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Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

February 12th sees a meeting of local residents with Daivid Lammy. Event details here.

The agenda is being kept to three topics; traffic, houses of multi occupancy & gambling venues.

Is there any common ground from residents on these three topics to take to this meeting? In other words, what end result do people want from this meeting with Mr Lammy for each topic area discussed?

Giving clear and united requests for action and implementation to Mr Lammy would help him to go away from the meeting with a point by point action plan, one that we as residents could then monitor and possibly have regular updates on from his office.

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Yes I agree with you Anthony. Interestingly you may find that some community groups have been discussing these three issues for some time in various meetings and they will have a very organised approach to this meeting with Lammy. An example would be the HMO 10 point plan from the LSCP, which is a fairly good plan but doesn't concern itself with tackling the lack of affordable housing in Harringay so, it's very one sided.

Regards the frontages for the gambling shops and the comparison with the new pictures on cigarette packets: one of the images is of a syringe, with a caption 'Smoking is highly additive'. A suitable image for the gambling shops?!

Taffic on the ladder is a major concern for me, on foot and on a bike, my experience is that traffic often travels too fast down the ladder roads not slowing for speed bumps and especially fast allong Wightman Road. I've experienced traffic going the wrong way on the oneway streets very fast and on saturday a dominos pizza motorbike going along the pavement up one road.

I dont know whether camara's would solve any of this.

As a cyclist my experience is that traffic is much better behaved in central london and the further north i travel the more lawless it becomes. The greater pressence of law enforcement measures deffinately has an impact.
I've also experienced countless trafic offences and dangerous driving from police cars and vans, (when sirens are not sounding). A better example could be set!

I commented to a couple of policemen in a 4WD on Bishopsgate last week that they were driving too close to me. On balance, I'll just slow down and wait for them to go past in future...
Gambling:

Article from the IHT on shortfall in funds from gambling industry's voluntary scheme towards helping people with gambling addiction. Government is looking to regulate funding contributions. To quote;

Gordon Brown is concerned that increasing numbers of people are wagering more than they can afford.

A study by the British Gambling Commission found that up to 300,000 adults, or 0.6 % of Britons, had a problem controlling their gambling in 2007.
HMOs are only one aspect of private sector housing which is problematic. People have to live somewhere, and while such little public housing is being built, unscrupulous landlords and those with large property portfolios in poor areas have had a licence to print money. Much of that money has come from us, the taxpayer. And while national policy appears to be that private sector housing is the way to solve the housing crisis then, in my view, the blight of badly managed HMOs, houses illegally converted into rooms, sub-lets etc will continue.

How could the Government change this? First and foremost by massively investing in decent public housing everywhere, so people aren’t moved around and displaced. Also by passing legislation for strict and enforceable regulations on accommodation agencies, managing agents and landlords to ensure they manage properties properly and effectively and are not a blight on the neighbourhood. Some possibilities include: formal licensing and registration, a duty to inform all new tenants about local services and to make sure they comply.

Locally, we need continuous and ongoing enforcement combined with community education and information. With the churn and turnover, it has to happen all the time. The Council rents from private landlords and so has substantial purchasing power. Maybe you’ve seen the local adverts promoting the Landlords Direct Letting Scheme where the Council offers all sorts of sweeteners and concessions to landlords. One quote: ‘you supply the properties….we supply the tenants’.

The Council needs to operate tough ground rules and enforceable contracts in return for the rents. The advert suggests a one way arrangement where the landlords get all the benefits while the Council takes all risks. And while homelessness is a shaming reality, the Council is between a rock and a hard place.
Very balanced and thought out comment on the current housing mess in this country zenab.

I know of families who have moved out 'temporarily', letting out their house to council tenants via the advertised scheme you mention. They did it because they thought it sounded good for them, hassle free and for (of course) the good rent rates.

Attacking the existence of HMOs is not smart. Looking at how to deal with the wider housing issues is. But Lammy will at least be aware of this.

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