Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Council Invites Residents to Choose Where to Make the Cuts
In a consultation launched yesterday under the title "Haringey: where next?"Haringey Coucil is both readying the residents of the borough and inviting them to choose where future cuts should fall.
The web page starts of quite upbeat with an apparently pre- election oriented set of questions:
- What do you love about living in Haringey?
- What issues concern you?
- What would make life even better where you live?
However the text soon makes the message clear:
Since 2010 we’ve changed. In response to Government cuts to our budget, we’ve had to stop offering some services and find cheaper providers for others. With more budget cuts to come, further change is needed if we’re to continue to serve our residents well with less money year after year.
..or clearish, at any rate
But we believe we can continue to make Haringey better by listening to you. We want to do more, but we need to know what improvements you would like to see in your borough. What are the changes that matter most to you?
..or am I just a tad too cynical?
You can respond to the consultation online or attend one of two public meetings:
- Monday 17 March at The Original Gallery, Hornsey Library, Haringey Park, N8 9JA, and
- Wednesday 19 March at Heartlands High School, Station Road, Wood Green N22 7ST
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
-
Among the options explored, John, commercialising public parks; extending CPZs to make higher illegal profits/surpluses on the Parking Account. And hiving off Tottenham schools to the Harris Academy Federation predators. This includes handing over the Lee Valley Technopark at a fire-sale price. Fiercely defended at the last Council meeting by Cllr Claire Kober.
The special idiocy of this last decision is highlighted by the fact that this week Cllr Alan Strickland announced his belief that the new Tottenham Hale station will "unlock" regeneration and be a: "landmark station [which] will support the wealth of major regeneration schemes already underway in Tottenham Hale, making it one of the capital’s most exciting places to live and work".
Hard though it is, I'm charitably assuming that Alan Strickland actually believes his own regenero-burble. But if so, the Technopark building is ideally placed to capitalise on this unlocking. And so it's hardly the right moment to be flogging it off to Harris.
(Tottenham Hale ward councillor)
-
Permalink Reply by Chris Setz on
-
I think the Technopark is losing money, isn't it? So how long should it continue to lose money in the hope of a better price? What if a local cllr damns the Council for wasting the money lost when those losses could have been stemmed? This is why we end up with so much 'short-termism' isn't it?
I discovered over Hornsey Town Hall that the decision makers held all the cards. At any time they could disclose part of a new reason for their course of action, based on facts unknown to me ('exempt' on grounds of commercial confidence, so I wasn't allowed to know them).
So, my approach was to ask for access to the same facts (which was denied for 'commercial reasons'). So I began to wonder how to get the law changed so that a charity cannot hide behind 'commercial confidence' but hey, do I really want to go this far?
In any case I found that I was trying to do the job for them without any training or expertise. It comes down to a question of trust I suppose. Can you trust any of the people concerned, Alan?
-
-
Chris, you ask if the Technopark is losing money. Yes, it is.
Is this a good time to sell it in a hurry? That's very dubious. Especially since, as I wrote - Cllr Alan Strickland has announced the new Tottenham Hale station will "unlock" the regeneration of the area. It won't of course. But the Technopark building is five minutes walk from this station. Its value may rise.
Will the leaseholder sell at the price Haringey is offering? I don't know. But why should they since they don't need to follow the Council's firesale timetable and are sitting on a nice little investment - courtesy of Haringey Council's past incompetence. Ask them. I think they may be based in Gibraltar. In due course, I shall be asking the Council's Auditors to form a view of this.
As I understand it, the deal would eat up a significant slice of the Council's very limited capital budget for the coming year. Cash we can only spend once, of course.
But there's another large issue, Why are our Dear Leader and her chums in such a hurry? Who is calling the shots? Why are they so enamoured of the Harris Federation? (Which is lined up to take over the Technopark for a free school.) And why do Harris want a building there, I wonder? For the kids of Tottenham? Think transport links. Think about the nearby schools. Do you pay the game of Go?
We're a year from a General Election; is this really a good time to pre-empt future choices? To gamble - in effect - with public money.
You ask me about who I trust. Do I trust people in the Labour Group who so far have refused to condemn vote-rigging and rule breaking at the St Ann's selection. Do you trust them? If so, why? People who lack both a moral compass and a spine. Of course, there's still time. If any of them are reading this and want more information they're very welcome to ask.
Do I trust Claire Kober, Joe Goldberg and Alan Strickland to make the right decisions about the neighbourhood that's been my home for over thirty years. Is the Pope a bear?
It wasn't always so. George Meehan is a decent man with left-wing politics. When Claire Kober took over from George I'd no preconceptions other than being relieved she wasn't Charles Adje or Gideon Bull. (The two alternatives on offer.) I always expect the best of Labour Party comrades I don't know. I'm naive and trusting in that respect. And I knew she'd been a slightly more than adequate Chief Whip. And was brave to step forward after the terrible death of Peter Connelly.
But over the last five years I've had plenty of time to watch and listen and form a different judgement of both Claire Kober and Joe Goldberg. It gradually became clear to me that Kober is a controlling, empty nonentity with a burning ambition. Goldberg a blustering blatherer.
When we had the Tottenham riot it was a further tragedy for Haringey and especially for Tottenham that Claire Kober was sitting up on the carousel delighted to be going around in circles. 'Look mummy, no hands'.
Thanks heavens for David Lammy.
Alan Strickland I once thought capable of being his own person. Maybe one day he will be. He smiles a lot and has more people skills than the Dear Leader. But currently seems thoroughly Koberised.
(Tottenham Hale ward councillor)
-
-
OK, I get it, you don't trust them :)
I guess, looking at history, that most of them will get re-elected and that Labour may very well be in the majority as it has been for decades here.
Where does that leave you, Alan? Does the situation you describe only happen when the individuals you name are there, or is it likely to continue in a similar vein even were they to be replaced?
Also, if you think this bad situation is specific to the Labour party, does it apply nationally, regionally, borough-wide or locally? In other words, is there something about the Labour Party that causes this do you think and if so, what exactly?
- ‹ Previous
- 1
- 2
- 3
- Next ›
© 2024 Created by Hugh.
Powered by
