Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Street lighting in Finsbury Park
I was delighted when they put the street lights in Finsbury Park so in the winter I could still cycle home through the park when it was dark. There were so many more cyclists and walkers and it felt safe.
Now when I cycle through from the South Gate up towards Endymion Rd exit there are lights up to the tennis courts then they go off and they don’t come on again until the cafe - leaving a fairly long stretch of pitch black. I asked on the council website for them to fix the lights. They said they had but the lights are still off. Does anybody know if this is a cost cutting exercise?
Thanks!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Zena Brabazon
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Hi Jane
I just saw your post and wanted to reply right away. I will follow this up in the morning to find out what has happened and to ensure the lights are fixed. My email is zena.brabazon@haringey.gov.uk if you want to email with any further details, and of course, it will enable me to contact you!
Best wishes
ZenaZena Brabazon
Cllr, Harringay ward
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Permalink Reply by Jamie Harper
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The council is undoubtedly a poor custodian of the park, but their job is not made easier by the often harebrained approach of the Friends of Finsbury Park.
Having only relatively recently campaigned for lighting and CCTV in the park, their stance now is to have the park locked at night (or when dark). They cite the example of Clissold Park which has its gates shut at 4.30pm at this time of year. Which whim should the council attend to? There are arguments for and against both, but a little consistency would probably help.
"We have recently campaigned for the park gates to be locked overnight from like many other London parks such as Clissold, Victoria, Battersea and Southwark. Other councils do this precisely to cut down on criminal uses of the park at night which leads to a lot of littering and degradation of the park. We estimate this will cost the council approximately £30k a year but will dramatically reduce littering, etc." Friends of Finsbury Park website.
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What about all the sports clubs and facilities that are used at night? Seems very shortsighted.
Can we get the accessibility issues sorted in the park as well, please? Lots of the dropped curbs are so steep and badly maintained that you can't cross them on a wheelchair. Ive been emailing the parks councillor, but she has stopped responding to my emails
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton
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Which councillor have you tried to contact ?
Years ago, I was a councillor and a local resident, who was a wheelchair user, contacted me. She and her husband had a vision perhaps similar to yours. She wanted there to be no dead ends which - a high kerb for example - made impassable. A map of her local "world" from her house would always be growing wider.
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Hi Alan,
I've been contacting Emily Arkell and she has stopped responding to my messages sadly.
There are still plenty of areas of pavement (such as the areas outside the cafe car park) where you can get stranded and have to back track. When the festivals are on, i often can't get around the park at all as they block the few existing drop kerbs.
The state of pavements outside the park is also an issue, and the significant camber on the road within the park makes it very difficult to navigate with mobility devices. The fact that we have lorries tearing it up all year also adds to the issues, but rest assured it will all get fixed again a week before wireless, for them to trash it all again.
Pandering to corporate partners is ever at the forefront of the borough's considerations.
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We have talked about this very issue, several times at LSCP. Cllrs, SNT and Haringey Officers usually attend. Some of the members go to friends of Finsbury Park Meetings.
I don't know why the LSCP meetings are not announced on here, or why the minutes are not published except via email.
You can email LadderCommunitySafetyPartnership2024@outlook.com to get on the mailing list.
I offered to do a website, domain etc but told it was too complicated...
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Can I suggest, Neil that it might be helpful to compile and post a handy list of initials which you seem to know very well. Setting out each body's full name, what each does, and who are members. Other residents may also have patchy memories like mine and welcome your assistance.
Something along these lines may be especially useful when the new Council is elected in May. Fresh energies, fresh faces, and, hopefully, some other positive changes. With far fewer who show-up only once in six months. (Unfortunately the legal minimum.). Plus a few more from different parties - some may make great new councillors with surprisingly radical ideas . (I actually mean that last sentence sincerely.)
Should someone ring your doorbell seeking your vote I can - for free - suggest a couple of questions to ask if anyone wants.
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You mean acronyms to the actual names of the organisation ? I know you know this but for others:
LCSP - Ladder Community Safety Partnership. (I called it LSCP above! Typo. )
SNT - Met police Safer Neighbourhoods Team - our local police team, for Harringay Ward.
I'd be amazed if candidates for May 2026 in our ward were not aware of LCSP.
Councillors who only who up every 6 months ? Is that really possible ? I know Tower Hamlets have Cllrs who are standing as MPs in Bangladesh (see Private eye).
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter
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Councillors who only who [only show-] up every 6 months ? Is that really possible ?
I've been given to understand, that for several years one Haringey Councillor's actual main residence was some 100 miles outside the Borough. I'm not sure that would have been lawful. Or honest.
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Rotten Boroughs in Private Eye flags up these types and much worse in every edition.
I asked Grok to tell me the councillors attendance rankings!
Bottom 5
- Khaled Moyeed - 50% (3/6)
- Ruairidh Paton - 50% (3/6)
- Marsha Isilar-Gosling - 38% (3/8)
- Mary Mason - 33% (3/9)
- Holly Harrison-Mullane - 25% (2/8)
top 5
- Peray Ahmet - 100% (9/9)
- Barbara Blake - 100% (10/10)
- Zena Brabazon - 100% (17/17)
- Liam Carroll - 100% (6/6)
- Erdal Dogan - 100% (8/8)
Our Cllr Abella came 14th and Gina Adamou 31st.
I am bored at work, this is more fun!
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