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The June 2008 edition of Haringey People (the Council's glossy magazine delivered free to every home) had an article boasting that the national Audit Commission (abolished in 2010) had given us a rating of
"3-stars and improving".
I saw the magazine on the pavement next to a dumped mattress in Bruce Grove.
----- Original Message -----
From : Alan Stanton, Tottenham Hale ward councillor
To : Haringey Labour Councillors
Cc : Dr Ita O'Donovan, Chief Executive; Niall Bolger, Director of Urban Environment
Sent : Tuesday, June 03, 2008 11:40 AM
Subject : Three-stars and Improving
Yesterday I got an email from a resident in my ward. Sadly it echoes many similar emails, phone calls and conversations - some with longstanding residents who've since left the area because they'd had enough of its perceived decline.
This resident wrote:
"The dumping is continuous and appears to be getting
worse. At present our end of [street] has 2 abandoned
sofas on the pavement either side of our house. And a
car which has been dangerously propped up on tyres
for over week. The property next door to us was sold
last year is now rented out and currently stands empty
which is also a concern."
That's a snapshot of their experience. [Above] is a snapshot of mine yesterday 2 June 2008 at 5.15 pm when I went on an errand. I walked down the length of two streets and a part of three others. I later sent in nine dumping reports through the Haringey website.
Perhaps you're wondering: 'Why bother?' Let the street cleaners do the reporting. It will all get cleared away by Haringey Enterprise'. Or perhaps you think: 'What's so bad? A few rubbish bags on the street. Some unwanted TVs. A bed. So what?'
The problem isn't one-off, or sporadic. It's day-after-day, and month-after-month. Like the majority of people in my ward, I walk and take the bus. The dumping is less obvious when you get in your car, turn on the radio and focus on the road ahead.
The photos I post on Flickr are a fraction of the reports I send in. And the reports I send are a fraction of the dumping I see - not just in Tottenham Hale but other wards. It seems to me that for very many people - still a minority of course - in this area and probably other parts of Tottenham it has become the norm simply to leave stuff on the street.
I am not talking about commercial flytippers - though I'm sure there are some. Nor am I complaining about waste left in streets near the Reuse & Recycling Centre in Park View Road - though there's a lot of that too. Most of what I see in this part of Tottenham Hale ward is left by residents themselves - though again a minority.
Sometimes they leave it outside their home. Maybe they walk across the street. Some leave bags or boxes next to a litter bin - apparently in the belief that these are official pick-up points for surplus detritus. The same logic may apply when street sweepers’ bags are left at the same location or for long periods; people leave rubbish bags or litter next to those bags. Some people make the effort to carry their waste round the corner, dumping it next to a blank wall, or by their neighbour's side fence.
The streets shown in my photo are not especially bad. They are all within walking distance of the Reuse & Recycling Centre. Though many of the dumped items I saw yesterday would go - without too much problem - into an ordinary wheelie bin, Unwanted TVs could have been collected for nothing, instead of being left broken on the pavement, and a potential hazard for curious children and animals. In areas steadily becoming ever more transient and with people moving in and out of multi-occupied flats and rooms, getting rid of an old mattress and bed-base is harder.
I draw two main conclusions.
First, it seems that Haringey Council now has parallel waste collection systems. Formally there are weekly waste collections. (Thirteen times a week if you live in a flat above shops on the High Road.) But there's a steadily growing, secondary, informal waste collection system - from the streets. Our streets are used at any time, day or night, to leave stuff for as-and-when collection by Haringey Council's waste contractors.
Second, the Council has failed dismally to engage effectively with a significant proportion of residents. The more efficient the reporting and speedy clearance of dumping, the greater a perverse outcome: for people this is seen as the correct way to dispose of waste.
_____________________________
§ * Reported through Haringey Council's website.
§ My snapshots for Dr Ita O'Donovan: A large black rubbish bag; ● 2 broken TVs; ● A hold-all with a rubbish bag inside; ● Old clothes draped on a street tree; ● Duvet and a blue bag of kichen waste; ● Broken plastic container and a chipboard worktop; ● Large cardboard box; ● 2 bed bases and a mattress. Some photos above; another here.
§ Link to Guardian newspaper website 22 February 2007 about The Audit Commission and its "star" ratings.
§ Wikipedia entry about the UK Audit Commission .