Last night Haringey’s Labour-run council accepted calls from the Liberal Democrat opposition not to play politics with the Council’s street cleaning and drop the idea of a ‘no cleaning day’ in part of Wood Green’s busy centre.

The suggestion was made last month by the Labour Executive Member for Environment. Lib Dem environment spokesperson Cllr Bob Hare, who tabled a question on the issue last night, was concerned that allowing rubbish to accumulate in the street would cause real damage to local businesses as well as upsetting local residents who work and shop in the road.

Cllr Hare is pleased that sense has prevailed over the plan, but says the Council now needs to review its priorities to ensure that the quality of street cleaning in the borough is improved rather than ploughing more money into spin.

Cllr Hare comments:

“I am delighted that Haringey Council has agreed to quash this silly idea. No one doubts that street cleaning takes place However, residents are unhappy with the poor quality of it in many areas of Haringey. What would visitors to Wood Green have made of the plan?

“Street cleaning improvements should be an environment priority to the Council and it concerns me that this Labour Council seems more interested in increasing its budget for spin.”