Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Residents offered £500 for 'snooping' on neighbours
Residents who report neighbours for dog fouling, littering, graffiti or fly tipping are being offered a £500 cash reward. Waltham Forest council in north London will hand over the money for information that leads to a court conviction.
All the offences Waltham are targeting have been discussed as issues on this site. But what about the solution? Is it the right one?
Read the full story in the Telegraph.........
All the offences Waltham are targeting have been discussed as issues on this site. But what about the solution? Is it the right one?
Read the full story in the Telegraph.........
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Liz on
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Well if Waltham Forest actually take some action when they are supplied with photos, it might be a start but in Haringey I doubt you'd even get an acknowledgement. As you know I have caught people and reported these offences in the past and had zilch back...and the rubbish still piles up
I also feel that in many cases you have to weigh up whether you want to start a neighbourhood feud because you report a neighbour for this or even if you are at physical risk.
A particularly lovely specimen of humanity allowed his ugly dog to crap right in front of my buggy. After a big show of mock surprise that his dog did poos, he decided it was all my fault and turned on me shouting abuse because I asked him to clean it up and offered him a bag to do it, apparently I pulled a disgusted face and that what why he was swearing at me. I should of course have offered a beatific smile, praised his ugly little pooch and perhaps offered to have my oldest child clean it up for him.
Imagine what would have happened it I'd tried to photograph it...you cannot expect members of the public to try and police this themselves I'm afraid.
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Permalink Reply by Birdy_Too on
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I have reported fly tipping to Haringey Council with photographic evidence and an address, guess what response I got? Nout, bugger all, diddly squat.
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Permalink Reply by VIX on
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Bring it to Harringey...
If i got £500 every time we reported one of the scummy bedsit neighbors dumping rubbish or people parking in our Lane and throwing their pizza boxes and KFC bags out their car windows we could afford to move to Hampstead pretty swiftly!
I agree with Liz, I dont think it is the general public's job to report this kind of thing, and when we do, as she says bugger all gets done. Just more pie in the sky ideas.
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Permalink Reply by Alison P on
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I don't think it is likely to result in much apart from Telegraph headlines personally. You'd need clear evidence of the crime, and clear evidence linking the person to the crime - which is quite hard to get in most cases. The white van dumping rubbish is probably the best example of how it might work - but, as Liz says, in most cases you'd just start some massive neighbourhood punch up or it would just come down to a case of your word against theirs. This came up in relation to dog fouling on an earlier thread - all well and good to say that you'll prosecute and you want information to help with this, but short of having a photo of the lovely dog in the actual act, AND a photo of their owner going into their home with said dog - what is the point? (in fact even in this example, the dog owner could say that he did clean it up - again, your word vs his).
That said, worth a go - even if it does only result in a few more people watching out for fly tippers...
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Permalink Reply by smileygirl2010 on
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I have to say I am uncomfortable with this idea to be honest. It reminds me a bit of nazi germany - turning in your neighbours...I know fly tipping is an issue, and i cant say i have done it, but i can see why people do, do it. I know the council offer a service to pick up unused furniture ect, but if like me you live on green lanes, and dont have a front garden to leave these items in, the council will not collect these items. Perhaps the council should review their collection services to include larger items - god knows, we pay enough council tax.
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There's a monstorous difference between dobbing your neighbours as they see it fit to flytip as oppose to sending them to the gas chamber!
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Yes there is Birdy, but others have suggested the same as SG2010, that it was a characteristic of a totalitarian state to have people inform of their neighbours; every Chinese street under Mao had a paid 'warden' whose job it was to inform the Party of subversive behaviour. However, I do think we are a long way from that and I doubt that either Birdy or I could be persuaded to take our reporting much further than dog turds and mattresses.
I take your point though SG that for those who do not have the facilities it is difficult to get rid of unwanted larger items, although I don't condone their solution. Perhaps a monthly day when Green Lanes residents can put out large items for collection without penalty, say first Monday morning of the month would be a solution, with fines imposed if people dump at other times?
btw both the fly tippers I reported lived on the Ladder and had perfectly good gardens. One dumped a computer - removed for free by the council with a simple phone call
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Permalink Reply by John D on
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Nobody HAS to dump unused furniture. Take it to the council tip yourself or hire the ubiqitous man with a van to do it. If you can afford to buy new furniture you should accept the reponsibility of getting rid opf the old.
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Permalink Reply by Chris GIbbs on
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Haringey council is very good at clearing rubbish dumped onto pavements if people tell them about it. What they're not good at is discouraging the problem and encouraging people to do it properly in the first place. They also try to charge people to collect their rubbish but if you just dump it then some other sod will report it and it's cleared for free - hence it doesn't make sense to 'do the right thing'. I too have photographed neighbours dumping every bit of dog faeces (from 3 or 4 pitbulls) during a six month period into a rear alleyway. They dumped empty cans of dog food and other furniture, household waste, a bike etc there too. Eventually, after contacting the labour whip and local MP, the council have contacted me to express their "outrage". Unfortunately outrage doesn't solve the problem, only action. Living in an area covered in dumped rubbish is often the first step in increasing anti-social behaviour and people giving up caring about where they live, anything that can stop that is a good thing. However I'd prefer to see Enforcement taking action against those dumping rubbish rather than rewarding those reporting the problem.
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Totally agree with Chris. There was a form about rubbish collection with the last Haringey People and that was my main comment on it - that the (fairly) efficient removal of dumped rubbish, when combined with no attempt to enforce action against those who do it, just tells people to do it again. I don't know what the answer is - I'm certainly not advocating letting dumped rubbish lie around for ages, but I'm sure enforcement could do a bit more to have a go at the offenders.
Can't believe your story Chris - did any good ever come of the Council's outrage?!
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