Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Party Time Harringay 2009!
Dear fellow residents of Harringay,
Local elections are around the corner. Harringay is a marginal ward extremely important to Labour, as are others such as Bounds Green. The fight is literally going to be within the 'heart' of our borough.
What does this mean for us all? Basically a very strange thing is going to start to happen; money is going to be prioritised for our ward and our concerns will start to be taken more seriously.
It has started with this announcement of a large chunk of monies being invested in the re-development of one of our local parks. See here.
It will end with a festival for Green Lanes Harringay in September. These things are happening.
It is no accident that Lammy has just held a public meeting within our ward this week. See here for feedback on this meeting from residents here. Your MP wants to know what you want/need and will be in regular contact with via HOL and other groups/forums such as LCSP & GRA over the coming months.
This is our opportunity to make things happen with the powers that be. It was clear from the meeting with Lammy that residents want action, real progress on;
1. HMOs & affordable housing
2. Traffic: area survey and calming measures for Wightman Rd
3. Gambling establishments: a halt to any new openings & strict control of current operations
4. Supporting the local businesses, schools and leisure facilities to enhance the place with which we live.
So, Fairland Park at long last is getting the investment it needs. We will have 'our' festival in September too. But we need to decide the other priorities.
I for one would like to see serious investment go into traffic calming Wightman Rd. Lammy says he needs to see a significant campaign from local residents for this so he can start knocking on the doors of those who can make this happen (ie. dosh). Someone needs to kick off this campaign and it needs a Working Group to back it. A working group was instrumental in getting investment into our local park. That group has been going for 2 years, quietly plodding away.
It's up to the residents of Harringay to take advantage of this re-newed focus on our ward. We may not see this again for some time!
Shall we start by setting up a 'Harringay Resident's Working Group'? With say, members from HOL, LCSP, GRA and the Traders Association? Maybe that's too complex or unnecessary. But we do need to be working together and being efficient with time (save on meetings). Any other ideas?
I'm just kicking ideas around here!
Lets get organised. Over to you!
Local elections are around the corner. Harringay is a marginal ward extremely important to Labour, as are others such as Bounds Green. The fight is literally going to be within the 'heart' of our borough.
What does this mean for us all? Basically a very strange thing is going to start to happen; money is going to be prioritised for our ward and our concerns will start to be taken more seriously.
It has started with this announcement of a large chunk of monies being invested in the re-development of one of our local parks. See here.
It will end with a festival for Green Lanes Harringay in September. These things are happening.
It is no accident that Lammy has just held a public meeting within our ward this week. See here for feedback on this meeting from residents here. Your MP wants to know what you want/need and will be in regular contact with via HOL and other groups/forums such as LCSP & GRA over the coming months.
This is our opportunity to make things happen with the powers that be. It was clear from the meeting with Lammy that residents want action, real progress on;
1. HMOs & affordable housing
2. Traffic: area survey and calming measures for Wightman Rd
3. Gambling establishments: a halt to any new openings & strict control of current operations
4. Supporting the local businesses, schools and leisure facilities to enhance the place with which we live.
So, Fairland Park at long last is getting the investment it needs. We will have 'our' festival in September too. But we need to decide the other priorities.
I for one would like to see serious investment go into traffic calming Wightman Rd. Lammy says he needs to see a significant campaign from local residents for this so he can start knocking on the doors of those who can make this happen (ie. dosh). Someone needs to kick off this campaign and it needs a Working Group to back it. A working group was instrumental in getting investment into our local park. That group has been going for 2 years, quietly plodding away.
It's up to the residents of Harringay to take advantage of this re-newed focus on our ward. We may not see this again for some time!
Shall we start by setting up a 'Harringay Resident's Working Group'? With say, members from HOL, LCSP, GRA and the Traders Association? Maybe that's too complex or unnecessary. But we do need to be working together and being efficient with time (save on meetings). Any other ideas?
I'm just kicking ideas around here!
Lets get organised. Over to you!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Old-Age-Emporium(OAE) on
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Matt, that's exactly the sort of strategy/tactics needed in the lead up to May 2010. The LibDem/Lab battle should be much more knife-edge than last time out. If as a combined community of residents' associations we can come up with agreed demands/desideranda on those four issues, there's no reason why Mr Lammy and all local councillors shouldn't do their bit in delivering over the coming fifteen months. Of course, Karen & Carolyn, if the LibDems shade it or even romp home next year we shall expect that the delivery is even more hands-on and abundant in the following four years!
