Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Fly-tipping levels in Haringey are among the worst in the country - but it's not real flytipping, says council
This story from the HJ tells us what those of us with eyes already know; Haringey has the sixth highest level in England and the fourth highest in London with 34,418 dumping incidents from April 2007 to March 2008. They have cost £718,000 to clear up.
The information was collected on Flycapture, a Government database set up by Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, the Environment Agency and the Local Government Association.
The Flycapture report says clearing illegally dumped rubbish cost all London local authorities £22million over the monitored period at an average cost of £56,000 per council.
But with the usual complacency of the council when faced with official figures, a spokesperson said,
"It is wrong to suggest Haringey is a borough with much fly-tipping. The high figures here relate mostly to individual bags of waste left out in a street at the wrong time, not incidences of dumping lorry loads of waste.
Like this?
"Most importantly, incidences of waste reporting are declining in Haringey and reports for this year confirm this. The reality is that in Haringey our streets are cleaner, less waste is being left on our streets and more offenders are being caught."
Unless you live in Seymour Road...
The council prosecuted 29 cases of fly-tipping in the last year which it said was "way above most other councils".
Okay, so it's not really fly tipping if its not lorry loads of waste but just a few old bags left in the wrong place?
Oh and actually there are a lot of flytippers as we caught loads more than anyone else...presumably not the menaces who leave bags and old beds out then just THE REAL FLYTIPPERS.
The information was collected on Flycapture, a Government database set up by Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, the Environment Agency and the Local Government Association.
The Flycapture report says clearing illegally dumped rubbish cost all London local authorities £22million over the monitored period at an average cost of £56,000 per council.
But with the usual complacency of the council when faced with official figures, a spokesperson said,
"It is wrong to suggest Haringey is a borough with much fly-tipping. The high figures here relate mostly to individual bags of waste left out in a street at the wrong time, not incidences of dumping lorry loads of waste.
Like this?
"Most importantly, incidences of waste reporting are declining in Haringey and reports for this year confirm this. The reality is that in Haringey our streets are cleaner, less waste is being left on our streets and more offenders are being caught."
Unless you live in Seymour Road...
The council prosecuted 29 cases of fly-tipping in the last year which it said was "way above most other councils".
Okay, so it's not really fly tipping if its not lorry loads of waste but just a few old bags left in the wrong place?
Oh and actually there are a lot of flytippers as we caught loads more than anyone else...presumably not the menaces who leave bags and old beds out then just THE REAL FLYTIPPERS.
Tags for Forum Posts: Haringey Council in denial mode, flytipping
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Alison P on
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Agree, a very annoying response. It's just semantics isn't it - we have a massive problem with illegal rubbish dumping. Whether you call it fly-tipping or not is irrelevant. It would be nice to feel that Haringey recognised that...
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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Reading about this - by now traditional - annual pantomime of the fly-tipping stats, I feel sorry for the Council staff in Urban Environment - third tier and below of course. Many of them are committed, keen and imaginative when it some to tackling waste and recycling. So imagine being one of them; it must feel like whatever they do, along comes DEFRA and puts Haringey near the top of the fly-tipping league.
Because a cantankerous complainer and fractious photographer like me has to admit that things in my neighourhood have improved. And more than a bit. Haringey spots, sweeps, cleans and clears the dumping and litter. Where we are still failing miserably is getting effective engagement with residents.
Obviously that needs more than the best efforts of the lower ranks "in the trenches". Back at the chateau, the generals have to learn and try out new ideas.
As this is unlikely, in the spirit of the approaching pantomime season - and maybe to bring a smile - I've posted this photo on Flickr.
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Permalink Reply by Stuart on
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Whatever the stats say, in my experience, the council/Accord are certainly diligent about dealing with stuff once you report it. And that's what really counts - it's hardly the council's fault that people fly tip, it is their fault if they neglect to deal with it when it's reported. So I think the statistics are, frankly, meaningless and don't really reflect either way on Haringey.
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Permalink Reply by Liz on
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Thanks for the smile Alan, it really did make me smile a lot.
I have been working with some lovely people from the environment team and even lent my celebrity status (joke) to the Haringey People spread on watch your waste week. As I documented in a blog post I have enormous hope that the great ideas that are coming from that young team down there are encouraged and successful.
It is of course the contractors who are doing a better job via some nagging from council officers, but Alan and I have had many discussions on this because we want to tackle the root causes of the problem and engage meaningful with people.
This is a job for our elected officials, in particular, the one in charge of the environment and issuing meaningless nonsense like this statement is yet another indicator of how these elected officials would rather issue statements of denial then agree we need better strategies to tackle low level insistent problems. It costs tax payers huge amounts to clean up after people and we reinforce the notion that it is okay to dump by doing so; changing behaviour is what will be a real measure of success not how fast the mess disappears.
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