Lib Dem councillors have welcomed Haringey Council’s confirmation that there will be a full roll-out of the kerbside green box recycling scheme within six weeks, covering four Lib Dem wards in the west of the borough. The announcement was made at this week’s Muswell Hill Area Assembly and fulfils a Lib Dem manifesto commitment made last May to extend door-to-door recycling across Haringey.

The good news comes on the back of the recently published Best Value Performance Plan for 2003/2004 that exposes Haringey Council’s failures in recycling with only 4.4% of waste recycled in 2002/03.

Lib Dem environment spokesperson, Bob Hare is pleased with the news, which will guarantee recycling collections for cans, glass, textiles and paper in much of the west of the borough. However, he was keen to add that this was only the start and that the Lib Dems would continue to campaign for better recycling facilities and a more comprehensive collection service. He also promised to continue to press the Council over their policy to charge for garden waste collection.

Cllr Hare (Highgate) comments:

“Finally the Council is listening to Lib Dem ideas on recycling and acting on some of them. It is a good start but Haringey is way off meeting the 2005 national target of 25% of waste recycled, set by the Government.

“The Council needs to address issues regarding waste minimisation as well as re-assessing its policy on charging for collection of garden waste. While we will continue to press the council to address these and other recycling issues I hope that local residents play their part and use their green boxes.”

Muswell Hill and Rhodes Avenue Primary school pupils will be a lot safer when they return to school in September when a £75,000 road-calming plan around the schools is implemented in August. The decision comes after months of pressure from local residents and Lib Dem councillors.

The £75,000 from Transport for London (TfL) will be spent on road calming measures in two speeding black-spots, Dukes Avenue and Alexandra Park Road and is the result of work done since March by the focus group made up of local residents and Alexandra councillor, Susan Oatway (Lib Dem).

Over the last few months Council traffic engineers have worked closely with the focus group. The engineers have submitted amended costed plans and the group now has to make a decision on the final proposals – given that £75,000 is not enough to do everything they want. Residents associations therefore have until the end of this month to give the council their final views on the amended proposals.

Lib Dem councillor Susan Oatway is pleased with the progress that has been made in the last few months and is grateful for the work of local residents and council officers in bringing this action about. However she acknowledges that the Council must do more to improve safety around schools in the borough:

“The residents and officers have worked very well together. I am very pleased with how well the plans have progressed and I am hopeful that by September we will have made considerable progress in dealing with the speeding problem in these two roads.

“The Lib Dem aim is to ensure safe routes around all schools in the borough and we will continue to press the Council to work towards this as well as pushing for further road calming measures around Alexandra ward.”

Liberal Democrats in Haringey have warned that Haringey Council and the Labour Government must not forget the lessons learned from the tragic death of Victoria Climbie. Six months after the publication of Lord Laming’s report in which senior managers and politicians were severely criticised, the Lib Dems say there are worrying signs that the much hailed ‘sea-change’ in child protection may not happen.

Liberal Democrat Social Services Spokesperson Cllr Ron Aitken is highlighting many concerns over delayed action. These include the delay, until the autumn, of the Government’s long promised Green Paper on child protection.

Furthermore, Haringey Council, heavily criticised not only over their handling of Victoria’s case, but also for withholding documents from the enquiry, has still not implemented the Council’s internal Plank Report which criticised councillors and senior officers.

Labour councillor Gina Adamou, whose role as Social Services Lead member was criticised by Lord Laming, has been appointed to the Children’s Services Advisory Committee charged with implementing the recommendations of Lord Laming’s Report together with Cllr Takki Sulaiman.

Councillor Aitken has also demanded an explanation as to why a key presentation by the Carezone Trust on 3 July about measures to empower children in care was cancelled.

The Council has also lobbied the Government’s Social Services Inspectorate to delay until September publication of the results of an inspection of child protection carried out in March. The SSI had promised publication in June.

For the 7th month in a row a key child protection indicator has fallen – the figure for six-weekly visits to children on the at-risk register.

