As we celebrate the eighth year of National Co-Production Week, it is fitting that one of our biggest pledges in the Haringey Deal is to work closely with our residents and give them a major voice in our key-decision making.
We are taking the opportunity to showcase just what can be achieved here in our borough when we all work together by exploring some of the projects we have co-produced with Haringey businesses and residents, community and voluntary groups, our partners and schools.
‘Knowing Our Communities’ is one of our pledges in the Haringey Deal. We know our local neighbourhoods are diverse and constantly changing and we are committed to developing a better understanding of who our residents are and how we can best work with you.
We know that some people face real barriers to joining in and making their voices heard, so we’re striving to remove those obstacles so that everyone has a real chance to be part of the change in Haringey.
Another Haringey Deal commitment is ‘To Share Power.’ We are creating genuine opportunities for you to have a say in decisions that affect you; help design the services you rely on and work with us to solve long-standing and difficult problems.
By working together, we can make great things happen
How to get involved:
There are lots of ways you can play your part. Here are just a couple:
Help shape the future of Bruce Grove
We want to hear your views on Bruce Grove (external link) and your priorities for the area. Your feedback will help us to make improvements to the streets and spaces in the town centre we all want to see come to fruition.
Testing the new Haringey Council website
Since late last year, we have been working with our residents to gather their ideas and feedback and testing new designs.
It’s not too late for you to get involved either. Each newly designed webpage has a link for residents to tell us what they think about the website or sign up to be part of a pool of people who help us test future features.
We’ll also be inviting community groups to give their feedback and refining the designs further throughout the summer, so keep your eyes peeled for more information.
Celebrating our successes
Rising Green Youth Hub – Getting young people involved from the start
Local school and community/youth sector organisations nominated young people to join a group that became known as ‘Wood Green Young Voices,’ who went on to work with us and the architects to co-produce an award-winning youth hub – Rising Green.
Young people often lack the power to shape the place they call home. Most community engagement projects are designed for adult participation and there are groups of people we seldom hear from, including young people. People aged under 20 make up a quarter of Haringey’s population, which is why it’s essential we include their views and ideas in helping shape our borough now and in the future.
Working together to improve Caversham Road green spaces
Haringey Council’s Parks and Highways Services collaborated with a group of residents living in and around Caversham Road in N15 to drastically improve the appearance of two small green spaces at opposite ends of the road.
Our Parks and Green Space Volunteering Officer was the main contact between the groups and recognised that residents’ views needed to be included when decisions were being made that affected their neighbourhood.
The officer also ensured that residents were given as much notice as possible about any planned works.
Contributions from residents were invaluable to this project as they helped with the design of the green spaces and their in-depth knowledge of the locality proved very useful.
Transforming Hartington Park
A park in north Tottenham has been transformed thanks to collaborative work between the council and residents.
Here, the co-chairs of the Friends of Hartington Park and Carbuncle Passage, Rachel Sheldon and Chloe Tait, explain how they did it.
Together with other members of the Friends group, they organised the Great Get Together, where they invited the whole community to the park to talk about what changes they wanted to see.
Rachel said:
It was amazing to see everybody come together. It shows that we can change things and that we can get things done and I think it’s going to be amazing for people. It’s really going to change how people feel about the park.
Chloe added:
We’re very grateful to have been able to pull together this group to champion the park because we want it to be the best it can be for anyone who wants to enjoy it. Having access to high-quality green spaces in a highly populated area is just fundamental.
Improved parking for our residents with disabilities
Our Cabinet Member for Resident Services and Tackling Inequality, Cllr Seema Chandwani, council officers, the police, residents, Disability Action Haringey and Tottenham Hotspur kicked off a collaborative project to tackle Blue Badge fraud, improve the application process and increase accessibility to reshape disabled parking in Haringey.
For many Haringey residents with disabilities, Blue Badge theft and misuse was a major concern.
One such resident said:
The realisation that my Blue Badge had been stolen was a shock to the system and made me feel angry, vulnerable and scared. The stress continued weeks after the event due to the hassle of getting a replacement badge, as well as a new windscreen for the car with a hefty cost.
