bench cache.
After next year's "Events Season", the healthy weeds growing up between the benches should complete the municipal disguise.
Has Haringey Council not truly forgotten who their real customer is?
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Permalink Reply by Jamie Harper
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These posts are a useful reminder of just how ineffectual the trustees and board members of the Friends of Finsbury Park have been over many years now. For the most basic of needs, from a place to sit, to potable water, the park users are being failed by an ongoing campaign of traducing council workers and officers.
You show great humility in highlighting your and the FoFP's failings here, Clive
But if the FoFP have no functional relationship with the council, what and whose purpose do they serve?
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