The Lib Dems also say that a £4m overspend in Haringey’s Social Services budget may threaten resources and that councillors Sulaiman and Adamou lack the clout to ensure that these resources remain with Social Services. At a recent Council Executive £240,000 was paid back to reserves from the Child Protection Budget.

Lib Dem spokesman Ron Aitken comments:

“An all-too familiar pattern is emerging. After the headlines and media spotlight have moved away from Victoria’s tragic case, Labour councillors and ministers back away from the hard measures needed to prevent another such tragedy. We must not allow a scenario where it is ‘business as usual’ after the fuss has diminished.”

Lib Dem GLA member and Haringey councillor Lynne Featherstone has asked Transport for London to address concerns about the narrowness of Southwood Lane in Highgate for use as part of the long hoped for Muswell Hill to Swiss Cottage Bus route. The move follows concerns expressed by some Highgate residents that the road may be too narrow in places for a bus service.

Ms Featherstone has asked TfL to provide a demonstration journey along the road to determine whether it is suitable, using the actual size of bus likely to be deployed on the route. While route consultants Faber Maunsell have not seen the issue as a problem for the possible new route, Ms Featherstone says Southwood Lane residents need this reassurance and deserve the chance to see a bus in action first.

Transport for London have also confirmed to Ms Featherstone that residents along Southwood Lane, previously not used for buses, will have another chance to comment if the route becomes a formal proposal.

Lynne Featherstone comments:

“Seeing is believing, so I have asked TfL if they will invite residents of Southwood Lane to witness a bus of the right size using the route at peak times.

Highgate Lib Dem councillor Neil Williams adds:

“The roadway certainly seems narrow, but on the other hand it is the most direct route from Muswell Hill and there are many vans and lorries using it at present. It is an important concern that needs to be addressed as the prospect of the route moves nearer. I hope that Transport for London will oblige.”

Lib Dem councillor and GLA member Lynne Featherstone has stepped in to help the campaign to safeguard the future of mental health day hospitals in Haringey, following the recent publication of a highly critical report into mental health services in the three north London boroughs of Haringey, Enfield and Barnet.

Despite deep concerns over mental health care, the local mental health trust is proposing to close two vital day care hospitals in Haringey – Canning Crescent and Kate Marsden.As a result of representations from Lynne Featherstone, Paul Burstow MP is tabling a Parliamentary question on the availability and geographical pattern of vital day hospital provision in each London borough.

Lynne Featherstone comments:

“We must protect and improve mental health services in the borough, and ensure that Haringey’s provision is at an acceptable level.

“Around 40% of the population will at some time experience mental illness, so we can not afford to lose the facilities at Canning Crescent and Kate Marsden day hospitals.

“Many carers have told me what these valuable services do to improve life for themselves and their families.”

Haringey Council has once again been told to improve its miserable record of settling its own bills, after figures released by the council show that the Labour run authority pays only 72% of its bills within 30 days, despite cutting its own target to 80%. The average for London boroughs is 77%.

The Lib Dems say that the figures have hardly moved over the past two years, from 70 to 72% despite promises of action from Labour. The figures are also bad for local businesses, which must wait for payment as the Labour run council fails to settle its debts on time.

Lib Dem Parliamentary spokesperson, Lynne Featherstone, comments:

“Haringey is quick enough to ask for money from local residents when it sends out the Council Tax bills. The council’s poor record at settling its own debts is not much help to local businesses, and it also reveals the inefficiencies in the Labour council bureaucracy.

“Every year, improvements are promised, but the figures show little sign of improving. At this rate, it will take years for Haringey to reach the Government’s target.”

Lib Dem GLA Member and local councillor Lynne Featherstone has asked to meet Transport for London officials to discuss traffic jams at a busy Highgate junction. Ms Featherstone says that the junction of Archway Road and Shepherds Hill needs action to reduce long rush hour tailbacks, increase safety for pedestrians and enforce the ‘yellow box’.

