Harringay online

Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

The people that have been living in a tent between Wightman Road and Hornsey Station are now gone. They had been there for months. Contacted Thames Water in December about this for security reasons. If there had been a problem, there would be nowhere to run or hide and screaming wouldn't have help. In today's climate, that's why I felt that something needed to be down.

A company sub-tracked by Thames Water was picking up garbage, cutting the grass and trimming the edges on Thursday. It looks a lot better. It could still do with a bit of a community clean though. I'm happy to help out.

James

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The same is happening in Finsbury Park, by the Endymion Road entrance. Perhaps I should do the same.

Great idea. The number to call is 0800 009 3902. I took more than three months. Don't close the case until the people are gone.

Cowper, what on earth does most of that first paragraph mean?

'If there had been a problem, there would be nowhere to run or hide and steaming wouldn't have help. In today's climate, that's why I felt that something needed to be down.'

Please can you translate this, as I am interested in finding out what point you are trying to make?

If you were attacked, you'd be in trouble. My lodger, a male, stopped using the path because he felt a bit uncomfortable. Who knows who the people were. That's all I'm saying. Perhaps I said to much in my initial message. Sorry about that. I hope that clarifies things.

I see, you weren't concerned about the safety of the vulnerable people in the tent, you were just being a NIMBY. Are people in tents more prone to attacking others than those who live in houses? I wouldn't have thought so. If you are happy to do a bit of community helping-out as you say, why not volunteer at a homeless shelter, it could be educative for you, a winner for all concerned.

With Chris on this one. They were in a tent. So what! If access was given to the apartments in London sold to overseas buyers maybe more people would have somewhere to live. Turn your obsessive ire there instead Cowper.

While I take the point you make Chris and Matt, long term "wild camping" without access to toilet and washing facilities, adequate waste disposal and cooking is hardly something that as a society we should normalise and simply say 'So What?"

Living like that for months will have a detrimental effect on their physical and mental health (homeless people die typically in their 40s), will make them vulnerable to attack and being preyed upon and because they have no fixed abode unable to claim benefits. We don't know why they are living like this but I'm prepared to bet it's not from choice. While we can all rail against overseas buyers that hardly solves the problem.

It is to be hoped that agencies that were involved in the removal of the campers will also seek to find help for them. I know some homeless people fear hostels but there are a lot of good people who are trying to remedy this problem and not allow it to become simply part of London life.

You question Cowpers motives but I think NIMBY is too strong. This should not become normal in anyone's backyard. It is a failure both of our housing and benefits system. Cowper did only what he could to remedy the small manifestion of it here - I'm not about to condemn him. (And don't tell me to go volunteering with vulnerable people to see the other side, I do and I have seen and I don't think people sleeping in tents by rivers is acceptable and we should all be putting pressure on whoever we can to prevent it).

Very well put Liz

No it shouldn't be normalised - it is, as you say, detrimental to physical and mental health and a failure of the housing and benefits system.

But the concern you have expressed for the people in question was totally absent from the original post and follow-up comment and that may be what rankles. The only concern mentioned was for a lodger or other passers by that may get attacked.  I find that quite depressing. 

Also worth noting that according to Crisis (cue charity conspiracy theorists) homeless people are 17 more likely to get attacked than the general population so perhaps it isn't the lodger that should have been scared....

Oh Chris. This is exactly what I thought would happen. The downside of HOL. We agree to disagree. All the best.

I happen to know that Cowper does a lot of good volunteer work for the community so don't attack him on that.

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