Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Proposals to strip councils of absolute power in street renaming
Street artist/graffiitist is not in favour (image via @vivyouvell).
Double-checking some of my historical research to meet a publication deadline, I happened across a paper by Policy Exchange contributor, British-Ethiopian, Zewditu Gebreyohanes.
Protecting local heritage: How to bring democracy to the renaming of local streets (attached below) considers how streeet naming is currently imposed on neighbourhoods in what is very often a heavy-handed top-down process. Haringey's Black Boy Lane incident is considered. She concludes with some proposed amendments to legislation.
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Protecting-local-heritage-21.pdf, 3.3 MB
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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Agreed, which is why I explicitly stated it upfront. I'm assuming that by now what Policy Exchange represents is common currency. Perhaps, I'm mistaken in that.
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Permalink Reply by Pat on
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It is also dangerous to "make conclusions" based on a report that is so obviously one sided. That is like accepting a report about smoking sponsored by the tobacco industry as unbiased. The renaming of Blackboy lane has been polarising for the local community but it is not helpful to present partisan views that only support one side of the echo chamber. I would say the same if the report had been produced by a similarly partisan voice from the opposing side.
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Of course, but nonetheless, it is possible that the article makes some useful contributions to our overall understanding. As far as I'm concerned, whilst I didn't agree with the Blackboy Lane decision, I consider it pretty much done and dusted. However, the issue of how these sorts of things are dealt with in the future interests me.
I suppose my interest was first really triggered when, for all the good qualities she had, Nilgun Canver told me that Harringay doesn't exist. A small coterie in the council had unofficially decided to name our area "Harringay Green Lanes".
Between them, for no good reason, Hornsey then Haringey Council have been trying to do away with the Harringay name for over a hundred years.
Despite their classing Harringay as one of the five metropolitan centres of the borough, you'd still be hard pressed to find our neighbourhood's name use in a council document alongside Crouch End, Muswell Hill, Tottenham and Wood Green. They still insist on using "Green Lanes". At least I've attempted to find out what local people think. The council never has.
I've written on HoL a few times about why it matters, including here where I cite the support of a New York assemblyman, Hakeem Jeffries.
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Permalink Reply by Ivor Blight on
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It has always annoyed me that Scrimgoeur Place is clearly a mis-spelling of Scrimgeour Place. But then I am a pedant
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