So Nice To Come Home To ? — картинки NofolloW.Ru

Alan Stanton • London • 17-02-2017

Описание: 17 February 2017. Stuffed litter bin and rubbish on the pavement next to the bus stop outside Bruce Grove Station in High Road Tottenham, London N17. We were on our way home after an inspiring day at a gathering in Camberwell in South London. Zena and I met and listened to some enthusiastic people who campaign for better, fairer housing. And university academics launching a large-scale research project to record and analyse the impact of housing changes underway in some of the poorer areas of London and other towns. Then back to Haringey where our self-satisfied, incompetent Council Leaders claim credit for anything and everything they can dress up as success. Well, there's one national league where our borough always seems officially at or near the top. That's in the Government measured national 'fly-tipping' (rubbish dumping) statistics. The City of Manchester came second to Haringey. But they have a population of 2.5 million people - about 10 times ours. So not a level dumping field. If they haven't already done so, I anticipate that a Haringey council spokesperson will shortly offer the traditional three-part PR spin on this news. Part One is to point out that however horrendous the current figures, they can be shown as an improvement to some previous year. Part Two consists of an explanation that: "figures could have been skewed by differences in how fly-tipping is defined by different councils." (Source: 1 September 2015) Which is almost certainly accurate. In past years I've looked at the figures for different local councils, including pairs of similar and adjacent London boroughs. It seemed highly unlikely to me that each council applied the same test for what constitutes "a fly-tip". Instead of explanations and excuses, it would be interesting to see a comprehensive and accurate account of the steps - if any - taken by Haringey Council to try persuading the Government that more rigorous and accurate data is essential. It's in nobody's interest to spend money collecting and analysing figures which may be wholly or partly unreliable. Part Three of Haringey's default auto-response is likely to be a list of improvements, exciting experiments and new initiatives underway to solve this problem. Some of this is true. And among the upbeat assurances and vacuous photo-ops for "important" councillors, there will be work in progress which is genuinely helpful and effective. Probably though, it won't be enough to tackle the size and persistence of our overall problem. _______________________________________ § "We share residents' disgust at fly-tipping," [a Haringey spokesperson said in September 2015] "and we recognise how the actions of a selfish few can impact on the vast majority of people in Haringey who take pride in where they live and dispose of rubbish responsibly. "To help address the problem, we’ve made it as easy as possible for residents to report fly-tips through a dedicated mobile app, social media, online or on the phone, and thanks to their diligence we’re now receiving more reports and tackling more dumping than ever before. "As well as always aiming to clear reported fly-tips within 24 hours, we’ve identified rubbish hotspots, stepped-up enforcement action and will always prosecute and issue fixed penalty notices where we find evidence of wrongdoing." [Source: London Evening Standard Ramzy Alwakeel 1 September 2015. Accessed online, 19 February 2017.] § "Towns and cities that face a HUNDRED fly-tipping cases a day" Daily Mail article by Colin Fernandez 14 February 2017 § "You'd be so nice to come home to" - A Cole Porter song from 1943. Recorded in hundreds of versions ranging from a beautiful slow sweet lulling ballad to Nina Simone's dramatic piano.