Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Time to abolish Haringey Council?
In all the scandals that have befallen the borough on behalf of our incompetent council over the last forty years, surely we need to accept that it is beyond saving.... and abolish our local authority?
Every time I read the local media, they contain yet repeated allegations of mismanagement and incompetence. Nothing ever happens in Haringey unless it is bad. Our schools are failing, our council homes are crumbling, our streets are dirty, our youths are repeatedly ignored.
If there was a campaign to abolish Haringey Council, I would support it.... subject to an Act of Parliament and a public referendum vote in favour. Then the borough's assets could be sold off or transferred to neighbouring councils.
The likes of Harringay Online and others who have a genuine axe to grind could set the ball rolling by setting an e-petition and set up such a campaign. Ask our local MP David Lammy to get involved, he may be persuaded.
Like many here, I am sick and tired of the increasingly useless policies coming out of the Civic Centre, and is prepared to consider wanting to see my part of the borough governed properly by another council.
(Let me remind you that this post is slightly tongue-in-cheek)
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on
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Neville its not quite as crazy as it sounds at first.
Every employee at the council would likely say that the council is as permanent as the force of gravity. However, in its current form, which displays much dysfunction, it has existed for only 40 years.
I have long held the view that the Borough is too big for most things and too small for other things. It's not the right size.
It was put together by man. It can be undone by the same species. Basically you've got three elements: the current area of coverage (three boroughs merged in 1964), plus structure plus individuals populating the structure. Clearly much isn't working right.
I don't know if its the wrong structure with the right people; or the right structure with the wrong people, or worst, its the wrong structure populated by the wrong people. I know there are some good quality employees in the council, but I'm not sure they're the majority.
However, under the shadow of the massive public debt that's been run up, I doubt whether anything fundamental can happen in the foreseeable future.
Also, although we complain about our local council, I suspect many of our beefs would be familiar to residents up and down the land.
In part, we are talking about a syndrome.
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Permalink Reply by Old-Age-Emporium(OAE) on
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It was put together by man. It can be undone by the same species.
Clive, are you excluding Seema and the sisterhood from the proposed 'undoing' of our Council?
(Let me remind you that this post is slightly tongue-in-cheek)
Neville, have the courage of your satire - don't stoop to this sort of mealymouthed cop-out.
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Yes Eddie, Seema and the sistahood can contribute too, if she wishes (I think Seema is now using a man-sized keyboard, though she's loathe to admit it.)
Re. the syndrome I mentioned above:
In Beadle's About, Jeremy Beadle was well known for council staff impersonations, where he would don a dust jacket and beard and, wielding clipboard and pen, go up to innocent members of the public with the most absurd propositions, preceded with "I'm from the council".
I put it to you that these propositions could never have been believed, were it not for the common shared assumption of a Municipal Syndrome.
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Permalink Reply by John D on
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Beams and motes department
Clive to Seema
" Can I just add that your spelling is much improved on a few weeks ago. I recognise you've taken special measures..."
Clive please note:
" Loth ( loath ) " adjective = reluctant
" Loathe " verb = intensely dislike.
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Or, as Enoch Powell may even now be saying to Tam Dalyell in some celestial Hansard, 'Loth as I am to descend to the lowest form of wit,they may have loathed the point you were making down there, Tam, but I think we were right to call it the West Lothian Question.'
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Permalink Reply by Seema Chandwani on
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Loooool @ OAP - U forget me on Valentines but remember me for this shite? Thanks!!
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Selma, I prefer it with an 'E'.
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LOOOOOOOOOOL I prefer it with a "P" cos it gets on your nerves :P x
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Permalink Reply by Neville Collins on
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Clive, I disagree that the borough is too big. Many big city councils, and indeed county councils, function better than Haringey. The issue, as you and others know, is simply one of bad management. Camden, Hackney and Islington, the three neighbouring boroughs which share Haringey's social demographics, work better. A dysfunctional council should be put out of its misery and should be written off the electoral map, but not as some people want, the return of the three old boroughs, but the neighbouring councils(not just the three above, but also Enfield, Barnet and Waltham Forest) to take over parts of Haringey. They couldn't do any worse than the chaotic mess we have to deal with on a regular basis.
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I can't tell whether you are serious or not Neville???
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Neville our borough is densely populated and about nine miles wide. Unlike us – and most people reading HoL – the majority don't think about the local government administration and have little-to-nothing to do with the local council.
The council is literally and metaphorically remote.
This aids perpetuation in its current form. Some, perhaps many, of its dealings with the public seem to be insincere and again, this aids the sense of separateness, of us and them.
Haringey does not enjoy natural boundaries, but was a deliberate attempt at social engineering – I would guess that the attempt has failed. It also exhibits unhealthy one-party state characteristics: any political party can be in power for too long.
If Haringey is abolished in the future, it won't come about through the desires of locals. Just as in 1964, such radical change would be made by central government. No matter how desirable, it unlikely to happen in the near term for many reasons including the knock-on effect on other Boroughs.
I'm not thinking just of the neighbouring boroughs you mention, but such radical change, which may well be needed, would probably be bound up with an overhaul of the local government throughout London. Not a five minute job!
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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Neville, I don't know you very well, but when we've very occasionally met or emailed, you seem thoughtful and reasonable. Of course, you're a LibDem activist and council candidate. So I can understand why you aren't regularly posting comments on HoL praising good work by particular Council staff. Or celebrating, for example, the solid achievements by many Haringey students, and their teachers, in our schools.
But can I please ask you to put aside the childish yah-boo silliness of our respective parties in Council meetings and elsewhere. Instead, reflect on the fairness and unfairness of your supposedly "tongue-in-cheek" comment, and ask some serious grown-up questions.
Like how an organisation can attract and retain the very best, most committed and enthusiastic staff. And that means any public, private or non-profit organisation - here or on the other side of the globe.
I'm not saying that in Haringey we mustn't criticise Council services which aren't aren't doing so well. Or in a few cases that are doing so badly that they need a complete overhaul. In those cases we need to hire and support managers to make the changes needed.
But think about how people learn and perform - as children or as adults. Are people encouraged to do their best work if someone yells: "You are all rubbish!" Consider where you work. Are you and your colleagues motivated by being told: "You need to be got rid of and someone else take over".
(Tottenham Hale ward councillor)
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