Highgate councillor and Lib Dem Leader Neil Williams has called on Haringey Council to sharpen up its act over co-ordination of hugely disruptive street works in the Highgate area. The call follows a week of parking chaos and misery for residents round the Archway Road as gas works and bridge repair works clashed.

Council workers have set up camp in Langdon Park Road, just off the Archway Road, as part of the long-awaited refurbishment works on the nearby Archway Bridge. However at the same time, it emerged this week that Haringey has also given permission for gas mains company Transco to perform a major mains upgrade in the road. The gas works will be migrating along Langdon Park Road and Hornsey Lane Gardens for several weeks.

Local councillor Neil Williams says Haringey Council should have used some common sense in ensuring that the two major works did not clash. Though Haringey Council has so far not confirmed the state of play to Cllr Williams, it appears that they gave permission for the Transco works to take place, causing parking misery for residents in one of Highgate’s most densely developed areas.

Cllr Williams says that the Council should move their own contractors into a nearby council car park at Tudor Close which has been left largely unused since the Council stopped local residents from parking there two years ago. This would remove from the road the prefabs relating to the bridge works.

Cllr Neil Williams comments:

“Residents have been suffering from parking mayhem this week, and all of it due to lack of foresight and co-ordination from Haringey Council. To make matters worse, many will not have had notice of these works, as Transco is only obliged to contact those residents whose gas supply will be affected – something which ignores the impact on parking for everyone in the street.

“The Council should have anticipated this problem. I recognise the gas works are essential but they could have told Transco they would have to wait a couple of weeks or picked another location for their own works. They should now take steps to move these bridge works to where less disruption will be caused, as the gas works will be continuing along the road. I have asked the Council to act on this, as the present situation is inexcusable and intolerable.”