Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Warning - Giving Away Furniture
Hi everyone
Just wanted to offer a word of warning, after a recent (expensive) mistake...
We had a small bedside table that was in perfect condition and was no longer needed. I did what I've always done with small household items and furniture having lived in London for 15 years - placed it just outside my gate with a sign attached saying "free to a good home." A few weeks later, a penalty notice arrived for £400 for fly-tipping, and the threat of a £20,000 fine if I didn't pay on time.
I emailed the enforcement team, explaining this was a genuine mistake on my part and not an attempt to dispose of furniture illegally (would have been a terrible plan if so, given I was so easily traceable with the item being directly outside my property.) It was a very small piece of furniture that wasn't blocking the public pathway. And, more importantly, I'm not a fly-tipper - I recently had our kitchen renovated and paid hundreds to have the waste disposed of properly, and regularly hire cars to take bulky furniture or waste to the N22 recycling centre. The response was that the fine was issued correctly and I owed the council £400. Pretty annoying when genuine fly-tipping is a chronic issue on the ladder... case and point the soiled mattress at the end of my road two weeks ago, and the dismantled bed in the passage last week, but there we go... my wallet is now £400 lighter for the mistake. I suspect the owners of the mattress and bed aren't worse off but who knows...
But this is really just to say if you have furniture in good knick you want to give away, keep it inside your front garden gate. I've seen people nearby doing the same thing as me - not with rubbish but with clearly nice bits and bobs they want to offer up passers by - and would hate for anyone else to end up in my position!
Mx
Tags for Forum Posts: council, fine, flytipping
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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We could all go further and stop voting for Council candidates who don't or won't promise to start using proportionate actions in response to rubbish in public places.
Fining someone 400 quid for trying to follow their common sense is "low hanging fruit".The timed bag collections example may appear to be a special case. It's actually what suits the Council - looking tough and collecting juicy fat fines - but isn't fair for residents. Just think about the online report of Ms Langlois' case. Working two jobs she put her bagged rubbish out 40 minutes before timed collection. Should Veolia pay her £400 if the truck comes late?
https://haringeycommunitypress.co.uk/2021/12/10/resident-hit-with-r...
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Permalink Reply by Zena Brabazon on
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I heard from the resident who was fined £400 for freecycling outside her home. As I said in my previous post, I wrote to officers about this fine, making the argument for it to be waived.
It has been.
That doesn't mean fines for freecycling won't be imposed again, so I have asked for a meeting to discuss a more robust policy which - as I said - must be better than fining people trying to do the right thing £400.
Zena
Zena Brabazon
Cllr, Harringay ward
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Sydney, do please click through the back pages of this thread where people make practical suggestions.
As a former lawyer decades ago, I'm hopeful that the phrase "curtilage of the dwelling house" may retain its legal significance. If you are lucky enough to have for example, a wall. then siting a small table or box on your side of the boundary line could enable you to place an item for recycling as a gift.
A little free library is an obvious example.
https://littlefreelibrary.org/There's a risk of course that any attempt to recycle useful stuff can spill over onto the pavement. Which is why the scheme with TRAID seems very positive.
https://www.traid.org.uk/book-a-collection/Beyond these recycling methods I would strongly urge that the Council adopts a clear protocol which uses fines and punishments as a last resort. With perhaps a warning or similar. Maybe an Apology if someone didn't realise they were breaking the rules.
It's not as though Haringey hadn't already been rapped over knuckles for fines which weren't "proportionate or in the spirit of the government guidance". It happened in December 2021.
The statement put out by Haringey Propaganda Unit was insensitive to say the least.
https://haringeycommunitypress.co.uk/2021/12/10/resident-hit-with-r...
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