Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
THE heat, the park and other things
IT is forecast that next week, heat waves will resume with temperatures around 30°.
That is near the start of July and we still have August to come. Many—especially the elderly—find 30°+ temperatures an ordeal to endure, if not an actual health hazard.
NHS advice includes—unsurprisingly—drink lots of water. Hydration.
Haringey Council has this to say about Hot Weather
Their second bullet point notes:
- Look for public water fountains, community venues, or visit a cool space for free drinking water and seating.
All good advice, but harder to follow in Finsbury Park due to the council's own omissions.
Someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm not sure that Finsbury Park has ever had a public drinking water fountain and not during the 10+ years of the council's Major Events. Their commercial events were claimed to generate £1,200,000 p.a., every penny of which was invested in our park. Believe that if you will; please take a look at it's current state.
The council recommendation to look for … seating is galling in respect of FP:
Between the Park View Cafe and Edible Landscapes, 11 (eleven) park benches are hidden away in the council's nursery. The Events Team won't move them back for public use, because they'd be in way of their Events Season, ie. their corporate customers' gigs.
The council's Head of Parks and Leisure has been strongly opposed to a public drinking water fountain on the grounds of cost and difficulty. One of the council's private objections is also likely to be that two-thirds of such a Haringey-paid for facility, would benefit the residents of two other Boroughs (adjacent).
I don't think this is good enough.
I have been talking with others about this and intend speaking to local councillors with a view to prosecuting the proposal for such a public facility, to completion.
#PublicHealth
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The Cowsills ~ The Rain, The Park & Other Things
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Tags for Forum Posts: Finsbury Park, Greens, Haringey Council, Simon Farrow, heat wave, public health, water
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jamie Harper
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Had the venerable trustees and board members of the Friends of Finsbury Park been even accidentally effective over the years, this long-running issue would have been resolved.
There was a "Drinking Fountain. It was opposite the Manor House Gate"
All the best bringing anything to completion. But, I note you still cant help making up grievances, Clive. Running through these imagined council refusals in your head really cant be healthy, but they do indicate the kind of obstacle park users (and the council) face in having the FoFP acting on their behalf.
"One of the council's private objections is also likely to be..."
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Admin for testingPermalink Reply by Hugh -
I've edited the text beneath the photo you link to, Jamie, sharing evidence of at least two other fountains, and probably more, that used to be in the park.
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter
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Thanks Hugh, that's helpful.
Victorians established this public park and had a sense of pride in it.
Your linked photo also shows how well they maintained our park: for full public use, year round.
It is long forgotten that this park had to be fought for.
As one example, the big long strip of land between the long straight carriageway and Seven Sisters Road was once earmarked for developers. I have no doubt that Finsbury Park—as a public park—will need to be defended, indefinitely. Regrettably, this has included the current local authority.
I suppose it's unsurprising that a park as large as Finsbury—110 acres—should once have provided several drinking water fountains. It's unclear when they were demolished, but possibly before the merger of the three Boroughs in 1965 to form Haringey (?). They appear never to have been replaced.
Haringey Council declared a climate emergency in March 2019. Some of the effects of global warming plus El Niño have been experienced this month.
Heat wave only going to worsen; there is no upper limit.
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Admin for testingPermalink Reply by Hugh -
Mr Khan recently ran a project to create drinking fountains in busy areas to reduce the use of plastic bottles, Haringey got four, at the following locations.
- Seven Sisters Station
- Tottenham Hale Station
- Tottenham Green Common
- Wood Green Underground.
Sadly, the list did not include any restoration of any of the Finsbury Park fountains.
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton
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Clive, I'm pleased to see you're still on the trail of publicly available and free water in heatwaves.
I rather suspect that senior staff. or other nay-sayers, will realise they look foolish when dangerous extreme heatwaves (and possible risk of heat exhaustion) become recognised as likely in our summers.
Belittling such risks as "making up grievances" is just silly. As it would be to suggest that park users prefer the eleven park benches for many months gated and locked away from public use.
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