It will only ever be Black Boy Lane

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Cem on January 31, 2023 at 7:39

Of course we're all racists John. Get that off your chest so you can engage with the argument properly.

Permalink Reply by Shar on January 31, 2023 at 8:37

Go on then Cem, tell us more about the rest of Haringey's Budget :) Do you think it's well spent? Any feedback about things that could be done better?

Also please let us know why you believe you're racist. Doesn't look like anyone called you that.

Permalink Reply by Cem on January 31, 2023 at 9:21

Hi Shar. You're the one who seems interested in Haringey's budget. I'm sure you could look into that yourself. But it's safe to say that the vast majority of it goes on the salaries and relatively fixed costs associated with the delivery of statutory services. I doubt there is much left over that could be deemed discretionary and as such £180k plus would be a not insignificant proportion of that element.

As for your query about racism I suggest you read John Lyne's post again and satisfy yourself whether any other conclusion can reasonably be drawn from it other than it being an accusation of racism.

Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on January 31, 2023 at 9:58

Link to the 2022/23 budget below

https://www.haringey.gov.uk/sites/haringeygovuk/files/council_budge...

Permalink Reply by Jon L on January 31, 2023 at 9:59

My post today was not an accusation of racism, and not aimed at you specifically. Earlier in this thread, I did call out that you had posted a link to a racist youtuber, and that one of your posts was a clear example of racial prejudice.

Permalink Reply by Shar on January 31, 2023 at 10:28

Haringey Council's total gross expenditure is in the region of £1.17bn a year. That's over 6,400 times 182,000. In other words, the unimaginable wastage you can't get over makes up 0.016% of total expenditure.

Overall, Haringey Council manages assets and cash flows of over £5 billion a year.

Your annoyance at wastage is shared by a lot of people, including myself, but I would argue that in the scheme of things there might be much bigger leakages that might actually be worth getting this exercised about.

If you still think this is THE most egregious action ever taken by Haringey Council, please do carry on.

I was just trying to introduce some sense of proportion using actual numbers.

I'm afraid I don't know much about local authorities in Turkey or Greece so can't compare. Why did you mention those two countries by the way?

Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on January 31, 2023 at 11:06

"You wrote:
"I'd love to hear from someone comparing hard numbers spent on other initiatives."

If you're serious it's not too hard to search online for alleged wastage by your local council. The Ham and High newspaper is a useful source. As is this site.  Also Twitter and What Do They Know website.

Or perhaps you are genuinely interested in the whole area of the naming and renaming of public spaces; of memorising and memorials. Currently this seems to be a burgeoning field. In which I claim no expertise, so I'd appreciate your recommendations for books and articles you've been reading on the topic.

Permalink Reply by Shar on January 31, 2023 at 12:05

Alan

If you really believe this is the only issue at Haringey Council worth discussing, please carry on. I've set out its scale in the scheme of things above for reference.

I daresay none of the people so upset about the cost of this renaming have any reasons to offer about why this particular expenditure has caught their attention. It's everyone's right to talk about what they care about of course, so I'm not going to demand any.

Permalink Reply by Gordon Farcas on January 31, 2023 at 12:28

The cost is only one aspect of this to which many people object. My main issues are the false premise that the name needed to change, erasure of heritage and the undemocratic nature of the whole palava.

But yes the fact that the council saw fit to spend even a relatively small amount of its overall budget on this at this time provides insight into the way it must manage budgets and priorities more broadly. There are indeed bigger scandals mamaged, or rather mismanaged, by the council (eg. Ally Pally, Charles Adje, the millions wasted on the council HQ). You could say the renaming of Black Boy Lane is the 'council in a microcosm' or the final straw that broke the camel's back.

Permalink Reply by Shar on January 31, 2023 at 13:12

Regardless of whether or not I agree with you, that sounds like a reasonable way of assessing the issue, Gordon.

Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on February 1, 2023 at 12:38

Shar - You have no reason for saying that I "really believe this is the only issue at Haringey Council worth discussing *. That statement is absurd, not least because I actually wrote the opposite. Making it plain that there are many more issues. That "it's not too hard to search online for alleged wastage by [our] local council. The Ham and High newspaper is a useful source. As is this site. Also Twitter and What Do They Know website."

I post here and on other websites under my full name. i don't use pseudonyms and anyone can check out what  I "really do believe" .

You comment that there may be some "reasons to offer about why this particular expenditure has caught their attention". Why they "care about"  this.

Let me make it plain that a number of things make me "care about"  how our Council spends our - i.e. public = money. The issue of scale is important and if you had followed up on my suggestions you would have seen that I and others had been publicly raising matters such as dubious property deals totalling many millions. But what I "really believe" is that even very localised and minor issues do and must matter. In fact the smaller issues often provide a window or even small doorways into understanding far larger issues.

Permalink Reply by Shar on February 1, 2023 at 13:48

Alan, all you did was point out that I could go look for other issues if I was interested, so apologies for not having done a full background check on you and your beliefs beyond this thread. I still haven't undertaken this myself but will happily take your word for things you say about yourself.

Thanks for clarifying that you have written about other issues, and for your contributions. I do agree that small matters can be very instructive about bigger issues.

Shar really is my name by the way, it's not a pseudonym. (Should I have gone with Brown Boy?)

I just don't care to use my full legal name on a website publicly accessible on the Internet as it's an uncommon combination and having been harassed in the past I prefer not broadcasting where I live. Happy to DM my full name to anyone who really wants to know. Hugh has verified me as a member and several members on here know me or have met me personally. 

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• …
• 8
• 9
• 10
• 11
• Next ›
• Page