Local residents in Muswell Hill and Highgate are fed up of dumping and vandalism, according to the results of a survey conducted by Lib Dem councillors in the area.
Cllr Neil Williams (Highgate) and Cllr Lynne Featherstone (Muswell Hill) conducted the survey in Wood Lane (Highgate) and Wood Vale (Muswell Hill), which links Highgate and Muswell Hill and runs through Queen’s Wood.
A total of 30% in Wood Vale and 40% in Wood Lane say they’ve been victims of car vandalism during the last year. A massive 77% think dumped cars in Queen’s Wood are a serious problem, and 87% think fly-tipping in Queen’s Wood is a serious issue. In total, 75% would support the use of CCTV in Queen’s Wood and 86% want better lighting.
Lib Dem councillor Lynne Featherstone comments:
“We have already take action to report the dumping of cars and huge piles of rubbish in the woods. However, I would like the police to look seriously at introducing CCTV, as residents have shown they would support it. It could make a real difference, as it has done with graffiti in Highgate village. The present situation is making a real mess of one of the most beautiful parts of Highgate and Muswell Hill.”
Lib Dem councillor Neil Williams comments:
“The high number of people reporting being the victims of crimes in the last year suggests that many crimes are currently going unreported – which is why police think crime in the area is less of a problem than residents say so. I would urge residents to ensure that all crimes are reported in future, so the police have a full and accurate picture when deciding where to allocate resources.”
Lynne Featherstone 
As a fairly keen walker, in North London and out in the Chilterns, I’m very familiar with Queens Wood and Shepherds Cot;we walk through the Wood nearly once a week. We do so because we welcome the peace and quiet in an otherwise noisy, polluted and urban environment – we’ve done so for over 7 years now.
We have only encountered problems a few times in all these years (such as rubbish and ‘tagging’) and feel strongly that the intrusion of CCTV is unmerited and unwelcome: frankly, if there are persistent problems then we would expect the Police to deal with them. We really resent the assumption that CCTV will somehow deal with local problems – the evidence base on this is thin and often contradictory…
We’re also very concerned that you do not even mention Friends of Queens Wood in this little diatribe; have you asked them about problems, what have they recommended? Ditto CREOS.
I am a member of the Ramblers Association, but not of a political party. I am disturbed that you/the LibDems appear to be willing to ’embrace’ the CCTV cure-all camp’s agenda – especially when it comes to precious and much-needed areas like Queeens Wood.
My goodness – this is a post on the blog from seven years ago. And yes – we do work with Friends of Queens Wood and go to their events etc – but this was from an old survey with repeated vandalism and residents from Wood Vale being very upset by the car burnings etc. No cameras were ever installed.