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Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

From Living Streets

Call for well kept pavements in your area! 

All too often the state of our pavements and footways isn’t good enough. Almost one in ten of us pedestrians have suffered a personal injury due to poor road conditions, costing taxpayers millions of pounds in compensation claims every year.

Unbelievably pavement maintenance is given a much lower priority than road surfaces, putting pedestrians at risk. This happens even though The Highways Act 1980 states clearly that the pavement is an integral part of the highway. And it’s putting people off walking: one third of us would walk more if streets were kept in better condition.

When times are hard, getting the basics right and giving all road users a fair deal is more important than ever. Tell your local councillor that well kept pavements matter to you.

Click here for an online form to help you tell councillors what you think of the state of the pavements

 

Tags for Forum Posts: living streets, pavements

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As a Haringey councillor I'm not in the slightest bit ashamed of advocating for improvements and repairs to pavements; parks; housing estates; shopping areas; carparks; streetlights; and bus stops.

I report street problems wherever I happen to spot them. Though I freely confess that I spot far fewer in Highgate and Muswell Hill because I'm not often up there. I live in the ward I represent and spend a lot of time walking around and speaking to residents.

As a councillor it's hard to counter innuendo and "scurrilous rumour".

“Falsehood flies, and the truth comes limping after it.” - A quotation attributed to Jonathan Swift.

(Tottenham Hale ward councillor)

In order to pre-empt scurrilous rumour and innuendo it would be constructive for the Council to explain, before the event, why they choose to apply differing standards of maintenance and repair to paving. This is especially true when they undertake large and damaging projects which errode the amenity of public space like the replacement of flag paving with tarmac. In the absence of a clear rationale, it's hard to form any other view than that this is done for cost saving in areas where they feel they can get away with it. Falsehood may fly because it's wings were not clipped, what is 'Haringey People' for?

Yeh, amenity. In preparation for the Tottenham Gyratory going back to two-way, the pavement alongside the High Road has been extended and paved from West Green Road to Tottenham Green. I had a lovely time choosing the paving when I sorted out my wobbly path at home. Whoever chose those public pavers - which could be there for 100 years - got the cheapest, ugliest, most likely to show damage, concrete pavers in the history of the world.

York flags not deserved here, obviously, cos we are in A Recession and we're only Tottenham.  

It might be helpful to ask Transport for London (TfL) about this, Pam.

Or am I mistaken that you were at the last Tottenham Green, Tottenham Hale and Seven Sisters Area forum?  If so there were staff from Transport for London and their contractors on every table, to show the plans and ask questions.

TfL agreed to our proposal to set up an interactive website with frequently asked questions about the gyratory scheme.

Too late. Can't see them changing what's there in the next 100 years, unless they decide the one-way was a good idea after all.

I've a photoset recording a few of my own observations, which may suggest why Highways staff sometimes use tarmac on pavements rather than keep repairing them.

Spurs Match Day - Kemble Road #2

So Paul, you may find it worth asking Council officers about decisions in particular streets.

Having said that, over the years I've not always found Highways staff the most eager to engage with the public. Sometimes I even get the impression of a priesthood safeguarding its rites. Taking orders from conclaves of urban design cardinals who meet to rewrite the credo. (For example, at one time street railings were holy writ - then suddenly anathema.)

But if you have questions and suggestions, give it a try. We will shortly have a new Chief Executive. It seems unlikely the new person will be able to influence what now passes for the Council's broad strategy. But they may be able to achieve some small modest changes.

Yes, I note that there is pavement parking where it is unsuitable for a host of reasons.  Further to my previous point relating to double standards, I also note that block paving is used for pavement parking where the visual amenity is judged to be worthy.

I don't doubt your observations, Paul. But for what it's worth, my impression is that pavement parking goes with cracked paving stones on the row nearest the roadway. Which will also suffer damage from 3-point turns, passing HGVs etc.

Déjà Vu. Street lights in Devon Close & Circular Road

Thanks for this Alan, I've never been able to to get anyone at the Council to state categorically that it is policy to tarmac all areas of pavement where there is designated pavement parking.

I don't want to be fair to the Council: I want the Council to be fair to us.

That's a fair point and a novel notion.  Alan hasn't responded to my poor use of irony - fair play to him - there clearly is no such policy as the accompanying pictures illustrate.  Don't blame the folk who park on the pavements because they're told to when their roads are unsuitable for the weight or type of traffic, especially when elsewhere the money is being spent in bucket loads for the pavements to be suitable and well maintained.  At best there is absence of policy, at worst there is closed decision making based around looking after particular wards.  I'll be accused of falsehood, fine I'm happy to be wrong, but give me a better explanation.

Where were these taken? In Haringey?

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