The response to WightmanPaul's points the other evening convinces us of WRN4RA that we are not just being parochial in our concerns about Wightman Road. As you suggest, I think, the serious investment required would go far beyond that little £100K for 'safety schemes' announced in December.
While serious traffic calming measures, to benefit all users and residents, would be a first big step, there would need to be good follow-through over subsequent years to enhance Wightman Road as a 'slightly residential' road with at least as many residents as Harringayonline has members! In other words, we matter!
Good proposal, Matt, but one needing urgent execution.
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Permalink Reply by John D on
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What kind of traffic calming measures though ? Speed bumps don't work - motorists just accelerate between them, which is more dangerous than maintaining a steady speed and adds to noise and exhaust pollution.
Perhaps the Greek church should be encouraged to use their forecourt for bridal cars and hearses to avoid the
dangerous blocking of half the carriageway when there is a wedding or funeral.
I don't know if their use would be legal in this country but speed-sensing traffic lights that go automatically to red when a car approaches at excessive speed are reported to work in other countries.
By traffic calming, we ARE talking about speed are we, or is there more to it ?
I don't think any authority has really found the answer.
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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Good post Matt.
The principal objective in my setting this site up was to connect people so they could use their combined strength to have a stronger say in the decisions that affect their local area. Anything that does that sounds good. I'm up for it.
But one comment on your issues. The traffic issue is much wider than Wightman. For many people on the Ladder, it's about the traffic using their road. So we must keep the discussion focussed on Ladder traffic not just on Wightman.
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Permalink Reply by matt on
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Great Hugh.
I've put two things under the 'Traffic' action point: area survey and calming measures for Wightman Rd.
At the Lammy mtg I recall about 100g needed for the survey. Of course Wightman Rd comes under this survey but I feel that as the Gardens & the Ladder area have had significant investment into calming measures already, that surely it's time to give more focus to Wightman Rd. Not sole focus but significant attention paid to that road.
Anyway, good to have your support. Lammy wants a campaign (online/offline petition?) from the residents that he can then take to those that open doors to piles of money.
Maybe a similar campaign such as that organised against the Wood Green pedistrianization proposal?
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Fair enough to keep the discussion focused on all the Ladder roads but Wightman Rd affects so many of us, whether we live on it, cycle up and down it, drive on it, try to walk along it or cross it. And I think that's the problem; there are so many reasons why so many people think it's a problem. What is it exactly we all want to see improved? Is it the speed of the traffic, the hardships of cycling, inability to walk comfortably along or across the road? I think that somehow any Working Grp, or the RA probably has to focus on what it regards as the real priority for improvement, at least with any short term, politically-motivated funding in mind. Whatever the solutions may be, they've got to be imaginative (i.e. not just speed bumps) - but also probably v. expensive!
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Yes I agree John that Wightman Rd is important to all in our area but also a hard nut to crack, bit like Green Lanes. The problems we have with Wightman need, as you say a working group set up so those issues can be given focus and discussion, with connections made to council & beyond.
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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The problem is too many vehicles using our roads. What we need is a Harringay/Haringey congestion charge. Those people in Enfield that voted for Boris so that they could drive their Range Rovers through us into the city need to pay for the privilege.
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Permalink Reply by Danzigger on
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I couldn't agree more. Traffic calming, as I understand it, would only result in the same amount of traffic moving more slowly. That doesn't make the road safer or more accessible for pedestrians and cyclists, and it would mean an increase in CO2 emissions and noise pollution.
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Permalink Reply by Adam on
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traffic calming and a slower speed limit (these normally go together) have a a huge positive impact on road safety - Hull City Council has reduced overall injuries by 60% in its widespread 20mph zones. Child pedestrian injuries have been reduced by 75%. See here for more info
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Yes but the survey implied that as if by magic there were less cars on the road too.
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I think I would rather see this as something we acknowledge but don't talk about if you get my drift. I'm uncomfortable enough as it is with the realisation that the good people of Tottenham will not be rewarded for many years of loyal Labour voting but that we may be because we're "disloyal". Can we just quietly "milk it" like the posh people in Highgate do?
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