Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Downhills Park Loss of Green Flag report now available
The report on Downhills Park and why it lost its right to fly a green flag has been made available and I have attached it as a PDF below.
There is particular concern about the safety of the play equipment. Note that the presence of the cafe is the main reason why the park was considered safe (staff found to be welcoming). The sense of abandonment of the rest of the Park was commented on.
To reiterate, this is not the fault of the one member of staff who must care for both Downhills and Lordship Rec.
The responsibility for this lies at the door of central government for the cuts but Haringey’s stewardship of our parks must also be be held accountable
with thanks to Cllr Bob Hare and to Clive Carter for getting these reports released.
- Attachments:
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Matt D on
-
This all seems fair and true, and I hope it leads to significant focus and improvements to litter & to the state of the park itself. The children's play area has huge potential in particular.
One thing is certainly true: the staff at the cafe are incredibly friendly and helpful. We love it there, even on the coldest days.
-
Permalink Reply by Liz on
-
Downhills is still a beautiful place full of delights and interest, especially if you like a little wildness. There are rare trees, wildflower patches teeming with life in most seasons and some of those dead branches probably have the beginnings of insect and fungus communities. It has a lovely cafe and strong local support. This is a setback but not a disaster. These things can be fixed. Ball lies in the court of the council now. Let’s hope they rise to the challenge.
-
-
Completely agree, we’re there most weekends and enjoy it a lot.
Onwards and upwards!
-
-
Reminder: Bulb plant and litter pick tomorrow in the park https://www.harringayonline.com/events/downhills-park-litter-pick-a...
-
Permalink Reply by Paul Harding on
-
Whack in a nice skate park like Clissold and watch it flourish..
-
Permalink Reply by JHauptman on
-
The late 80's/90's approach to park management. I'm not sure Finsbury Park or Lordship Rec ever felt the 'flourish' after their skateparks were built.
Clissold is an exemplar, not because of a couple of skate bowls, but because of a commitment to maintenance, development and compliance. It also helps significantly that its catchment is predominantly middle-class.
Children seldom find human excrement or drug paraphernalia in the bushes as they chase a ball or frisbee in Clissold. They are constant risks in Finsbury Park.
-
-
There was no flourish because they built absolutely terrible skateparks.
Finsbury Park is marginally better than Lordship which is horrendously bad but both are extremely poorly done. Clissold is a proper park and has a large amount of people who look after it and hold events there because it's actually worth making to trip to use.
-
Permalink Reply by tigha on
-
Interestingly it featured on countryfile recently as aspiring parks and well said Tris, friends have really made it much harder for other parks
-
Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
-
The latest nonsense from Haringey in reply to a Freedom of Information Act request from Clive Carter.
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/green_flag_awards_keep_brita...:
Legally the reports are due to be sent to Clive Carter on or before 3 December. The latest obfuscation is that.
"The Council intends to publish all of the reports on its website in the coming weeks. We will email you again once they have been published and where you can find them on the Councils website."
It may be that the Council plan to publish the reports together with information about the work they have done to bring the parks up to standard. Or that their green flag status has been restored.
If that's the case, then great. It would show the value of the awards; that they are not simply a badge that you once earn and then keep; and the way that they have spurred remedial action.
However this interpretation does not comply with the law.
A parallel would be, for example, if OFSTED reports on schools were not published, but kept under wraps by the school until it had sufficient time to deal with all the shortcomings and criticisms.
______________
P.S. Clive Carter gives 5 December as the due date. I'm following the WhatDoTheyKnow website calculation which is based on Guidance from the Information Commissioner's office.
© 2024 Created by Hugh.
Powered by
