Council neglect has contributed to making pedestrian crossings unusable in the London Borough of Haringey say local Liberal Democrats. Many residents using crossings face the prospect of wading through ponds created by the collection of water due to lack of drainage.

Liberal Democrat councillor Martin Newton has called on Haringey Council to take action to resolve the drainage problem and has criticised Haringey Council for their lack of care for pedestrians especially visually impaired users.

Cllr Martin Newton, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Transport and Highways, comments:

“Many of these crossing points have raised paving to alert visually impaired pedestrians to the change between pavements and the road, but bad engineering means that they are led into a large pond. Anyone pushing a buggy or shopping trolley will also struggle to negotiate these crossings and remain dry.”

Haringey Council has now agreed that work to repair drainage problems is needed and some minor work has started but Liberal Democrats say that the borough-wide problem needs action and will be writing to the director responsible to demand further repairs.

“This is typical Haringey Labour muddle – not thinking through a job properly leaving residents in deep water. The Council must take action to make existing pedestrian crossing points fit for purpose and designed so water drains away and also ensure that this is thought about in future for any new crossing points.”

Lynne Featherstone MP adds:

“Many local residents depend on these crossing to get them across our roads safely.It might surprise Haringey Council to learn that people like to go out on wet days too.The Council must take action now.”