Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Litter in Finsbury Park
Picture added by site admin. Orginal from @RichGittens on Twitter
On sunny days, Finsbury Park suddenly becomes covered in litter. This has been going for years. I spoke this morning with one of the park keeper. Together with one of his colleagues, he has to cover 115 acres !
It does not take much to improve the situation : most people want to put their rubbish in dustbins. There is only one problem : not enough dustbins. The moment the sun comes out, the Council should provide many extra dustbins, spread out evenly in the park or empty the few ones more frequently. Given that the justification for car parking charges in the park was to pay for maintenance, what is the money being spent on ? Such a sorry state of affairs is a shame for our community.
Tags for Forum Posts: finsbury park, finsbury park litter, litter, parks, public spending cuts
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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Thanks for drawing attention to this issue again, Therese.
I hope you'll forgive me for adding the photo. This was by the guy who I mentioned to you during our conversation on chat earlier.
This isn't the first time this issue has been raised over the past 12 months or so. More conversations here. You'll see that in one of them I added a couple of pics from Regent's Park suggesting the exact same thing you have just done, Therese. Seems those apparently low cost suggestions are not be taken up by the Council.
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Response from our Facebook page:
Sazzie Dee: People are SOOOO flipping disgusting! I always take my litter home with me and recycle it! It's a pity the vast majority are lazy buggers! It makes my blood boil! :(
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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Alexandra Palace and Park are managed separately by a Trust, Antonia.
Click here for their contact details and a form to email their management.
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on
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Although for immediate purposes this comment is relevant, its misleading to say that AP& is managed separately by "a" trust. This comment conflates management and governance. It also reflects old thinking where the council wanted to wash its hands of responsibility for AP by selling it for a pittance to a property developer.
The truth is that the Trustee is Haringey Council. Moreover, all voting members on the council committee known as the "Trust Board" are Councillors. Further again, this council committee is under direct political control of the majority group because they insist on having majority representation.
Although there has been an excellent appointment to the new post of chief executive and the master planning looks fine (if only done 20 years ago!) the chronic governance issues are untouched and unreformed and will likely raise its head again in the future.
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Permalink Reply by Jo Preddy on
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The size of the park, number of litter bins or the number of attendants is not the real issue here. No one with a load of litter likes to find the nearest bin full, but that is no excuse for just throwing it on the floor.
People just discarding it and not taking it away with them, that's the REAL shame for our community......
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Permalink Reply by John D on
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I agree Jo. And that's one reason why I find it difficult to consider myself part of any community round here.
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I walked through FP on Saturday and noticed both the litter on the ground and the overflowing bins. Some park users and not for the first time were having al fresco barbecues and I'm not sure how lawful that is.
Regardless, on returning from Lidl's I passed one bin (near the tennis courts) that had litter piled up alongside it, including a pile of aluminium trays with barbecue remains - still smoking. I looked back and sure enough there were flames leaping from this pile. Some people leapt forward to deal with it before the bin burnt down (those responsible in the first place probably never went to to cubs or scouts where you learn to extinguish fires. It's not difficult).
I conclude that some of my fellow park users are lazy, reckless and irresponsible.
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Permalink Reply by Karen Alexander on
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Just picked up this thread and have got on to the council. Asked for an update on the current cleaning schedules and asked that the current situation is addressed. Asked about the bins. I also find it incredible that people leave their rubbish rather than take it home so its a question of educating people that littering is unacceptably anti-social. Overstuffed bins emptied by foxes don't help. Your right of course that the council has to play its part and of course cuts have caused an issue with the upkeep of the park but there has to be a balance. The park has been hugely improved in recent years and attracts thousands of users - it would be a shame if that were reversed because it has become an unsightly dump! I'll keep liaising with the council and will report back shortly.
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The council doesn't always set a good example about taking responsibility for its actions; but be that as it may, responsbility for littering has to rest first and last with litterers.
There should not be any excuse. It would be nice and better if there were more bins and they were emptied more often. But that's true everywhere at all times.
But simply because the authorities may not be providing enough rubbish services at a particular moment should never be an excuse to drop. There should not be an expectation of an empty bin right alongside you at the time convenient to you: otherwise you drop. Its a form of blackmail. If there aren't sufficient bins for excess stuff brought into the park, it should be taken out of the park via the same route it came in.
I was disgusted at the filthy mess left on much of our park. Far from all of it was alongside overflowing bins. I would sooner see some (any) policing of laws about littering rather than new bins, but there's no danger of enforcement.
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As promised I took this up with the council and have just received this response. It sets out what capacity they have and hopefully the mess the other week was a one off. Please let me know if that isn't the case and I will continue to follow it up.
"Dear Cllr Alexander
Thank you for your recent enquiry about Hygiene issues in Finsbury Park.
Due to the very high popularity and heavy usage of Finsbury Park during the short spell of hot weather in late May, we did encounter some excessive volumes of litter. The Parks Service deployed additional resources in early April to address hygiene issues in our key Parks and Open Spaces. Finsbury Park and surrounding Parks are visited at least twice per day during the summer months and has two Parks Stewards allocated between 3pm-7pm.
In relation to Bins in Finsbury Park, we currently have over a 100 bins in the park plus additional recycling bins and do not have any current plans to add any more. The Bins are emptied/checked on a daily basis.
Despite working with fewer resources the Council is working hard to deploy its Parks staff as efficiently and effectively as possible.
Regards
Andy Briggs
Head of Operations – Leisure Services"
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Permalink Reply by Madeline on
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Why oh why? If you carry it in, why can't you carry it back out again. It's so simple.
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Permalink Reply by Kotoko OS on
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I was at Clissold Park on last Monday, and it was littered everywhere too. (Though I saw work people, picking the rubbish with tongs though.) I think foxes also contribute to scattering the rubbish all over. They scavenge our recycling bins. I can imagine they do that to open rubbish bins like the ones you see in parks.
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