Rail against Camden
Although, as we reported recently ,., (Notes, 19 January) the London 16orough of Camden seems unable to clear stiolA' and ice from the streets, it is still able to afford to employ men to go about the b. °rough sawing the spikes off metal rail- ings. A directive issued by the Department °f. Social Services announces that spiked railings 'have been designated a hazard' and that they must be removed from 'all premises used as a council facility.' Iron railings are a familiar feature in London, Usually protecting pedestrians from falling In.to areas and having spikes to stop people climbing over them. Often they are fine ,things in themselves. The Health and 'afetY officers decide which railings to Mutilate without any consultation with the Council's planning department and seem unconcerned that some railings might be an.integral part of a listed building. Nor are guidelines established to decide when an ornamental finial becomes an offending Spike. Although Londoners have lived With spiked railings for centuries, a fatal accident to a child on railings in Somers wn last year has provoked Camden Louneil into pursuing this absurd policy. After all, there are many ordinary things _which can kill an unsupervised child. PderhaPs the Council's next directive will ernand the abolition of all gas cookers, the barring of all upstairs windows and the
erection of non-spiked railings along the edge of every pavement in the borough.
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