Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Friend or foe of the neighbourhood? MPMoran blocks most of the pavement on West Green Road
A new business, a big and established seller of construction materials, employing some local people, has just opened on West Green Road. Good signs, welcome to the neighbourhood!
However...
Notwithstanding their overwhelmingly enlarged logos on display in the big shop windows (Tesco and Sainsbury do it with pictures -- really offputting but that's another issue), M.P. Moran & Sons Limited, using portable barriers that display more of their logos, have decided to block the wider portion of the pavement during their business hours (6:30am-5pm).
On the corner of Langham and West Green Roads, their portable barriers block two-thirds (actually, even more) of the pavement, making it difficult for a person in a wheelchair (or mobility scooter) or with a pram or pushchair (especially if double width) to navigate a corner with a lamp post (Photo 1). On the other side, adjacent to another business, they eventually halved the barriers (Not shown in Photo 2), but still kept the one that actually hinders pedestrians' passage. By the way, the other side of the road is much narrower, has a bus stop, and more businesses.
The manager claims the portion of the sidewalk is their property. If I understand correctly, Haringey Council does not say so. The business may have paid for a license but even in that case, they would have to give reasonable access to pedestrians. https://www.haringey.gov.uk/business/licensing/licences-permits-reg...
It is very unlikely that they would be allowed to store their material in the whole area they claim to own because that would be huge. Besides, they have access for trucks in the back of the building.
So, why can they do this?
I looked at their other sites and they have not done this at locations with sidewalks (Kilburn and Kennington), i.e. that are not on an industrial estate.
West Hampstead: 020 7644 9022
Kennington: 020 7735 9291
Kilburn: 020 7328 5566
Watford: 0192 322 9700
Willesden: 020 8459 9000
Tottenham: 020 7644 9080
Therefore, why can they do this in Haringey?
Talking to the manager has not helped; sending an email has not helped since in both instances they claim ownership of the sidewalk?! Pleas for empathy have not worked. Possibly, some of the trade people might have said something that made them reason (as in, it looks bad for business), to adjust the side adjacent to a business in their trade, but not the one that is an obstruction to the general public.
Any recommendations how to proceed? Thanks!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton
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"There is a whole piece of work to be done around public space being used for commercial purposes".
To my mind, Michael Anderson's new comment is an incredibly clear, valuable and large piece of the public policy jigsaw thoughtfully raised by Ivana. And the problem is not simply about commercial stuff intruding into public spaces. Thankfully, cities and towns are still about more than commercial exploitation of public goods.
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Permalink Reply by Hugh
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That’s a great result, Ivana. No doubt that’s due to your airing this situation so promptly and bringing it to public attention as well as to the attention of elected officials.
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter
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HUGH, I would wholly agree that Ivana's airing of this matter and public attention may be beginning to work, but I'm not sure this can yet be described as a result.
The portable barriers have been reduced, but the shopkeeper could extend them to their preferred width in the next hour or the next month after publicity has died down.
We also have not heard any statement from the Council and given their real preoccupations, we may not.
This is not a new problem
The Haringey Council ought to be paying attention to the appropriation of pedestrian pavement, but they appear to have disregarded this issue, especially on Green Lanes as Michael Andersons wrote.
Along with former Councillor Alan Stanton, I strongly agree with Michael's comments above.
There is much evidence that Haringey Council is not interested in pavements or "footway" users, including disabled persons, in general:
- Haringey Council appear to turn a blind eye to shopkeepers spreading their ware across the pavement
- Haringey Highways maintains Pavement Parking bays for cars on 102 roads in the Borough.
- Haringey are actively reducing pavement widths through their own tree-planting programme, by taking land on the wrong side of the kerb
- The council ignore grossly overgrown hedges on private property that can render large widths of pavement unusable, forcing pedestrians and wheelchair users into the road.
There are probably other examples of the council's chronic lack of care, but these are the main ones that I notice.
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