Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
"The Bizarre Find" of "Operation Twilight"
THE Council reported yesterday the result of some welcome – but overdue – activity to remove a discarded mattress from a roof.
Their PR department also crowed on Twitter about the mattress removal. On the web site, the mattress was described as a 'bizarre find', however there's fair dose of spin mixed in with the account.
Although the resting place of the mattress is unusual, there's nothing unusual about the dumping of mattresses. The peculiar location of the mattress was reported to the Council on 23 September by community campaigner Mr. Martin Ball.
Thus, the action was not swift action and it was not the 'find' of a Council Officer.
This triumph is no more than the public pay for and expect.
On Twitter, Mr Ball objected to the "boasting how they got a dumped mattress off a roof". He said it was "pathetic" for the council "to claim credit when they they did nothing for a month".
Mr Ball is right.
If one were cynical, one might conclude that the Communications Department (public relations) were waiting until they could organise a photo-shoot and a story.
However it reflects more than the reliance on spin: it disguises the inadequate resources going towards the basics. I would switch resources from PR (that cost money), back to the basics: rubbish and fly-tipping. Many of us see bins overflowing across the Borough.
The "fight back" and "crackdown" that the Council vaunts as Operation Twilight, needs to be continuous and not intermittent one-offs, exploited for dubious PR.
CDC
Haringey Councillor
Liberal Democrat Party
Tags for Forum Posts: Martin Ball, PR, mattress, roof, the bizarre find
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by DavidJ on
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I read this as the council trying to publicise the fact that fly tipping is illegal and people do get fined for it. The key messages were:
"A number of the items were traced to nearby businesses"
"They issued a total of 41 fixed penalty notices and ordered 10 businesses to clear up or face court action."
So the purpose is to reduce fly tipping by businesses - seems sensible to me.
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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True as far as it goes, DavidJ. But I'd like to see them go a little further.
In particular to give at least a little credit for the efforts of local residents. It would signal that Haringey PR Unit actually understands the meaning of words like partnership, stakeholder, co-production, and community engagement.
In the last few years one really optimistic and encouraging aspect of social media has been the large numbers of residents prepared to report, and tweet, and campaign for cleaner streets and parks and greens etc. And to keep Veolia and the Council on their toes.
To declare an interest, Martin Ball is our friend and neighbour. We often work with him on campaigns. I haven't met and don't know most of the people commenting and reporting online. Nor do I always agree with all their views. (Nor I expect, do they with mine.) But we are all on the same side in wanting to improve our Borough and taking the time to try and make this happen.
So I'd like to see Council PR staff have the grace and generosity to mention this fact. Perhaps not naming people without permission, but acknowledging the large numbers of local residents doing their unpaid 'bit'.
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Permalink Reply by matthew cuthbert on
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A nice sentiment, How much autonomy does PR have?
I was thinking about Twitter, is this what it yields?
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A fair point, Matthew. The staff actually writing the press releases may have to do as they are told.
On the other hand, as professionals I hope they at least point out to their bosses that it does no harm whatever to acknowledge the contribution made by local residents.
It could actually do a quite lot of good. For one thing, many people like to feel appreciated. It could also encourage others to take the few minutes needed to report street problems.
It shows too, that a Council is working with as well as doing things for its residents. A positive message.
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Permalink Reply by PeterPiper on
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"Many of us see bins overflowing across the borough"
Might some of said overflowing bins, be similarly filled, as reported yesterday by Hugh W-F...?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06nzl5q
I would also like to agree with what Alan has stated, with reference to residents campaigning and alerting the public services to the extent of fly-tipping within residential streets and passages, with the aid of social media etc.
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Thanks your link is fab, join the campaign on food waste.
https://wastenotuk.com
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