Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Another Assault on Our Road Use
Just when you thought Haringey Council's anti-residents parking assault had been beaten back a bit.....
Now the Council intends to spend more money it doesn't have on narrowing the borough's roads - including through routes - and further eliminating space to load, unload and park.
This time, the proposals are characterised as a "Kerbside Strategy". When I last looked, "kerbside" was either "road" and "pavement" separated by a kerb, and sometimes "road" and "verge" likewise.
Now, in a deceptively-worded policy trail in a Commonplace consultation at https://haringeykerbsideandevstrategies.commonplace.is, we are asked to accept that parts of "road" are to be made available available for other uses:
"The kerbside is the space that sits on the road next to the pavement. You might currently find cars, trees, cycle parking, or taxi bays here. Well-designed streets and spaces should benefit everyone, not just a few. We are considering proposals for other kerbside uses such as more trees, planting, car clubs, seating and outdoor eating areas and deliveries. "
The consultation that follows does not ask whether you agree to removing parts of the road for the other uses. It just asks questions as to what one would like to see or prefer for these uses. It also asks you to " Suggest locations for things you would like to see prioritised at the kerbside in Haringey." https://haringeykerbsideandevstrategies.commonplace.is/en-GB/map/Ke...
Some may disagree, but you may want to respond to the survey at Commonplace, and/or to tell your councillors that you do not want any further narrowing of roads or reduction of the limited space currently available for loading and parking in busy parts of the borough. The proposed narrowing at Turnpike Lane is a good example of a costly further restriction in an already slow-moving through road.
NK
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson
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Walking around the Ladder road you rapidly come to the conclusion that we live in a car park. Everything is designed for the convenience of drivers and not pedestrians. The very modest proposal to actually give more space to other road users (yes, even though I am a pedestrian I am also a road user as I cannot go anywhere without crossing one) is a good start.
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter
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I wonder if others have noticed the flawed phasing of traffic lights at the ghastly intersection of Green Lanes and Williamson Road?
As a walker, it is possible to cross to or from the pedestrian island/refuge in Green Lanes (opposite McDonalds) from and to the west side of Green Lanes with the Green man light, and yet to face motor traffic continuing to turn right from Williamson Road into Green lanes.
It's been like this for years. One day may lead to an "accident". This bad-phasing should not be possible, but it must happen daily. Several times I have pointed out the green man light to an oncoming driver.
Once, an oncoming car-user, sarcastically said "thank you" for giving way to me, but oblivious of who actually had the right of way. He could have chosen to run me down, but it was another example of driver entitlement.
I can't help wondering if this example of Highways design is incompetence, poor execution, poor checking, poor management or just a could-not-care attitude to pedestrians, who seem always to come last for the Highwaymen.
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On the northbound carriageway traffic has often passed the traffic lights and are stuck in traffic when they turn red and the pedestrian light goes green. They then start moving once the road ahead is clear despite the crossing being on the green phase.
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Permalink Reply by Mavic Starfish
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Here here Jim, less cars please
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Permalink Reply by Brian
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Another individual who responded stated that Haringey would be spending money that it does not have on this project and it is true that the Council coffers are bust. (The Council was recently awarded a £37m loan @ 5% interest by the govt.) but there has been a huge influx of £££ from fines of drivers straying in to the LTNs.
An FOI request revealed the following figures: the information is broken down into -
Financial Year
Actual income received from LTN PCNs
Total value of LTN PCNs
Number of LTN PCNS issued
2022/23*
£4,896,309.33
£13,478,539.00
103271
2023/24
£5,503,368.80
£20,576,566.00
145681
1st April 2024 - 31st October 2024
£1,762,394.05
£8,562,110.00
63023
*The dates for the 2022/23 period are from 15/08/2022 to 31/03/2023, as the first LTN was launched on 15/08/2022.
This gives a staggering total of income from fines on vehicles in LTNs as £42,617,215.00!
No wonder the Council ignored the responses of those who completed the consultation and went ahead and made them permanent. These sums represent regular, guaranteed income (to my mind the overriding factor in the permanent status of the LTNs - Kerching! - rather than some spurious notion of improving air quality when we know that quite the opposite has been the case on the Boundary roads.)
In addition, if the LTNs were done away with the Council would have to repay the govt. the setup costs of the LTNs. A further disincentive to their removal.
Because these sums have been generated in PCNs they can be used for traffic infrastructure projects.
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Permalink Reply by Elizabeth M
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It's really easy to avoid getting a PCN just follow the very clear signage. Shame that those who drive appear incapable of seeing them.
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Not necessarily so. In the case cited in the attached document the adjudicator upheld the driver's appeal on the grounds that Haringey Council had not installed sufficiently clear signage.
I imagine that many hundreds if not thousands of individuals have been unable to see the supposedly 'very clear signage' and received a PCN. Most will have either appealed and been rejected by the Council's appeals dept. - the standard approach - and then paid up or not bothered to appeal at all.
I was fortunate that I took a local council (not Haringey) to a tribunal and won my case receiving back the £250 towing fees inc. fine. I have just won a case against UKPC citing unclear parking boundary lines. Many people just pay up. If the case is unjust I fight it.
I would encourage individuals to check the many free advice websites if they feel that there was insufficient signage as in the attached case and to take their case to the independent arbitrator. - Attachments:
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Below is a condensed summary of the responses to the consultation on the 4 LTNs made permanent by Haringey Council (against overwhelming public opinion.)
