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Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

Hi all,

Found those dumped clothes yday on Warham Road. Fly tippers really taking the mick here given that the warning sign is right above the pile. I think this picture exemplifies the council's failed policies and measures in dealing with this ongoing problem. I feel like things have gotten worse again in the last few weeks with more dumped rubbish on our streets. We made a push few months ago trying to address the problem. Maybe worth re-engaging with the council. 

I hate having to walk along our streets and explaining to our children why there is so much rubbish on our streets. 

Time for the council to act and step up their game.

Dominik 

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All very welcome, but two points strike me: dumping of mattresses, broken furniture, etc, from HMOs or other rented properties is probably unaffected by council collection charges, as the perpetrators would never have used the free service anyway (too much trouble and don't care); secondly, my local hotspot, just off St Ann's, now gets numerous purple-branded trade waste bags and, increasingly, multiple garden waste bags, presumably in response to the introduction of charges for its collection, too. It sounds as though the necessary revision, or scrapping, of fees should go hand-in-hand with heavy enforcement and fines for identified culprits (isn't trade waste traceable?), plus warnings to registered HMO landlords and traders about the financial penalties of flytipping. Except, of course, the council hasn't got any money for enforcement. 

Can I please suggest caution in assuming that HMOs are a prime cause of dumped furniture; with  further assumptions about "the perpetrators".

When a councillor I used to make similar assumptions. But a walkabout with senior staff cast serious doubt on this. The pattern of dumping did not in fact match the HMO and other multiple -occupation addresses.

Which is one reason I've suggested a temporary amnesty and some independent street-level sociological research. Even logical sensible and intuitive theories-in-use need testing against facts.

Yes, research might identify where some of the rubbish comes from. The repeated appearance over many years of mattresses and bedsteads on my road suggests commercial landlords of some kind are responsible, though, as you say, not necessarily from HMOs; but, as this both pre-dates the charging regime and still continues, I surmise that the dumpers wouldn't use Veolia in any case, hence my comment.

Years ago, an office in Westminster where I worked was visited by council inspectors who'd identified dumped waste from discarded paperwork inside rubbish bags (actually the landlord's irresponsibility, not the office's), but I assume Haringey haven't the resources for anything like that - and it might be hard to identify discarded takeaway cartons and old bedding without DNA testing as well....

Don, I don't know what research might identify. Whether or not it would confirm or contradict existing notions, or maybe tell us something new. Residents might lie. Or they might tell the researchers what they guessed the researchers want to hear.

Or perhaps they might say what our Council leaders don't want to listen to? Or perhaps some of the residents may give information which shows the discussion in a new light. Or stands the whole discussion on its head?

I'm reading a book called Flip-Flop by Caroline Knowles. She follows one of the "trails" of the manufacture and distribution of this globally used footwear from Kuwaiti oil to Korea to China and eventually to a landfill site (a rubbish dump?) outside Addis Ababa where "scratchers" look through a hill of discarded stuff for items of possible value.

The mattresses in your local "hotspot" have their own trails - perhaps far longer and winding than a DNA link to the last people to sleep on them before someone dumped them near your home.

Two points about having independent research. First is the possibility of securing some external funding at a time when local councils are being asset stripped. Second, because it's more likely to be truthful and less likely to be shaped by political considerations.
Not something I'd always be sure of from the current Council official sources.

This is really interesting. In the 16 years I have lived in Harringay this is the most solutions oriented proactive communication I have seen from a councillor. Well done on that score, shame it only went to Labour members though- I thought councillors were elected to serve all their constituents, not their Party and its members. That would be the only niggle.

This caught my eye:

Some people feel that fly-tipping has increased since we introduced charges for disposing of bulky items. It’s a fair assumption and I am testing this theory. A full review of the impact of our bulky waste and garden waste charges is taking place and will come to me in the Autumn.

If the evidence proves that this has increased our fly-tipping problem, then we will look into reversing or modifying this decision.

I would be interested to know what the stats on on this. Normally once a policy is introduced an Iron Curtain descends on information in the council as it seems fearful of proper discussion and accountability. This kind of approach where a policy is implemented, and then reviewed and information shared should happen more often...

"Normally once a policy is introduced an Iron Curtain descends on information in [Haringey] council as it seems fearful of proper discussion and accountability."

May I use this quotation, crediting you of course?  I think that potentially, it's a very useful starting point for all sorts of vital discussions. Not least because of the need for honesty in politics.
____________________________

Prague, January 1, 1990

My dear fellow citizens,

For forty years you heard from my predecessors on this day different variations on the same theme: how our country was flourishing, how many million tons of steel we produced, how happy we all were, how we trusted our government, and what bright perspectives were unfolding in front of us.

I assume you did not propose me for this office so that I, too, would lie to you.

Our country is not flourishing. The enormous creative and spiritual potential of our nations is not being used sensibly... A state which calls itself a workers' state humiliates and exploits workers ...

(Excerpt from Václav Havel: New Year's Presidential Address to the Nation, 1990)

Please do Alan.

Glad to see this from Seema. 

She's a good egg.

Twice within weeks, large made.com boxes full of rubbish were dumped by the passage on Raleigh Road. The name and house number were removed but the road name and postcode remained. I reported both on the Harringay app with photos and it wouldn't take much detective work to find out who has recently had a least two deliveries from made.dom. Wonder whether they bothered. I report dumping daily on the app.

Was a Haringey Refuse Enforcement Officer when Environmental Act came out

Was one of my Jobs to put up Hundreds of Warning Signs

Admit they did seem to attract more dumped Rubbish

Yes Fines can and was increased if Offenders was caught again

In my days Scavenger crews used to report regular dumps to us and team would go out and issue warning letters and court Dates

But Council Cut teams Budget

Since then the Boroughs population has at least Doubled and Refuse has gone to ever other Week

And more residents eat Fast food, resulting in more food containers etc

Looking back a Council Reports there have been very Few prosecutions for Dumping Rubbish

But Councils Facebook Page these days seems to offer details of at least one a day is now having legal action taken against offenders

Under Environmental Protection Act, it is the Legal Liability for local authority to make sure All Traders have a Waste Contractor .

When I spoke to a Councillor at residents meeting She thought that was not fare on Traders.                         Even when pointing out that much of the Dumped Rubbish is from Traders. And Contractors working on Borough properties

Comes down to How much pressure Borough Electorate want to put on Our Elected Councillors 

The problem is the low life that don't care about their actions. Or perhaps it's how they have been used to living their lives. You can't blame the Council for this.

It's also the "rubbish attracts rubbish" problem. Coming out of my road onto St Ann's one day last week, I saw a man, who was leading a small child by the hand, dump a full bag of rubbish onto the fly-tip at the top of my road and then add the battered-looking wheelie bag he was trundling to the huge pile of domestic and trade rubbish by the bus stop opposite the Salisbury. It was done so casually, as though he was just putting the rubbish out, that he presumably saw it as routine (he didn't leave the child as well, you'll be pleased to hear). It's not just night-time tippers in white vans who cause the problem, but a normalisation of rubbish piles on pavements that encourages more bad behaviour.

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