The artwork in Carbuncle Passage had been vandalised with graffiti, reports Grace Howarth, Local Democracy Reporter

credit Friends of Hartington Park and Carbuncle Passage

Tottenham residents have helped restore a series of art murals after they were damaged by graffiti.

Volunteers from the Friends of Hartington Park and Carbuncle Passage group came together over the summer to clean and repaint the community murals that had been sprayed over with graffiti.

The murals, located on the section of Carbuncle Passage just before Tottenham Marshes Bridge, were created in 2021 using a combination of community and Haringey Council funding.

Carbuncle Passage is a known hotspot for anti-social behaviour, including fly-tipping and vandalism, and sits between the Tottenham Hale and Northumberland Park areas.

In 2021, around a hundred residents took part in a women’s safety walk calling for new lighting, CCTV, and improved general maintenance of the area.

A redeployable CCTV camera, which provides temporary surveillance, was deployed in Tottenham Hale to record anti-social behaviour, and Carbuncle Passage was one of the areas captured.

Vincent Neff, a member of the friends group, said the idea for more dedicated CCTV had been “floated” but acknowledged the council’s efforts to tackle the area’s problems.

Vincent said: “The intention behind the art mural was to make the passage safe, more accessible, and an engaging route for pedestrians and cyclists in response to the anti-social behaviour. I think this is a really positive story.

“Residents gathered over three or four weekends in August and early September to clean and repaint the mural following a build up of graffiti.”

Speaking on the area’s gradual improvement in recent years following the council and friends group’s work he said: “I was surprised the mural lasted that long untouched. Our main aim is to help open up this hidden backstreet, where people haven’t felt safe to walk along, through the use of colourful artwork.”

Tottenham Hale ward councillor Sean O’Donovan added: “I was not surprised that the local residents reacted so quickly to the graffiti on the mural. I was pleased to play a small part in the repainting but the main work was done by the residents.”

The friends group, which uses social media to organise, aims to paint more walls along the passage and have encouraged volunteers to get involved.

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