Harringay online

Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

KEEP Britain Tidy campaigners have congratulated Haringey Council on their efforts to keep the borough's streets litter-free.

Inspectors visited Haringey to give it the once-over and found the council was faring well in the fight against litter, detritus, graffiti and fly-posting.

The findings were revealed at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday night.

Councillor Brian Haley, cabinet member for environment, said: "I'm delighted that the Tidy Britain assessment confirms good performance across the borough.

Haringey Indy

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one question: Are they all on crack???
Wonder what KEEP Britain Tidy's standards are that they measure against ...
Thats not fair on crackheads Anette
I haven't yet seen the report from Tidy Britain. (I've asked for a copy.)

It wasn't in the "Cabinet" papers for 13 October where the findings were apparently 'revealed'. Instead a single sentence in the Report on "Performance" (Item 6: para 2.1.) referred to Tidy Britain's assessment of improvements in Haringey.

I take pride in being one of the Urban Environment Department's harshest and most difficult-to-please critics. (One of my tasks as a ward councillor representing local residents.)

But I try to be constructively critical. Honest and hard-hitting about what they get wrong; but complimentary when they (and Haringey Enterprise) do things right. I share with other regular critics (like Liz) a track-record of making positive suggestions. (Often ignored, of course.)

The comments posted by Matt, Anette and James illustrate an entirely understandable scepticism about claims of improved performance. I share this. As the old adage says: Believe nothing you hear and half of what you see". Especially true if good news appears 'spun'.

But there are dangers in too much scepticism. Haringey is better at tackling litter, dumping and fly-tipping. And staff need to know their efforts are recognised and appreciated. Even if the Council honestly admits we are still not reaching the highest standards across the Borough.

And as residents, the last thing we should do is stop nagging. To think: 'What's the point? Nothing changes; it's just as bad as ever." It isn't. One reason the Council (and Haringey Enterprise) have raised their game is because local residents persistently highlight the issues. Standards will rise further if residents keep up the pressure, as well as making suggestions for change.

On this last point, thanks Matt for posting the photo of Cllr Haley and the metal sign for timed bag collections. Not many people know - because he was never publicly acknowledged or thanked - that the suggestion for the metal signs came from Alex Segre. Alex is a West Green resident who spotted the signs in Hackney last year, and passed on the idea to Haringey Waste Management team.
P.S. There was another bit which I missed. (Due to the absurdity of the council posting many online documents as hugely bloated graphic files which can't easily be searched or indexed.)

Paragraph 15.3 of the same report says:
"Further to the performance of our local monitoring of street month, I am pleased to report that the first tranche report from the independent Tidy Britain Group confirms the good performance across all areas including litter and detritus. With the exception of graffiti, provisional results for litter. detritus and fly posting exceed the targets set for 2009/10 Although these results are provisional they found 6% of land with significant deposits of litter, detritus 14%, graffiti 4% and fly posting 1%."
Just to clarift my comment: It was mase after nearly slipping on 2 huge piles of vomit, stepping over various Zam's Chicken and McDonald's packaging, walking around a few (leaky) bin bags and avoiding the usual piss-treams and empty bottles outside the Lion King. Hence my comment. Tidier MY ARSE!
I agree - have lived on the Ladder twenty years and the litter situation has never got better regardless of council initiatvies. I still pick up a load of stuff every day that's drifted into my front garden, maybe that's helping them meet their targets, but I'd rather it didn't get in in the first place.

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