Richard Wilson

Haringey seems to specialise in old ugly broken railings – and there are a number in Stroud Green Ward that residents regularly complain to me about.  Some, like this battered one (pictured) on Mount Pleasant Crescent by the Larrik pub, are not only ugly and broken, but are completely without purpose and should just be removed.  There is no reason to have a railing to stop people walking out onto a quiet cobbled side street.

The adjacent railings facing on to the busy Stroud Green Road / Crouch Hill junction probably are serving a purpose.  What’s interesting is you can tell which side of this junction is in Islington and which is in Haringey by the quality of the railing:  Islington have nice new black ones – Haringey old grey broken ones.

I’m trying to get eyesore ones like this removed or replaced, but there doesn’t appear to be any budget at Haringey Council for this.  I’ve emailed council officers this picture, arguing they have to take action as the railings are broken – we’ll have to see if that makes them change their mind.

But, I’d welcome suggestions for other metal eyesores to add to my list.  Where are Stroud Green’s ugliest railings?

Great news – my colleague Ed Butcher has been in contact with Islington Council and they’ve agreed for the third year in a row to pay for Christmas lights on the Stroud Green Road.  However, in worst scrooge tradition, Haringey Council is still refusing to pay its share of bringing Christmas cheer to the road (which is on the boundary of the two Boroughs). 

Ed and I launched our campaign for Christmas lights in December 2006 (see picture), and every year we press Haringey to match Islington’s generosity (for example – see last year’s post).  If Haringey joined in, I think we could get lights for the full length of the road, rather than just the Finsbury Park station end, which is what Islington usually provide.

This week, I even raised the issue with the Labour leader of Haringey at our Full Council meeting.  I asked her if she would look into the issue and find out why Haringey wasn’t supporting cross-borough projects like the Christmas lights - but got a disdainful response.  The Labour leadership really give the impression that they are not interested in projects like this – unless they are in their favoured areas.

The Council have agreed to ask a property developer to pay for repairs on a pavement that was left in a terrible state after new homes were built.  The wrecked pavement is on Mount Pleasant Crescent near the junction with Stroud Green Road and Crouch Hill (by the Larrik pub).

The houses were built a few years ago – but a local resident contacted me to complain that the Council apparently hadn’t made the builders clear up after themselves.  As the picture shows, the pavement is virtually non-existent and urgently needs rebuilding.

I contacted the Council, who initially said that nothing could be done.  But after a couple of emails and an investigation by a highways engineer, they changed their mind have agreed the developer should be presented with a repair bill.  I hope that this works, and the pavements can be rebuilt quickly.

Another resident has contacted me about the ugly old railings on this road junction – so I have another battle with the Council ahead.

One of our most visible successes of the last few years was encouraging the Council to replant the beds by the Stroud Green Road and Upper Tollington Park junction (by Nandos).  The area was looking really rundown until it was given a bit of long-overdue attention a few years ago.

However, getting Haringey to maintain these area is always a challenge.  I walked passed earlier this week and noticed the plant beds were getting really overgrown again – with weeds now spreading on to the pavement and pushing up through the gaps in the paving stones.   I’ve contacted the Council asking them to get their gardening gloves on – and to make sure this little green spot gets put back on the maintenance rota.

A resident once dubbed this area the ‘Stroud Green Piazza’ – a nickname which has stuck with Ed, Laura and me.   This is the centre of the shopping and restaurant area on the Stroud Green Road and our Labour-run Council needs to give it greater priority than it currently does.

Haringey Council have pulled funding from a cross-Borough initiative to stop dumping, littering and graffiti in the Finsbury Park area.  Through local regeneration agency FinFuture, Haringey, Islington and Hackney had all contributed to employing ‘Street Enforcement Officers’ to tackle the rubbish that often blights the area, which includes much of Stroud Green.

Haringey have unilaterally withdrawn this funding despite the fact that dumping and littering remain huge issues – particularly on the roads leading off Stroud Green Road.   A few weeks ago Lynne Featherstone, Ed Butcher and I were doing a walk about and found this huge pile of dumped furniture on Woodstock Road.   We need more Council efforts – not less.

Fortunately, Islington and Hackney will continue to pay towards one enforcement officer for the area and have not insisted that this officer boycotts the Haringey side of Stroud Green Road.  But in the long term it is completely unsustainable for this Labour Council to keep washing its hands of Stroud Green Road issues.

This week I was alerted to the state of the empty bakers on Stroud Green Road.  Its looking a complete eyesore and is covered with flyposters (see picture right).  I’ve reported it to the Council so I hope its cleared up quickly.  I’ve also asked the Council to see what action can be taken with the shop owners to prevent  this problem recurring.

Obviously, there is a risk that the recession will lead to more empty shops in our area.  We need the Council to be more vigilant to make sure empty shops don’t become derelict eyesores -damaging trade further.

My colleagues Ed Butcher and Laura Edge have discovered that Haringey Council has left two properties it owns vacant on Stroud Green Road for several years. They have written to the Leader of the Council asking him to take action to bring these back into use.

One of the properties is the former ‘dash’ drug treatment centre at 80 Stroud Green Road which has been empty for over the year (pictured). The other is shop 20 under Charter Court, which has been empty for several years.

I agree with Ed and Laura that if the Council can’t find commercial tenants they should be looking for community uses for the shops. One idea is that the Stroud Green Safer Neighbourhoods Team could relocate here from the current base outside the ward on the other side of Crouch End Broadway.

But worst of all by leaving the properties empty the Council is helping to make Stroud Green Road look run down and feel less safe – when it should be helping to improve the area.