Negative views on the boundary roads linked to the LTNs (where most people travel) were in the 75% - 82% range from general members of the public with specialists ie carers especially disenchanted with them. Businesses all said that trade was substantially down as a result of the LTNs with travel times increased.And yet the entire document is peppered with excuses mitigating the responses and whitewashing the feedback from the consultation.Some figuresSince the LTN was introduced, has the way you travel changed?30% are walking or wheeling more, 59% no change22% are cycling more, 55% no change22% are driving more, 55% no changeIn general, how do you feel about the LTN?Within the LTN* 15 43% feel positive 55% feel negativeBoundary road* 18% feel positive 75% feel negativeAll responses 35% feel positive 62% feel negativeHow has the LTN affected your experience of community in the area? 33% have not noticed any change 26% feel less connectedIn general, how do you feel about the LTN?Bounds Green 59% negative, 19% positiveBruce Grove West Green 59% negative, 18%St. Ann’s positive 60% negative, 18% positiveThe DisabledIn general, how do you feel about the LTN?Bounds Green 82% negative, 7% positiveBruce Grove West Green 82% negative, 5% positiveSt. Ann’s 79% negative, 7% positiveMost respondents stated that the trial LTNs made it more difficult to travel (84.2%), followed by increased travel time (70.2%)The majority of all respondents disagreed that journeys times for clients/customers have decreased (87.5%) since the introduction of the LTNThe majority of all respondents disagreed that journeys times for suppliers have decreased (85.0%), that suppliers can take direct routes to or from their business (77.5%), and that suppliers feel they can use active modes of travel (77.5%).Almost all (88.2%) of those responding reported that business has decreased as a result of the LTN."Across the three LTNs in Haringey the traffic count data shows how LTNs can reduce motor traffic including on the busiest internal roads"We would also expect the long-term outcomes to align with those recorded in our review of the evidence.Outcomes may not all be apparent at this point in the scheme monitoring, but could be anticipated over the long-term in the scheme areas. (Ed. This is all so much hooey. They are basing their decision on an assumed outcome, sometime / never.)While bus journey times on some internal roads have improved there are issues with bus performance on some boundary roads.Our iBus data shows clear instability in bus journey times since the trials began. Corridors that bus performance has not recovered to pre-LTN performance include Green Lanes, High Road, Seven Sisters Road, High Road (N17), Lordship Lane & Bruce Grove (Eastbound only), Lordship Lane East, West Green Road, Bounds Green Road, Brownlow Road and Pinkham Way Station Road (Southbound only). La Rose Lane and West Green Road, where bus filters are in place, have seen bus journey time improvements but are lower frequency corridors than others mentioned.
So, as is clear, the overwhelming response was one of dissatisfaction with the LTNs - and yet they were made permanent. This consultation was no more than a box-ticking exercise. So much for the democratic process in Haringey.
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The democratic process comes when we vote in local elections. Not when people from all over the place vent on a consultation questionnaire without having to provide one iota of evidence for eg their claims of business going down being directly referable to the LTN as opposed to general economic gloom. Every time an anti LTN candidate has stood they are roundly beaten.
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You admit, therefore, that consultations are not part of the democratic process. Sadiq Khan said as much when he railroaded through the ULEZ extension. ('It's a consultation not a referendum'. i.e. I can ignore the results if they do not confirm to my preferred outcome.
In any event he had ordered the cameras for the extension a month prior to the consultation's launch - so, as I said, a box-ticking exercise.
https://www.mylondon.news/news/local-news/sadiq-khans-team-ordered-...
It might be more honest, however, if the Council were to make this clear at the top of the consultation document:
"This consultation will have no bearing on the outcome and decisions of the Council but please complete if it makes you feel better and think that it might make a difference. It won't.")
Sadly there are not many anti LTN candidates. No Labour or Lib Dems and the Tories do no stand a chance in Haringey. Independent and single issue candidates do not succeed - despite there beig a groundswell, in this case, (up to 85%) against the LTNs.
I undertook my own survey of traders in Myddleton Road (happy to supply if requested) whose business fell off a cliff as soon as the Bounds Green LTN was installed. They had no doubt, the decline was so immediate, that the LTNs had seriously impacted their income stream. (Feel free to have a word with them. I am sure they will be happy to corroborate my findings.)
I sent these to one of my local councillors - Adam Jogee - requesting his feedback. He was responsible for local business. I never received a reply. He is now an MP in Newcastle Under Lyme.
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THE Tottenham Conservative Party campaigned against LTNs and have fielded anti-LTN candidates.
They raged against anti-pollution policies by the London Mayor and local councils, but the Tories received little support in recent elections.
Several times, they claimed that the closure of the big IKEA store in Edmonton was down to LTNs and/or ULEZ. This was untrue, IKEA denied it, but that did not stop them.
They are blinkered and confused to such a degree("cognitive dissonance"), that they are unable to comment on the support for low traffic neighbourhoods by cyclist and former Conservative Party London Mayor, Boris Johnson:
I expect the coffin reference by Boris Jonson was part of hysterical protests by the car-centric in Waltham Forest. This go-ahead neighbouring Borough is now far ahead of ultra-conservative Haringey.
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