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Permalink Reply by Mandy Norman on July 12, 2019 at 12:00

Thanks Paul.

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Permalink Reply by Richard Matz on July 12, 2019 at 22:18

Check the Land Registry for the boundaries of your property. Some of the original buildings on Myddleton Rd had front gardens included in the boundary. In more enlightened parts of Town, these boundaries are discreetly marked with metal studs on the pavement.

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Permalink Reply by Richard Matz on July 11, 2019 at 20:37

A group of us at The Prince pub (by the Obelisk) have been lobbying local Councillors to investigate this since March after the pub was fined for putting furniture on the green and outside the pub itself. The leaseholders are more than willing to apply for a street trading licence for outside tables and chairs with a reasonable fee. The issue here is that Haringey's street trading licence fees are both prohibitive and out of line with other London Boroughs. ln fact, they are so disproportionate, we believe there must be some mistake:

Eight different London Boroughs (including Camden, Islington, Westminster and K&C) were compared with Haringey to show the extreme difference between the cost to have tables and chairs outside in Haringey versus other London Boroughs. No other London Borough researched charges by the week per square metre. Haringey charges are almost seven times the next most expensive Borough for having two tables and four barrels and more than eleven times more expensive if three tables are used on the Obelisk Green. We're about to escalate this further given the lack of response. Problem is, whilst we can elect & deselect politicians, the Council bureaucracy and its parsimonious mind-set remains in situ

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Permalink Reply by Richard Matz on July 12, 2019 at 0:30

Here's the original letter to local Councillors dated 25/03/19 detailing our findings and grievances. The stats (diligently compiled by Emma Killick) make for startling reading 

Letter to Councillors 25/03/19 

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Permalink Reply by Trish Dyson on July 12, 2019 at 8:04

Did the councillors respond to this excellent letter?  The Haringey charges are astonishing!

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Permalink Reply by Mandy Norman on July 12, 2019 at 9:04

Like Trish. Would be great to know of their response. Fantastic letter.

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Permalink Reply by Richard Matz on July 12, 2019 at 23:37

If you have a profile on Haringey Online, please contribute to this discussion as threads can quickly disappear given the volume of posts there.

Haringey Online

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Permalink Reply by Renaissance on July 13, 2019 at 9:34

Thanks Richard for raising awareness of our plight!

To give an indication of these unfair charges, if indeed they are actually due to be paid,

and not on private forecourts for retailers and business owners in our area,

I have compiled the following illustration;

Annual licence fee £75

2 tables and 8 chairs would take up approximately 8 square metres

The fee would be £15 per square metre per week, hence fee would be £120 weekly

Annual cost to business = £6315

The appropriate thing for the council to do is abolish the weekly amount and simply charge a £75 licence fee

to cover their administration costs only.

They should not be allowed to profit from businesses!

Business rates cover income to the council from businesses.

In our street I have never once seen a street cleaner sweep around such items, so what are they charging for?

Its pure profiteering at the expense of small businesses, which this present government vowed to help in their manifesto!

Paul Handley

Renaissance

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Permalink Reply by Richard Matz on July 13, 2019 at 11:29

If anyone's got access to the Twittersphere and can highlight this t'Council, that would be helpful. The whip-hand of publicity!

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