Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Haringey’s roads "in worst condition in the country"
The Hornsey Journal reported today that figures published by the Department for Transport show 20 per cent of council-maintained A-roads needed attention in 2010/11, with work also needed on 18 per cent of B and C roads.
The DoT stats are reported to show that Haringey has more shoddy roads in need of repair than anywhere else in the country. Neighbouring boroughs, said the paper, scored better, with only seven per cent of Waltham Forest’s roads requiring maintenance.
A Haringey spokesman said the statistics have remained static for a number of years, adding: “What these figures show is that despite a drop in funding, we have managed to keep the condition of our roads steady over the past few years.
Interesting context for me was provided by an article published in 2010. The Coalition of Resistance website claimed that a change to Haringey Council's rules at the start of October 2010 meant that potholes would have to be 25 per cent deeper and trip hazards a third higher before the Council takes any action to repair them.
It looks like local residents will have to put up with even more pothole-riddled roads and dangerous pavements after the change was made in secret by the Council.
This will mean that fewer repairs to the borough’s roads and pavements will be carried out by the Council and that the decision to change ‘intervention levels’ was taken behind closed doors. This was without consultation with local people or representatives of older people or the disabled who will be most affected by the change.
Full article on Coalition of Resistance website.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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I couldn't find the source of these figures on the Hornsey Journal website.
However, a Google search turns-up these data on the Department for Transport website. So I'm guessing this is the source relied on.
I've had a look at the tables shown but it isn't clear to me that these figures show our roads to be "in worst condition in the country". Can somebody please have a look who is a lot better at reading statistics that I am.
(Tottenham Hale ward councillor)
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on
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Alan I am not convinced that a claim that Haringey's road are "in worst condition in the country" is any more than reckless, baseless council abuse.
I am delighted to recognise that the council managed to find a quarter million pounds recently to re-surface the road through Alexandra Park (it was in a poor state ahead of the Olympics' Holland Heineken House). Only another £35,000 came from our Trust.
There was some disruption to bus services etc. for a period, but we now have a much improved surface, a credit to the council and the contractors.
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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on
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Had a quick look at the overall percentage of length of surveyed roads that fall into the Red category and it seems about average for London and the percentage of those in the Green category is actually better than a number of other boroughs. Not too sure how the Journal drew their conclusions.
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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However, from the comment given by the Council, it doesn't look like Haringey refuted the claim.
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Permalink Reply by 175uwds8w1y9e on
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why always default defensive~? try holding on to a small child on a bus in any London borough to realise the state of roads.... you don't need a statistic, but you do need to do something other than refer to them...
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A Google search shows the Journal story was the same - word for word - as in many other websites. All of these had the phrase "according to statistics". Though none of them included links to the source of these statistics.
I spoke to Haringey's Press Office yesterday who told me the Hornsey Journal reporter had sent some figures when asking for a comment. I've now requested these figures myself.Is it "default defensive" to ask to see some evidence? It seems to me that there's an important principle here. How can we as citizens, residents, voters, and taxpayers get reliable, independent, factual information about how our local councils (and in this case Transport for London) manage our local services?
With anything Haringey Council now does we seem to get a shouting match between what Benjamin Franklin called: "two blockheads praise-all and blame-all".
(Tottenham Hale ward councillor)
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perhaps Haringey's interaction with its people brings on the Benjamin Franklin quote very nicely...
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That's was, sort of, my point, Tony. Although Ben Franklin seems have had two blockheads in mind. His description certainly fits what now passes both for leadership and opposition on the Council.
From what I've read by and about Franklin, he seems an admirable figure. Not least because of his commitment to public service; endless scientific curiosity; and ability to come up with practical ways to make things better. He also enjoyed jokes and hoaxes. You probably know another quote that's attributed to him: "Believe none of what you hear and half of what you see".
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There's little doubt that, taken as a whole, Haringey's roads are not in perfect condition and in some places, significantly less than perfect. But a big claim that they are in worst condition in the country would, in order to be substantiated, involve a detailed analysis of every single other Borough in the country. Was this done?
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