Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Testing Haringey's hitec approach to clearing street problems
Last week I had a meeting with Nigel Tyrell, Head of Environmental Services at London Borough of Lewisham. He was responsible for the development of tech-enabled approaches to reporting and managing street problems, e.g. fly tipping.
Haringey Council have been signed up to the Lewisham developed system, Love Clean Streets, for a while now. It's my tool of choice because:
1. There's a smartphone app to make it easy to report problems as you go with little hassle.
2. It's picture-based - I hadn't realised how helpful this is to the Council. It helps them to accurately assess the scale and nature of the problem so they can get an appropriate response out quickly without the need for an inspection visit.
This visual element is also important because it adds a layer to the transparency aspect of problem reporting, giving very graphic record of a problem which, I would have thought, can be used to put pressure on the Council in the event of a poor response.
What's missing is a permenant record. It seems that the system only has a seven day memory. So it's not possible to track problems or the response to them over time.
I've used it before (and Liz has to) and it seemed like the response might be slower than reporting through the more traditional routes. Having talked with Nigel, I thought I'd give it another go. So on the way home from Harringay Station this afternoon, I started putting it through its paces. If you ever walk along it, you'll no doubt be ware of a number of front gardens with an accumulation of rubbish. I had a spate of reporting some of these last autumn. I used a mix of Haringey's own Report-a-problem web service and phone reporting. Both are ok, but I'm not sold on how reports are recorded. The phone service relies on you taking down and keeping a reference, the web one on storing an email.
I noticed four 'blighted' front gardens on my way home. I launched the app on my phone and in each case, snapped a photo, added a couple of words and clicked send to make the report. Simple.
When I got home, I had four email confirmations:
A few minutes later four confirmations that reports had been approved - in other words that a human had looked at them:
Each email provides a link to the individual reports on the Love Clean Streets website:
This is reassuring since it gives me confirmation that the report is there and a way to track response.
The Live Map feature on the site shows that my four Wightman reports are currently the only reports live in the borough:
A further search suggests that these four reports plus one more I made using the system in January are the only uses of it in Haringey this year. (you can search at the bottom of this page)
Pity really; it seems like a potentially very powerful system. You don't have to have a smart phone to use it, you can also upload your report via the website. Anyone else fancy joining in and using it to help try and keep Harringay a bit smarter?
Or perhaps we should see how well this batch work first, eh.
(N.B. There's also an app designed to go with Fix-my-Street. I've no idea works better. I'm sure both apps do the job. Pick whichever you prefer)
Tags for Forum Posts: litter, love clean london, love clean streets app, problem reporting apps, rubbish
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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Yes, that's a rebranded Love Clean Streets. The whole thing began at Lewisham:
The sensible thing for Veolia to do would be to align their back-office systems with the Love Clean network.
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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Though, Hugh, I've yet to understand how rapid reporting and clearance of dumped waste will avoid an unintended consequence. It can support and legitimate what I've called the informal third system where waste is routinely left on the street. (The first system is collecting from people's homes and workplaces. The second is official places where people bring their waste - like the Reuse & Recycling Centres.)
One point made by Veolia to councillors was the company's success - in another London Borough - in reducing this informal dumping. Which meant reducing the cost of waste trucks circling round all day picking up dumped rubbish in response to reports.
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I've no idea, Hugh. Thanks to Liz's post here, HoL members know as much as I do.
Zena Brabazon tells me that the Green Lanes Strategy Group got a presentation from the same intelligent and charming people from Veolia who met with some councillors at the beginning of the month. Apart from a Powerpoint presentation, it sounds much the same as we heard.
Councillors were able to ask questions and raise concerns with the Veolians, who impressed me with their grasp of the difficult issues, and an openness to discuss them. For example, they fully agreed with the point about not rewarding bad behaviour; as when people who dump get - in effect - a free collection from pavements and alleys.
I subsequently requested more detail and Cllr Nilgun Canver pointed me to Veolia's 4-page glossy brochure. (Which Liz also posted.) That helps a bit. But unfortunately not much. On the other hand, Veolia's brochure does at least identify many of the issues Liz and I and many other people repeatedly raised.
Veolia say they're looking for ideas. Let's give them some more!
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This afternoon I tried the Love Clean London website - reporting some dumped tyres and litter.
LCL seemed slightly cumbersome compared with www.fixmystreet.com. And even Haringey's own Report a Problem Page. This may be down to my initial unfamiliarity with the new site.
My report - and photo - took about 20 minutes to appear on the LCL. Unlike your reports to “Love Clean Streets” - there was no confirmation that mine was 'approved'. Unhelpful if I needed to chase.
It also worried me that any sort of dumping seems to be recorded as "fly-tipping". Haringey already has an undeserved place near the top of the Government's Flycapture database. Almost certainly because of misclassification of any item left on a Haringey street as “fly-tipping”.
A further drawback may be a lack of specific questions asking for extra information. Haringey’s Report-a-Problem page has this. Though I don’t know how often information gathered is useful or even used. But on the ‘try-to-learn-from-residents’ principle, I’d prefer that we asked.
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Today I gave Love Clean London (LCL) another go. Taking a short walk in Tottenham Hale ward I needed to report over a dozen street problems. Mainly dumping, but some broken bollards and damaged pavements.
Maybe I'm just not doing the right things, but LCL doesn't seem that helpful. For one thing, the infirmation given isn't <i>'sticky'<i>. For example, if I want to report dumping in three or four adjoining streets, I don't want to start each time from a large scale London Map.
Has anyone else tried it out? Any useful tips?
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