File:Tottenham Green - Alfresco toilet -1.jpg

English: Saturday 13 June 2009. Walking across Tottenham Green I noticed the shelter of the electricity substation wall was being used as an outdoor latrine.

I spoke to a resident walking her dogs. (And carefully scooping their poop into a plastic bag and leaving it in the bin provided. See note on the top photo.)

She said the problem had been getting worse over the past two months - with homeless people sleeping on the green.

I contacted Haringey Council's weekend Emergency Services and spoke to a senior Environment officer who arranged for a clean-up. He visited and checked first thing Monday morning (15 June 2009) and found the Council's contractors had cleaned round the tree (photo: bottom right) — but not alongside the substation wall.

I checked at 2 pm the same day when this work had still not been started.

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Links § Eleven seconds video on 15 June 2009. § 11 July 2009 Update. § Click here to see where this photo was taken. By courtesy of BeeLoop SL. § Is there a solution? Simply moving people on is likely to displace rather than solve the problems. "While rough sleeping in London has declined over the past ten years, the capital is the only region in the country that has failed to meet the government’s original 1998 target to reduce rough sleeping by two thirds."

" . . . the recession [ is ] threatening to drive up not only rough sleeping but wider homelessness." Source: Ending rough sleeping – February 2009.