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Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

The New River path is a flourishing natural environment , but  recently  the section adjacent to Wightman Rd. is marred by amounts of litter which not only spoil its aspect but is dangerous for  wild life. For instance, the plastic wrappers for beer packs which the local drunks dump along with their cans. Whose responsibility is  it to clean this area?

Tags for Forum Posts: maintaining the new river path, new river

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This has been a regular discussion over the years - for example, here. It is Thames Water's responsibility; they claim to clear the land adjacent to that stretch every month, but I'm sceptical as to how often it happens. I had an email correspondence with them which resulted in them telling the maintenance contractor to collect the litter before mowing the grass (I'd been in touch because there were shards of mown cans all over the place, nice ..). Do keep us posted as to how you get on - must confess I've not been that way for a while.

 

The contact details are:

Thames Water
Customer Relations
Customer Services
P.O. Box 436
Swindon
SN38 1TU

Telephone: 08457 200897
Fax: 01793 424291
E-mail: Customer.Feedback@thameswater.co.uk

I meant to post about this after a walk there on Monday actually. Seems to be a strange trend going on, decorating bushes with lager tins.. it looks horrible around there, never seen it this bad.

Some photos:

 

Stuart, Alison, Anette & Osbawn, why do you persist in thinking the worst of grateful or hopeful suppliants. This 'trend', as you call it, is the outward sign of inward healing. Ever since 1613 these rituals have been an intrinsic part of New River pathways. Just as we find pilgrims to Catholic shrines hang up their staffs and crutches in hope of, or gratitude for, healing so too do our local addicts hang up their weak English or Scandinavian lager crutches along this longest of long secular shrines. The hope is that, once they've overcome their harmful addictions and demonstrated true repentance in this outward manner, they will re-educate their palates and graduate to Guinness Xport, Jameson, John Power, Hennessy or Bushmills (licensed by Stuart King James I in 1608, five years before the New River was born).

In the lead up to the quatrocentenary in 2013, is it too much to ask that Ladder strollers  treat this secular shrine and its penitents with the respect they deserve.

yep, those cans have been there a while...

and people wonder why I oppose the opening up of the NR path through the Ladder! 

I have just sent Anette's photos to the email that Alison has provided but, I think the truth is that until a pressure group in the form of Friends of the Harringay New River is formed, Thames Water will be quite unresponsive. I had a chat with Bob Hare of the umbrella group, New River Action Group and that is how the other sections are managed. So unless we organise ourselves, the situation is unlikely to improve.

Question: who would be interested in joining such a group, and turn up for meetings and organise campaigns and maybe do things like litter picks? 

I would, Liz.

It's not Thames Water's fault - why should they have to clear up the mess that the scruffs leave?

But I wonder why people who complain about the litter don't use their initiative, go out and clear some up ? I do.

@John D: But I wonder why people who complain about the litter don't use their initiative, go out and clear some up

Answer: because we pay a lot of council tax for someone else to do it, and a lot of us work long hours and don't have any more hours left in the day to go and clean up after *&^^$%$£$£"£"! alkie scum.

 

Sorry.

I always wonder with threads like this how long it'll be before someone uses the word 'scum'.

Always a depressing coda.

Anyway, I'd be up for a clean-up of that stretch one day if anyone fancies it.

I often run down there, and whilst I personally find the lager can trees strangely appealing, I would be happy to help clear up the general debris.

Hugh D, hop down from your high horse for just a second: how would you describe the people who treat the place where we live like certain elements do then?

"accidental litterers"? "gererally lovely people who cares about other, just with a lot of excess rubbish they don't know what to do with"? "socially inept?"

 

Do you also refer to people who clean floors as "floor therapists"? Just curious, the reluctance to call a spade a spade is odd. It does not make you a better person not calling something by it's rightful name.

I'm loath to reply to such blatant trolling, to be honest, Anette.

You clearly seem to thrive on people disagreeing with you - and to leap to a 'it's political correctness gone mad' style of discourse simply because I find the use of the word 'scum' a bit unpleasant is sad.

For what it's worth, I tend to call people who clean floors cleaners, though I prefer first names if I ever get to meet any.

As for the folk who litter the path, you have plenty of options. Alcoholics is a step up from 'alkie scum'; there's always street drinkers or the homeless, as I suspect some of them are, having seen a couple of blokes in sleeping bags down there during early morning runs; you could even take a more benign and subtle view of the universe and simply regard them as people whose big problems in life are inflicting smaller problems on others.

But I suspect you probably won't.

@ Hugh D: Hahaha! You're just too funny!

Who says they are alcoholics anyway ? Some of my best friends are alcoholics and they wouldn't dream of littering a public pathway.

Probably just picnicers if the tinfoil barbie I found is anything to go by :-)

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