Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Make our voice heard - sick of Green Lanes charcoal air pollution? - Meeting 22 June
- Attachments:
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Domshaw
-
It would be good to include the business owners on Green Lanes wouldn't it? They are part of the community too and the reason our high street isn't dead like others. There are better fuel and filtering systems available that I'm sure they'd be happy to consider if only someone asked them.
-
Permalink Reply by Clive Carter
-
This is progress, but is this not a "meeting" on the council's terms and controlled by the council?
There are a few advantages of a "Teams" video connection, such as availability.
The risk may be that everyone will feel that it was a good "meeting" … and that's it.
However, one of the effects of the Microsoft barrier erected, is to maintain separation and insulation from residents whom council staff are supposed to serve. A video connection discriminates against those who don't have "Teams", aren't technically literate and even those who may not be on the 'net!
Participants see others on a piece of glass and there is less connection, if not alienation.
After Covid, council Directors had become so comfortable with this form of social distancing and working from home, I understand they had to be encouraged—if not ordered—to come in to work.
Supposedly on (spurious) cost-saving grounds, Labour stopped the Neighbourhood Forums, which were real meetings in real rooms in the community. Senior council officers would come and stand up and explain policies to ordinary residents and even take questions from them.
I wonder if it was senior council employees who disliked this indignity and who were behind the stopping of the Forums?
I hear the Greens may be re-introducing these forums. If this is the case, then it is a good thing. It's democratic and reminds these sometimes out-of-touch council employees, who it is they are supposed to be serving and who in the long run, pay their salaries.
-
Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton
-
I would like to challenge the apparent omission of certain voices from those attending meetings about air pollution. I also wish to challenge the apparent assumption that the issue of causation has been solved in advance and can definitively be assumed to be charcoal used in Green Lane restaurants.
My suggestion is that staff working in restaurants appear to be left out of this inquiry - And their trades union membership and potential membership. Also their relevant medical records.
Since restaurants using charcoal are not confined to Green Lanes, data referring to other establishments could be relevant snd possibly helpfil.
I would suggest that some University researchers could have data and reports from other parts of London, which are worth referring to.
I would also be curious to know if there are any data about the possible impact of garden barbecues in the area.
-
-
Alan, yes, good point. The analogy is the staff of pubs, clubs, bars and restaurants who—for decades before serious public health measures were adopted—were obliged to work in foul, hazardous air, laced with second-hand tobacco smoke, for hours on end. This is one of the few areas where I agreed with the Conservatives' Rishi Sunak.
The council's Public Health function has been too quiet for too long. It's as though they've been told to stick to medicine. The Greens need to make this part of a wider environmental policy to crack down on all forms of air pollution. Starting, with the worst contributors.
-
Permalink Reply by Grand Parader
-
Whilst I hear your genuine concern for health in this - had the same concerns re. my kids when small, breathing diesel fumes and other car emissions when on the way to school - please dont just make this a crusade against the food places on Grand Parade / Green Lanes. Wood burning stoves are a big contributor 4-6 months of the year, and as we learnt in previous posts, car/vehicle tyres are contributing large amounts of PM2.5's
Please include the Traders Association (maybe via Rob Tao) and the Gardens Residents Association (if not already). The Gardens get the most of everything off Green Lanes and the Ladder streets, just by virtue of the prevailing winds.
© 2026 Created by Hugh.
Powered by
