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Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

The Graffiti on the wall on the New River path, behind Wightman Rd is getting worse.

I understand that either Thames Water or the railway Co are responsible for maintaining the wall.

Anyone know who's responsible for the wall's upkeep?

Tags for Forum Posts: new river, new river path, new river path graffiti

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No, I’d very much prefer no tagging, street art or graffiti of any kind there. For me there is immense value in leaving it as a semi-natural green space. I’d rather look at the herons, coots, mallards and dragonflies that can frequently be seen in the space. 

I think if you look at the graffiti in the photo what you see is really no different from carving your name into a school desk.  It doesn’t matter if it’s Banksy, someone scratching “I love Octavia” on a wall at Pompeii or Fred from next door spraying his tag in The Passage.  It’s not intended to be an artistic statement, its sole intension is to leave a message, a sign of ownership or simply vandalism.

Disappointing that they didn't incorporate the life rings too... -

As a genuine question, does maintaining a wall include ensuring it is graffiti free? 

The wall is the responsibility of Network Rail. I’ve been reporting the graffiti for a few years. Actually up till recently Railtrack have been very good at dealing with the graffiti. I reported the current batch a few months ago, but Railtrack have been very slow this time. They’re blaming it on the pandemic.

Thanks for the reminder. It looks like it's got a lot worse since I first reported it. I will chase them up

Thanks, Hugh. If you'd like to share any Railtrack contact details, I'd be happy to add some weight to the request for action.

They seem to prefer contact via https://www.networkrail.co.uk/communities/contact-us, but when following up, I use comms_service@mailgb.custhelp.com.

I followed up my 12th December report, and 20th April follow-up on the day you added this post (11th May).

I've just called them and they say that the work was added to the works schedule of the Maintenance team on 12th May. So fingers crossed.

They should turn it into a legal graffiti wall. Parkland walk see's some excellent pieces. The more time you give people to paint the higher quality it will be. 

Don't you think there are other walls that could be used? Can't we just have a relatively peaceful green slice of urban nature in a busy highly urbanised neighbourhood?

There is room for both as Parkland walk shows. 

Taken as an entire city, London has room for good street art and even for some mindless graffiti, but that doesn't mean that every part should be obliged to take a share.

There are, I'm sure, countless numbers of debates about where graffiti should be allowed free rein and where it should be controlled. So I don't intend to go over that ground here.  But, I would point out that a key difference between the New River Path and Parkland Walk in respect of this debate is the percentage of the respective areas that is potential graffiti canvas.

To the best of my knowledge, in Parkland Walk, graffiti is confined to the tiny percentage of the length of the strip that has brick walls available as canvas. You notice it in passing and move on. In the case of the New River Path between Hampden and Allison Roads, almost 50% of the length of the path is bounded by the railway wall. Left open for graffiti, it would completely dominate the space.

Although, compared to many other cities around the world, we're blessed in London to have a good level of green areas, natural (or quasi-natural) green space still makes up less than 20% of the total. There are some parts of town where street art and graffiti look appealing. However, I'm very much in favour of preserving our green areas as green oases for all and giving graffiti freer rein in some (not all) of the other 80%.

I emailed Network Rail again on 20th May. They wrote and assured me that the work was planned for the week commencing 23rd May.

Sadly, nothing has happened and meanwhile the graffiti is getting worse, and, I note, spreading to the side of Dick's house now.

I've emailed Network Rail again today. If that doesn't work. I'll see if we can get Zena to write a councillor letter (not that there's any love lost between the council and Network Rail following years of stalemate over the maintenance of Hampden Road). 

Thanks, Hugh. I contacted N.R again using their chat function 

I was given a Ref number for my call - reference number is 210630-000058

Was told the local maintenance team had advised it'd be completed by end of June (today). Unlikely.

Not sure theres much more I can do as an individual. Apart from Zena, is there any use in a local group of residents contacting N.R or do we sit and wait?

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