Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Keeping Harringay's New Pavements Clean.
Whilst I hesitate to mention new pavements again after the drubbing I took last time, the subject came up in conversation last night. One of my neighbours mentioned that they thought it was a shame that our new pavements were getting dirty so quickly.
Any thoughts about what can be done?
Whilst posting on this. I'd like to raise my virtual glass to the unsung heroes of the street cleaning department.
Not, locally but on Carnaby Street today, I saw a guy with a fancy-schmancy new piece of equipment cleaning the gum off the street. It looked like quite a painstaking process. I engaged the guy in conversation and learned that the whole street can take two weeks to clean. Then like painting the Forth bridge, once he's finished, he starts again.
This iPhone snap shows the machine.
I imagine his story is similar to that of many of London's street cleaners. His name is Felix. Originally from Ghana, he's a music teacher who has an unproven charge of some sort hanging over his head in Ghana. As a result his CRB check has failed and so he's scraping gum off the streets to make ends meet while his lawyer is sorting things out to enable him to go back to music teaching. Nice guy - tough break. Raise a virtual glass.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by 1rk254kmc0kqw on
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I totally agree with you TBD on the campaign, signs on the street and fines. We do need to educate people but we need to be very selective in who is targeted to be educated - it's not the local residents who do this, it's the people who pass through the area and use the area's shopping etc.
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I disagree Jerry. Haven't you ever seen residents coming out of their flats on Green Lanes in their pajamas discarding their Sainsbury's rubbish bags on the pavement outside of the timed collections?
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The only relevant page on twitter regarding this is https://twitter.com/CleanUpHaringey
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Surely no one expects them to look pristine clean, even now, do they?
Without wanting to criticise as I think they are a great improvement on the old pavers, they do seem to go an odd shade of brown/grey. Do they absorb dirt differently to pavements elsewhere? They are quite 'polished' in appearance rather than the rougher finish you typically see.
Anyway, they're outside and they get dirty, I can deal with that.
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Permalink Reply by matt on
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You should have seen Wood Green after its overhaul; looked fantastic. Six months later it was trashed. I don't know if the council bothers with much of a cleaning regime, scrubbing machines etc. You're lucky if the bins are emptied on time. Now the WG pavements are dangerous with blocks raised, rocking, pieces missing etc. From an H&S / insurance point of view I don't know how they justify it.
Hoping GL doesn't go the same way ... hello local councillors; do you know the current street cleaning regime if there is one (separate from emptying bins?) because they are getting dirty already? Why on earth is the current waste collection system set up so that traders/residents simply throw out their rubbish bags onto the pavement. It's daft. I know we have largely moved away from the paladin bins of yesteryear but is there not a better approach? .... at least somewhere to put the rubbish before collected that's not directly onto the pavements.
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Permalink Reply by Dick Harris on
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It is interesting to see the new machine for getting off chewing gum. This stuff does seem to be a big part of the problem. I once saw city authorities deploying a huge sand blasting machine to remove gum from the main square. In the same city, the streets and markets were routinely hosed with water which removed water soluble stuff and the dust that sticks to them but left the gum looking more and more obvious. Sand blasting worked but was very slow and, probably, expensive and unsuitable for a confined space. It would be interesting to get some comparative experience - especially from countries where gum is even more popular than here.
I wonder, for instance, how Seville cleans up its narrow streets after the Easter processions leave the ground smothered in candle wax.
I suspect that if we want our footways to look cleaner we should first choose surface materials that are not easily stained by oil or grease and which provide less of a "key" for gummy substances to bind to. After that, if we can't ban gum altogether, we should at least promote the socially preferable habit of disposing of used gum cleanly.
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Permalink Reply by Ruth on
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Many of the pavements look filthy and horrible already for various reasons mostly split take aways, peoples chucking stuff out their cars and flats and don't give a damn builders etc. The paving slabs used for this refurb show the dirt much more than the old ones.
In fact, they are much poorer quality than the old ones- cheaper for sure. Not only will they show the dirt and grime more- as they are already- but when we have a freeze next winter, they will be like ice rinks.
I have it from the horse's mouth that the paving slabs ripped up were much better and it was a shame the wholesale refurb happened really.
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Permalink Reply by John D on
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What happened to the old slabs? On sale in a garden centre somewhere ? I could use a few.
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One of my neighbours asked one of the guys for some when they were pulling up and they just gave them to him so I guess they've been chucked away somewhere…. Would have been good to have made some available to people, I bet a lot of folks could have used them in some way.
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With a bit of joined-up thinking, the old slabs from Green Lanes could have been used on Lausanne Rd instead of the crappy tarmac.
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