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Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

Finsbury Park - blocked drain by road barrier near New River

The drain in the road gutter has been blocked for at least two years (South side of road). The drain on the opposite side (North) is free - except when blocked by leaf fall which is always the case in autumn. This gives us the additional amenity of a small lake at the bottom of the road - perhaps this is deliberate landscaping! 

Couple of issues here. No doubt staff shortages will be cited but autumn leaves have only just been partially swept which accounts for some of the blockage. Given that millions have been spent in the park it's a pity that such a basic thing as drainage appears to have a non existent priority. Grateful if somebody could post the contact details for whoever is the head honcho who can be contacted over this seemingly permanent condition.

Tags for Forum Posts: finsbury park, new river

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Permalink Reply by Rick on December 13, 2012 at 11:43

Thanks for following up. Herewith three images taken this morning of affected area. This is not a new problem though never happened in previous decades before five million quid disappeared into the park!

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Permalink Reply by Marian Leatherby on December 14, 2012 at 10:14

There have been leaks from the reservoir in the park for years and years, specially noticeable during summer droughts when Thames Water urges us to save water.  A short new channel has thoughtfully been dug for one leak, photo attached.

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Permalink Reply by Rick on December 19, 2012 at 11:22

Spoke with somebody called Chris this morning at the depot in the Park. Without quite saying it he was citing budgetary constraints and ancient victorian plumbing and suggesting that nothing could be done re the above. In view of the money that has recently "disappeared" into the park, while not being surprising, this is pretty galling. Even basic leaf sweeping seems beyond the park workers or their budget. I was watching one of the staff blowing leaves around near the Manor House gates for ten minutes. Utterly pointless and ineffectual. I should probably go out and get a life rather than complain about blocked drains and leaves but do suggest we all try a bit harder and pressurise the councils and whoever "runs" the park to perhaps try a bit harder themselves!

Permalink Reply by Karen Alexander on December 30, 2012 at 22:41

By way of an update on the Finsbury Park flooding issue.  I have been liaising with Lewis Taylor of Parks who has said that their team are working on the areas affected so hopefully there should be some resolution, the main problem being the leaves blocking the drains.  I am very grateful for any feedback from residents who regularly use the park as although I try to get up there as often as I can its not every day to check stuff out.  Please let me know if problems persist and I will chase Parks again.

Permalink Reply by Rick on December 31, 2012 at 12:31

Many thanks for following up. Attached pdf shows area today. In third image you can see an area to one side of the road has been swept. All the other images show what happens when clearing of leaves isn't done. There are areas in the picture where no sweeping of any leaves has been done all year - surely rain can't be made the scapegoat for all problems - inspite of park maintenance schedules. Lewis Taylor hasn't answered my own email on this topic but doesn't inspire confidence if he thinks it's only about blocked leaves. His own workers tell a different story about the drain pictured - maybe he should have a longer conversation with them. Anyway will try and help park authorities to stay honest this year. I do still wonder what on earth happened to the five million quid that was "spent" on the park; I fear there may be many different definitions of "spending". Over and out for now and Happy New Year!

Permalink Reply by Rick on December 31, 2012 at 12:42

Many thanks for following up. Attached pdf shows area today. In third image you can see an area to one side of the road has been swept. All the other images show what happens when clearing of leaves isn't done. There are areas in the picture where no sweeping of any leaves has been done all year - surely rain can't be made the scapegoat for all problems - inspite of park maintenance schedules. Lewis Taylor hasn't answered my own email on this topic but doesn't inspire confidence if he thinks it's only about blocked leaves. His own workers tell a different story about the drain pictured - maybe he should have a longer conversation with them. Anyway will try and help park authorities to stay honest this year. I do still wonder what on earth happened to the five million quid that was "spent" on the park; I fear there may be many different definitions of "spending". Over and out for now and Happy New Year!

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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on December 31, 2012 at 14:30

Have you asked Haringey for an answer to your repeated question about the money, Richard? If not can I suggest that you may stand a better chance of getting a reply than by posting on a website.

Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on January 17, 2013 at 9:49

Hi Karen, Have you had any further information from the Parks Management? If the problem was only leaves blocking the drain gullies, that should have been solved by now.

I'm especially interested in the broader question of how far Parks and Highways staff across Haringey  pick up and recognise patterns of change. Including, perhaps, increasing frequency or seriousness of such localised flooding problems as we experience, say, infill development and the cumulative surfacing of small green areas (e.g. gardens). In the context of different patterns of rainfall.

Permalink Reply by Rick on December 31, 2012 at 17:45

Alan,

 

my questions re money are largely facetious and rhetorical. Nobody's going to admit they've been involved in a pc scam.

All i'm really interested in is why leaves can't be swept up and drains unblocked. What should concern us is that we even need to make a fuss about it.

Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on January 1, 2013 at 12:44

Thanks, Richard.  But I'm not entirely clear. My understanding is that Finsbury Park got Heritage Lottery Funding of over £3m.

Are you simply saying something along the lines of: "Hey, guys, I hear you've spent millions on this park. How come you can't solve a recurring problem of some drain gullies blocked with leaves?" In which case, fair enough. I've asked similar questions about the failure to notice - let alone solve - very obvious low level problems on, for example, Tottenham Green. 

Or maybe your "facetious and rhetorical"  comments mean something like: "Millions of quid? I use Finsbury Park and can't see where it went." In which case why not ask a straightforward question? If you want it made public you could use the excellent website WhatDoTheyKnow.com

However, you refer to people being "involved in a pc scam". And to: "money that has recently "disappeared" into the park'.  Plus a need for the "... park authorities to stay honest this year".  With the statement that:

'I do still wonder what on earth happened to the five million quid that was "spent" on the park; I fear there may be many different definitions of "spending".

These don't read like "facetious and rhetorical"  comments to me. They seems to raise fairly serious concerns or at least questions about possible misuse of funds. And perhaps even malpractice. If you have evidence for any such concerns I would strongly urge you to raise them formally.

If you don't think Haringey management will take this seriously, the Council has a small arms-length Internal Audit team. Or you could speak to your ward councillors. Alternatively, you may want to contact the Heritage Lottery. 

The Council also has external commercial auditors, Grant Thornton. Former councillor Ray Dodds and I went to see them once when we thought Claire Kober was following a deeply misguided plan over the sale of some Council-owned land. And yes, they did take us seriously.

(Tottenham Hale ward councillor)

Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on January 7, 2013 at 19:51

The Monday Kvetch:

Update on the Finsbury Park Lake (no, not the official one, I mean the recurring smaller one on the south side that doesn't yet have boats for hire):

Late this afternoon, the waters had receded (c. a month later) to exist as a large puddle. However, what remains are square metres worth of mud.

It looks like part of a farm yard rather than a major park in Europe's largest city.

The reduction in the size of the lake is down to less rain and gravity, rather than any obvious human intervention (or from a local authority).

Permalink Reply by Seema Chandwani on January 8, 2013 at 4:10

This has also happened on West Green Rd... However as I tried to explain to my neighbours, there is NO drain there.... (Im not an expert on drains, I just smoke at that bus stop and normally chuck my cig butts down a drain, but there is not one there so I know)

Two weeks ago, the water was so deep, it came over the pavement and when the cars drove past, omg... like 4ft high sprays!

Anyway, its started to dry up now... my neighbours see Im right.... no drain... but the crator left behind was moon like.... what are they using for tarmac? Cake mix!!! 

They only reopened the bus stop today...

When I mentioned this on Twitter 2 weeks ago, a few ppl around Haringey had said similar things had happened near them... I think "theres something strange in the neighbourhood..." Although, if water is coming up from tarmac'd roads.... It needs to be looked at.

I read somewhere ages ago that there was a stream that ran through a lot of Haringey, but it was engineered/blocked/recognfigured to run differently underground to the River Lea

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