Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Is Encouraging Car use the Best Way for Haringey Council to Support Small Business Saturday?
Photo: Hugh Flouch
I'm all for our council supporting Small Business Saturday, but I'm utterly unconvinced the provision free parking for the day as the main plank of its support is the right thing for Haringey Council to do.
Firstly, it encourages driving in a borough where traffic is already a big problem.
Secondly it sends out the message that small businesses rely on car use to thrive - as far as I'm aware that's not true.
Is this just an easy (yet misguided) way for Haringey to support a good initiative. I thought there might more imaginative solutions. The first page of a Google search on 'council support small business saturday' includes announcements on Small Business Saturday by seven councils including Enfield, Merton, Brent, Dudley, Portsmouth, Poole and Mid-Ulster. Five use free parking as their main plank of support. Only Poole and Mid-Ulster don't offer free parking. The last of these seems the post imaginative offering in five towns a 'free family fun and street entertainment in each of the five towns mentioned from 12noon – 2pm including, face painting, balloon modelling and street performances'.
I bet our public transport is much better than MId-Ulster's.
C'mon Haringey. Please do better next year.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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But Hugh, if you're running the council you need to live in Muswell Hill. There is no tube station there and a really steep hill to climb if you cycle. The current leader and his wife own a house in N17 but rent a flat in N10. A bit like David Lammy who owns a house at the top of the ladder and rents in Stroud Green.
Stop being so mean to these poor people.
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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on
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It the same of nonsense every time. All studies that have looked at the correlation between spend and mode of transport have shown that those arriving on foot, by bike and on public transport spend more than those arriving by car. Car FREE days, not free parking days, are what make money. Graphic below is from the Irish Times about a study in Dublin but these figures have been replicated again and again
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Permalink Reply by Haringey Cycling Campaign on
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Funnily enough, we're not convinced it's the right thing to do either. We've asked (repeatedly) for evidence from Haringey Council that this really does help small businesses, but strangely never had a response.
Meanwhile, TfL have recently published a huge amount of information on the economic benefits of walking and cycling, including that people walking, cycling and using public transport spend more than motorists in local shops.
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No evidence has been produced because there isn’t any. This smells of a Harringay Traders Association idea who are illogically wedded to the idea that cars mean more income. They simply don’t and the opposite is true.
if you think about it, one car space is taken up on the street for say an hour and maybe two people get out to shop. A bus parks for a minute or two taking up about three car spaces, lets out up to sixty people who then shop. Five minutes later another one does the same. Travelling to, from and through an area quickly and safely encourages people to go there. The maths alone shows it’s a stupid idea.
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Youre right, it isn’t just Haringey which is what makes the whole bloody thing so depressing.
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Permalink Reply by Gordon T on
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Indeed (hmm). Unstaffed stations, and no CCTV then. Neither true now.....
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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Oh yes, most definitely. I distinctly remember I was going to visit a friend in Hampstead.
Odd how much comment this photo has had on this occasion. It's been published previously (and copied in various places). I also took a similar shot during the Harringay Festival. No one's ever commented before.
(Of course, neither photo would imply an offence were the photographer to have been given permission to shoot).
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