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Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

Last October I raised the issue that possible street closures in surrounding areas would displace traffic our way. 

One of the areas was Crouch End.

A consultation for those living/working in the area is in progress and one of the options being consulted on is the closure to through traffic (except for buses, emergency vehicles and cyclists) of one or more major roads, such as The Broadway.

A traffic survey for the Crouch End project suggests such a change might mean 2000 more vehicles a day in both directions for Wightman.

Harringay residents can make their views known via the questionnaire.

To complete the questionnaire go to:

https://www.haringey.gov.uk/parking-roads-and-travel/roads-and-stre...

After the initial section you can opt to only complete the one on traffic. The deadline is 2 February.

Postscript navigation note: (For oversized lorry stuck on Warham, see P14, here.)

Tags for Forum Posts: liveable crouch end, liveable neighbourhoods, oversize hgvs on warham, traffic

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Those cars would come from Bounds Green and Muswell Hill primarily and people who just drive for perceived convenience presumably to get kids to after school clubs etc or doing multiple pick ups. Any births in NCL are registered in the boroughs where those 4 units sit which are Camden, Islington, Haringey and Barnet so given they work in a sector basis with those local authorities they can make pretty accurate predictions . What might have been the case 30 years ago isn’t the case now and there are good links between the hospitals and the boroughs. 

"Although all that said the proposal and planning of this scheme has been pretty hopeless from Haringey even if the aims are laudable."

Yes, I agree the aims are laudable, but the main point is the proposal & planning of the scheme has been worse than hopeless from LBH. which is why there has been this reaction on HoL as the only forum where views & feelings can be vented

I would like to go to the Haringey Transport Forum today to listen to what is being said, not necessarily to speak, but can I find out where & when it is being held? I don't think so. Can I speak to anyone at the council, no, - I hung on the phone for 15 minutes waiting at #1 in the queue, and finally gave up, asking for a call-back "when someone is available". I'm still waiting after another 45 minutes!

With respect to school catchment areas, when it came to our child's secondary school, I selected the 6 schools that were within walking distance in the event public transport wasn't working, or there might be a large snow-fall, (don't have a car). There hasn't been a heavy snowfall for years, I wonder why, car drivers?

Catchment hop is so, so selfish. I visited all 6 schools at open events, they all seemed adequate and with our child's help refined it down to 2 and ended up with our child's choice. The school is more than  fine, & the child is happy & receiving a quality education. One was outside the borough even. Attempting to push one's child to a "top" school is anti-social and divisive. Good schools need a wide range of abilities for the child's sake, other-wise they continue to pursue a feeling of "priviledge".  Regarding primary, they went to the one in the catchment area. There is one exception however, when a family is moved by housing services, yet want to maintain continuity at the first primary school for understandable reasons, and are forced to drive.

Regarding health services, I live on the borough boundary and selected a health centre in Hackney, within walking distance 40 odd years ago. The family are all there. We were always given a choice of Homerton or Whittington, now as a result of commissioning we are always directed to Homerton, choice is hard to come by these days. Fortunately both of them are accessible through public transport.

+1, Daniel

Hi Zena,

First, thanks for participating and engaging on this topic.

I'd suggest that the best approach would be to use this issue not as a way to slow down or stop the (right) changes in Crouch End but to demand that overall Haringey really ups it's game across the borough.  A climate emergency has been declared but no action taking.  Our residential streets are clogged with through traffic and our air quality is terrible.  It's time for big changes and this can only happen and be driven by our councillors.

 Thanks everyone for your comments and insights. Like you I think the whole issue has to be 'in the round'. Making Crouch End more liveable will impact elsewhere. We all know that. I plan to go to the Haringey Transport Forum today so will do my best to raise points about this. Regarding school streets, we are putting additional money into developing the school streets programme from the new financial year. We must have clear and transparent criteria for allocation as there are more schools than money! 

Regarding public transport - My Dad always argued that it should be free. I saw a clip about Dunkirk where they have made buses free to improve air quality, reduce car usage etc. When we went to Seattle about 15 years ago, the buses downtown were free to reduce congestion, discourage cars etc

Zena

Zena Brabazon

Deputy Leader of the Council  

Cabinet Member for Children and Families

Cllr, Harringay ward

Zena, good luck. I know you will do your best for Harringay and you have our interests at heart.

I should've liked to be there to hear your voice & the voices of others, but there is no information on LBH website. The calendar shows a big blank for 05/02/20.

I can't even get through to LBH on the phone. I hope you will be able to report back. Agendas & minutes?

There is a democratic deficit in LBH, no oversight, scrutiny or accountability. The current political group has been in post for the best part of half a century. Absolute power is corrupting absolutely, the cabinet is fractured along ideological lines resulting in the residents & tax payers having zilch representation. Shame on them! They should be challenging the unelected officers, not using the public as pawns and making decisions behind closed doors and using their positions to further their own political careers. They know who I mean.

BTW I hope LBH are no longer working from the 2010 -2018 LBH Air Quality Plan, and have an updated 2019-? version with data that is more recent than 2007. I couldn't find one though.

One thing to also make sure, if Couch End do go for the multibarrier approach that an appropriate amount of pain is applied to the residents inside as those just outside, this could be done by only allowing residents to exit through only one barrier of the 4 barriers that is nearest to their home. I am going to be badly affected as son for example does taekwondo near stationers park, this change will make walking the only option, expect someone people will consider a good thing but it does turn the class into a bit of a day killer. An alturnative for fairness would be to allow people just the wrong side of the tracks also access through the barriers.

According to google that is a 23 minute walk from your home. or a nine minute cycle. Good grief.

A 23 minute walk for a fit and able-bodied adult?

Obviously I don't know how old Jame's son is but I imagine he can't walk at an adult pace. And timings might not allow a gap of 23 minutes (or longer for a child's walking pace) between the end of school and the beginning of the club. AND they have the walk back after the child has had a full day at school, the long(ish) walk there, and hour of taekwondo. And when does the child get time to eat?

I think it's worth remembering that not everyone is able to cycle, or walk that distance.

In my experience schools and nurseries and after school clubs run to strict times. They're not flexible and often timings are very tight, especially if you have more than one child at different schools and/or clubs. 

To add - we’re in full support of a Low Traffic neighbourhood in Harringay Ward - the traffic levels from motor vehicles  along Wightman Road and many Ladder roads are currently unacceptable. A great deal more could be done in the ward to make walking, cycling and taking public transport more accessible. We would really value any support you can give to implementing an impactful scheme here too! 

You wouldn’t know this, Peter (because no one has told you), but Catherine did reach out to me and Justin after my post last year. She invited us to attend her January meeting. We’ve yet to reciprocate with an invitation of our own. 

I support what Catherine and her group are doing, but just as with the situation in Crouch End, any progress they make cannot come at the cost of more traffic on the Ladder. 

No trouble! Our group is new (only been about a year), but we’re really keen to reach out to fellow residents across the borough who would like to see streets designed for people, not just through traffic. It was a pleasure to meet Hugh and Justin, I know there has been a long running campaign for healthy streets locally which has been deeply frustrating at times, but I think there is a surge in interest in this issue given the climate emergency/air pollution/inactivity levels - it’s time to be calling for a real change to the status quo. We’d be really keen to work with any interested residents! 

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