Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Harringay Charter to be launched - help make Harringay wonderful
Back in the Spring of 2008, on the back of HoL's Residents' Priorities Survey and Hazel Blears' charter work, I proposed the idea of a Charter for Harringay. By the summer I'd got some political take-up and the council agreed to take it forward.
My idea was for locals and the Council to work together to create something that locals could use to create a shared vision for Harringay and practical steps to make it happen.
It's taken two and a half years to get to the point of having a final draft that can be shared.
Input has come from our survey and a couple of consultation events run by the Council. This raw data was then used by a small group working under the auspices of the Green Lanes Strategy Group. That group, chaired by Cllr. Nilgun Canver and latterly Cllr. Zena Brabazon, included residents from all parts of Harringay and traders.
Whilst the Green Lanes Strategy Group is invitation only, I think locals were given ample opportunity to contribute and input has probably been pretty representative of what local opinion wants. At any rate it's as representative as the group could make it. Believe me, I worked hard to try and make it so.
The attached draft document provides a framework around which detailed plans can be constructed. Whilst it may not be everything I'd like it to be, my hope is that it nonetheless provides:
- a broad brush picture of locals' aspirations for the neighbourhood
- the basis of a vehicle for residents to have more influence in creating the neighbourhood they want.
The rest will be up to us; up to us to get involved and make things happen. Little will change unless enough folk are prepared to get involved
At this stage it would be great if you could offer constructive feedback. You can either do so on this forum or more formally to our neighbourhood manager Dasos Maliotis. You'll have your own reactions, but some themes you might like to consider are:
1. What do you think about the general idea of the charter?
2. Any feedback on the 'commitments' outlined in the specific themes?
3. What's the best 'machinery' to get action around the charter and get things to happen?
4. What part should residents play? How should the Council be involved?
Tags for Forum Posts: Harringay Charter, glsg
- Attachments:
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HStACharterFinalDraft.pdf, 88 KB
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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That's very kind John, but to be honest it was little bits of work over an unbelieveably long period. I was one of a group of people working on it.
Agree that there are better places for the cuts debate. They're happening; perhaps best to discuss the ins & out of that on another thread and focus here on what we can do in the given environment.
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Permalink Reply by Zena Brabazon on
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I'm really pleased the charter is getting a positive response. And thanks to Hugh for posting it with a clear design. As Hugh says it has been a group effort and thanks need to go to Ian Sygrave who worked very hard on this, Sue Green and the wider group which reviewed and commented on the many versions, and of course Dasos Maliotis has been reliable and steadfast throughout.
As everyone probably knows it can be much harder to write something short and clear than some long meandering report!
I joined the group after the election and have been really impressed by the commitment to see this through. For me as a local Councillor the key thing is that this provides a framework for working with people, where knowledge and ideas are shared and there is a collaborative relationship between the council and the community. If we get this right it is a template for a more productive way of working with local people.
Zena Brabazon
Councillor, St. Ann's Ward
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Permalink Reply by rebelrebel on
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So everything's wonderful, then - or is it? Despite Hugh's Herculean efforts (although others were also involved, apparently), what will this Charter actually do in practice? One can't help but wonder - well, this one is wondering, anyway - how the impending cuts will impact on this Charter: will it have any teeth or is it just a gentleperson's agreement between certain locals and certain councillors? Which council department will be dealing with stuff like this? If it takes a month to get a street light fixed at the moment...anyway, don't get me started.
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Honestly, I'm not a 'certain local', rr. Never have been; never will be.
I think I've spelt out above what I think the charter can do. It's my view that there are two things that will stop it being useful. One is lack of Council energy behind it; the other is lack of resident energy and involvement.
If we want things changed, we gotta be prepared to change them. One or two people won't cut it. A herd will.
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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on
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Surely this can only be a good thing? The Charter is a way for us as local residents to hold Haringey to account. This is an agreement of what they and we will do and something we can refer back to when they are not abiding by their end of the bargain.
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I've just looked at the list of proposed Council cuts elsewhere on this site. They're pretty bad and there's probably more to come. How can local residents hold the Council to account with a charter in future, given the unfolding situation? Is a charter legally binding?
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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What do you mean by "hold the Council to account"? They have a budget, £xxx "how do we spend it?". Or do you mean when they grant planning permission to a concrete factory upwind of us that we have it written into our charter that they can't?
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In fairness, John, (though I know you were just using it as an example) didn't the Council unanimously oppose that planning permission? It went over their heads to John Prescott's department, I think.
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Eh?
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What do I mean by holding the Council to account?? I thought I was clear in what I said - is the charter not a kind of compact between residents and the Council, saying what residents can expect from the Council (level of service etc) and how to take issue if things don't go according to plan? I didn't say anything about concrete factories, either.
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