Concerned about the state of Finsbury Park boating lake

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Permalink Reply by Old-Age-Emporium(OAE) on September 9, 2012 at 15:21

Hate to carp, Clive, but maybe they thought Stroud Grass pondlife would consume any crap.

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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on September 9, 2012 at 19:02

The sub-title of the booklet I mentioned is "A series of Local Portraits and Thoughts".

I keep a copy of this publication as an example of municipal waste. Even one of the interviewees did not understand the point of the book. It contains a foreword by the then Executive Cabinet member for Community Cohesion and Involvement, Cllr. Lorna Reith. She says inter alia,

This is a great project as it shows the community really do care about where they live and work. It is very helpful to hear from local people about ideas for improvements we can make to council services and the local area. ...

One local resident who reviewed the book said,

One last ironical note. If you visit the photographers own web blog, she states that Haringey "shackled" the project, taking out many of the comments residents made. So how bad could they really have been?

Lets get the basics right before engaging in PR.

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Permalink Reply by Suziki on October 15, 2012 at 22:04

Hi everyone

Just to update you on this again. I got a reply to my second email to park services frmo Lewis Taylorl the Park Operations Manager last month Haringey which is as follows...

"

Dear Suzan,

 

Thank you for your email and for sharing your concerns with us. You have mentioned reduced resources within our Service which is unfortunately a fact. However, we are working hard to deal with the issues that we have.

 

With regards to the lake we have been exploring options other than Grass Carp fish.  The current issue as suggested within your discussion with Chris Poore is duckweed but there also has been an increase in submerged aquatic weeds. It is the latter that is causing a problem with boating recreation and adds to the unsightly appearance of the lake.

 

There are various plausible explanations for their occurrence however; our intention is to reduce/eradicate their existence. We have met and discussed this on site and have agreed a relatively low key management programme for the lake. This will involve introducing some biological control in the lake in the form of an aquatic colouring which will shade the light from the submerged plants and prevent photosynthesis occurring. This method is commonly used in lakes and ponds throughout the country and the programme will start in spring next year.

 

Once the aerators are fixed and with the introduction of the above method we will improve the water quality. In the meantime, as we are approaching the Autumn/Winter months and plant activity will naturally slow down, I am suggesting with relevant colleagues that we explore the possibility of a volunteer day on the lake to remove the debris that has been blown and discarded into the lake. Pending this I have agreed with our Boat Hire operator to slightly increase his remit to undertake a clean up of the surface debris. This task will take place within the next week or two.

 

With regards to the rat issue: We have had a recent visit from the Councils Pest control team who have baited traps around the lake area. They will revisit to check progress.

 

Finally, thank you once again for contacting us. I do hope that you will still visit and enjoy the Park.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Lewis Taylor

Parks Operations Manager – West

Place & Sustainability; Leisure Services"

So yes, the budget did take a hit and what they are now able to do is limited is the message I got.

I'm quite up for cleaning the lake myself with some help of course if I had the equipment as well so I was going to find out the date they had in mind for a volunteer effort to the park services

Would anyone else be interested in cleaning up the lake alongside the council's delegated park keepers?

please do let me know so I can support their suggestion with some idea of numbers of people willing to help and time that can be dedicated to it and thank you for all your help with this subject so far

 

Suzi

 

 

 

 

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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on October 15, 2012 at 22:33

Suzi, I'm prepared to help. I passed the lake the other day and I remember thinking that it looked as though a green carpet has been laid over it.

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