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Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

A recent study found that people did not look for planning notices in their local press.

The findings of suggest that many councils could save money through reducing their advertising of planning notices.

Now the government is consulting on the necessity of putting statutory notices in local newspapers.

What do you think folks? How should Haringey let us know about planing application notices? Is it worth Haringey spenidng the money on advertising or is there a better way?

Read more here. Thanks to Kevin Harris of Local Level for pointing this story out to me.

Tags for Forum Posts: local newspapers

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I have to agree with Hugh, what a great service.

This would definately be a huge step for Haringey Council, especially in light of the many recent posts regarding unlawful conversions and planning issues etc. Add to that the frustration felt by many decent hard working members of the community, (and we are only just starting to scratch the surface... The list is endless).

More transparency required.

I am not sure how this works, but shouldn't the applicant be charged for the LA's expense in placing these small ad's? Perhaps an increase in planning application fees would allow the LA to ring fence the advertisement expence, so some funds can then be reallocated to provide something similar to Camden councils approach.

Very informative comments Michael. Thanks
I signed up to this...

http://planningalerts.com/

and it's working quite well. They must scrape the websites of the councils covered.
Or you can look at the Haringey list uploaded on this site each week.................
The local press is moribund. The Hornsey and Crouch End journal has just closed its local offices and buggered off somewhere else, so its hardly even local any more. In its desperate attempts to remain even handed it has become not neutral but neutered. Pages of deadly dull closely typed tedium need to be discarded. They may have helped Sherlock Holmes stay in touch but not us RSS bloggers, eh? Loss of this income will be another nail in their well deserved coffin. Or do I mean well deserved nail in their coffin. Is there a place for a campaigning local press any more? Should we start a local paper to augment sites like this.
The problem with the Haringey Press List is that it contains the applications for the whole borough - I get bored looking through them (sht a10shn span due 2 mdn life). The problem with http://planningalerts.com/ is that it is still in beta years after I first subscribed, and its screen scraping will never work perfectly. Maybe planningalerts should be funded by local authorities to provide the focussed data they are currently attempting unofficially.
And while we're at it obviously lap dancing clubs should be added to the list of "major developments", and a similar alerts system for licensing applications would also be jolly useful.
And then there's the law itself - as someone here has pointed out, the right of appeal for applicants often means the local authority and local people's wishes are over ruled - its happening a lot at present with wind turbines - and this right of appeal is completely open ended, while the right of objection does not apply to the inspector's decision.
Shall I go on? Waht do you mean "shall I" - you already have.
Spot on, Omotn. And, at the risk of further criticism of my Guardian-reading*, I'd highlight the article by George Monbiot:
My town is menaced by a superstore. So why are we not free to fight it off?

(* I'd very much welcome links to other thoughtful and weighty online pieces on this topic which Hol members see - e.g. in: The Telegraph; London Lite; Greyhound News; etc.)
Alan thanks for the link to the article by George Monbiot that I read with interest.

People of his village will probably vote with their wallets and patronise Tesco when it offers lower prices than the existing shops. But I have big reservations about the overweening power of these supermarkets. And we sometimes forget the other side of the equations: the suppliers.

A friend of mind is a truck driver in Yorkshire and he often rings me from his cab. Earlier in the week he told me of his disgust at the rejection and wastage of a large shipment of produce (not necessarily to Tesco) because the vegetables were not quite the right size. Some hard-working farmer will be gutted by this treatment and like many farmer-suppliers to the UK's big supermarket chains, will doubtless have been screwed on price anyway.

Are we as consumers partly to blame because we have come to expect too much consistency and the supermarkets reflect that?

To return to Applications for developments, it seems to me that in planning law, big supermarkets are another group that may enjoy too many rights and entitlements.


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On the issue of the big signs (like estate agent signs I suppose). Westminster get over 20,000 planning applications a year - imagine what 20,000 estate agent board size signs would look like!
Don't have to imagine - I live in Harringay :-)
"Big signs"? Irritating, proliferating, and poorly controlled. Sure.

But I continue to be deeply puzzled. Why are people who are so angry about mushrooming estate agents' signs not boiling with rage about the advertising hoardings which disfigure our towns and cities?

Over the years billboards have multiplied and got larger. They've added protruding gantries - very often over other people's land and the public highway. Spotlights which used to illuminate posters now project outwards from giant lightboxes.

As with planning powers to restrict estate agents' boards, the legal dice seem loaded in favour of the billboard barons. They too can play the system and string out the process - while the money rolls in.

Do you treasure old buildings and well-designed new buildings as part of attractive and lively streetscapes? Say goodbye to it all. And get ready for streets dominated by giant video screens and holograms in the style of Blade Runner.
Agree entirely - the uglification of our streets through badly designed, badly placed and illuminated adverts and signs seems to have got worse. Also, the mish-mash of shop fronts and signage on Grand Parade really detracts from what are some very attractive buildlings (try looking above the line of shops).

Some councils have done great work by offering shop front improvement schemes so that there is more harmony in the look af the street - saw some great examples in Maida Vale last week. Any chance of Haringey organising this?
THE BORDERS of Boroughs are notorious for disputes with neighbouring boroughs, friction and problems. Is this the reason for the veritable forest of signage near the border of Haringey and Islington?

Go to Street View angle & Google map

I invite anyone to go to the corner of Mount Pleasant Crescent and Crouch Hill (on the intersection of Stroud Green Road and Stapleton Hall roads). Surely not all of these structures are needed for inebriated patrons of the Larrick public house to cling on to after closing time?

Consider whether the signage might be excessive and whether some local government agencies do not know what the others are doing. Is anyone supposed to co-ordinate this? Bet if you asked one, they'd say it was fault of the other!


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Michael, Haringey had (and still has) shopfront schemes - most recently working with and funded by English Heritage. Earlier schemes used other funding streams.

I was critical of the earlier phases because the schemes did not focus enough on the streetscape as a whole - to achieve the harmony you mention. It also seemed to me that grants often 'rewarded' owners who had failed to look after attractive old buildings. In some cases, creation of flats above shops seemed like a good idea; but attention was not always paid to whether the premises were suitable; or whether the owners/landlords would maintain them properly.

In my view, not enough legal controls were built-into the early schemes to restrict owners' ability to cash-in on the raised value of their property at the public expense.

These aspects did improve as time went by. (N.B. To declare an indirect interest, the later schemes in High Road, Tottenham were within the remit of Neighbourhood Management when my partner Zena Brabazon was its head.)

More recently, in the mid-Tottenham area, any vision of harmony and general improvement seems to have been abandoned as the shacks in the forecourt of Bruce Grove Station were given the green light to blight the area. This was despite opposition from councillors and the Council's own Conservation officers.

The rationale is that these temporary stalls constitute "economic activity". It will be interesting to see how the Planning Department responds to the precedent it has set, if and when similar applications are made in Green Lanes, Crouch End, and Muswell Hill.

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