Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Suddenly everyone’s asking me about my town centre
Over the last few weeks there appear to been a slew of consultations about our town centre in circulation from the Council.
A few weeks ago I saw a very official looking lady in Green Lanes approaching people to get them to answer some questions. In order to find out what was going on I offered myself up as survey fodder.
Having done my bit, I asked what the survey was about. I found out that she was a street survey collector employed by a company called NEMS. She explained that she was helping with was a survey about the town centres in the borough. Understandably, she wasn’t able to tell me much more than that.
A phone conversation and few emails with Sandra Moore, a very helpful officer at Haringey Council’ Economic Development Department explained a little more. I was told that the survey:
will form part of the updated Town Centre Study, due to be completed end of October/early November. The survey work will inform new draft policies for all of our town centres which will go to Cabinet in December/January for agreement to go out to public consultation.
It is being carried out both on the street and by phone. So some of you may have already taken part. I attach an information sheet about the survey and the sort of information being sought.
Sandra explained that this survey is following up one carried out in 2008. She sent me a copy of the report for that survey which I attach for anyone who might be interested.
That’s survey number one. Survey number two doing the rounds at the moment is another questionnaire about just Harringay and Wood Green Town Centres. Many of you will have had a paper copy through your door. I have to confess to not being 100% sure on what this one is about. On the survey itself, it says:
Haringey Council is contacting residents and businesses in the wider Wood Green and Harringay (Green Lanes) area to find out what you think of your local shopping area, street environment, walking and cycling facilities and transport links. What do you think of Wood Green or Harringay Green Lanes as places to visit or work?
You wouldn’t guess from that, however, that it’s on the council website as a ‘Road Safety’ survey, nor that it’s being run by the Environment and Transport Department who deal with parking, roads and streets, ‘streetscene’ and other matters.
If you want to take part and haven’t had a copy through your door, you can download a pdf here. There appears to be no online version.
I’m not sure if I’ve made myself or anyone else much the wiser, but....well.....it’s a start!
Tags for Forum Posts: consultation, high streets
- Attachments:
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TC survey.pdf, 36 KB -
retail_study_dec08-2.pdf, 2.6 MB
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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I was "surveyed" on the phone about High Road Tottenham. I don't know if it was part of the same programme or not.
The person on the phone was impeccably polite, helpful and patient with my own questions. But they were from a firm which had been hired to administer questions someone else had drawn up.
Although my experience in drafting surveys is limited and I've never done them as a job, it was obvious that the questions for the one I answered were very poorly piloted.
Or perhaps worse still, seemed to implicitly assume a range of questionable assumptions. The worrying thing is that council officers may then use these replies to justify policies and expenditure along the lines of: "this is what your residents told us they wanted".
(Tottenham Hale ward councillor)
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Permalink Reply by WightmanPaul on
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Alan makes an interesting point. Imagine how inviting it would be if the responses gleaned implied that bus journeys along Green Lanes and Wood Green High Road are slow and that cycling is dangerous. The obvious "this is what you wanted" would be to close Wood Green High Road to cars. In addition we would be told that the committment made previously to consult would have been met.
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Permalink Reply by Laura on
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A couple of weeks ago, well maybe a month, I had a survey posted through my door on the Ladder. It is called "What do you think about your Local Town Centre", it's A3 folded with 17 questions. There is no DEADLINE for returning the form and the questions do seem a bit vague and unspecific. It says "published by Haringey Council's Communications Unit 820.11 09/12 on the back.
The reason I am writing is that, surely, if some people receive a printed copy of the survey, then surely everyone should be entitled to receive one and comment on your "Local Town Centre" ???
Am I right in thinking that not everyone on the Ladder received a copy of this???
(Happy to write out the questions if anyone is interested.)
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Permalink Reply by Protheroe O'Shea on
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I got a copy and was equally unimpressed with it
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