Ms Featherstone wants TfL to look at the phasing of the traffic lights, and take action to reduce havoc and danger for pedestrians caused by the failure of some drivers to observe the yellow box. Ms Featherstone says it is clearly a case for cameras and enforcement.

Lynne Featherstone comments:

“We have had several complaints from local residents about the junction, and it needs looking at again. I will be meeting TfL on the site, and will be pointing out the need for better enforcement measures.”

Local residents’ groups were left ‘high and dry’ when a long planned meeting with GLA Member Nicky Gavron failed to happen. Scheduled to have started at 6.30pm, Ms Gavron failed to attend, despite the meeting being confirmed with her office on the day. The move was a blow to local campaign groups in Hornsey, who had hoped for progress in the battle against the overdevelopment of the area and the protection of precious ‘backland’ sites.

Cllr Featherstone comments:

“This was extremely disappointing for the representatives who took the trouble to finish work early to attend the meeting. Hornsey has been facing a rash of planning applications and local residents have devoted thousands of unpaid hours to defend their community. It is hugely regrettable that one of their elected representatives treats them in this way.”

The meeting had been called by Lib Dem Planning Spokesman David Winskill to discuss why Crouch End and Hornsey seem to have such little protection against the whims of developers and why social infrastructure is lagging so far behind.

Ms Gavron fielded a GLA Officer instead to answer a barrage of questions from the group. He did his best to explain the Mayor’s Plan – written by Cllr Gavron when Deputy Mayor.

Veteran campaigner Chris Warburton seemed unconvinced that Haringey’s UDP was being taken seriously in light of the Mayor’s plan for 19,100 new homes for Haringey. “We seem to be going hell for leather for homes at the expense of good design, employment and the environment,” he said. “Little I heard at the meeting causes me to change this view.”

One surprise piece of news from the meeting was that the GLA is coming round to Haringey’s assertion that the housing target set by the GLA is grossly unrealistic. The officer agreed that it could be wrong by a factor of “4,000 to 5,000.”

Cllr David Winskill (Liberal Democrat, Crouch End) welcomed this, saying that it could take the pressure off the Planning Department when evaluating planning applications. He asked the Officer to draft a letter for Cllr Gavron to Haringey setting this out and reminding them of the central role of the UDP when assessing applications. He commented:

“People’s confidence in the planning system is at its lowest for years. Usually reasonable people have become enraged at a system that is loaded in favour of the developers. We understand the importance of structured change but what we are seeing is a free for all. The consequences will be with us for generations.”

Amidst the concern surrounding the use of Bidwell Gardens N22 as a construction access road, Liberal Democrat councillors have accused the Labour council of snubbing local residents and silencing their own planning officers. The comments follow the decision by Labour councillors to make council planning officers unavailable for a meeting with Bidwell Gardens’ residents, arranged by Cllr Wayne Hoban to discuss the problems caused by the works.

The meeting scheduled for this Thursday, 10th July was intended to discuss the residents’ safety concerns. Cllr Hoban had agreed with planning chiefs that an officer would be able to attend. However, Labour Environment spokesperson Ray Dodds and Planning chair, Thomas Davidson stepped in earlier this week to state that a planning officer would not attend this important meeting.

Cllr Wayne Hoban comments:

“Local Labour councillors are showing a disregard for local residents’ views on this issue. Planning officers are needed so that the safety concerns can be fully understood and proper discussions held. Instead, Labour councillors are trying to put a spoke in the wheels.

“It is an unacceptable way to treat local residents, who had expected to speak to all the key people at the meeting.”

Hopes that former Minister and local MP Barbara Roche would use her new found freedom to stand up for local health services received a blow, when Mrs Roche voted in favour of the Government’s controversial plans for foundation hospitals.

The move grants foundation status to 28 NHS trusts, but leaves local trusts, such as the Whittington and the Royal Free, out in the cold.The Lib Dems say that Mrs Roche should have opposed the move, especially as, following her sacking from the Government, she is now a backbencher.

With the lowest ever majority for the Blair Government of just 35 votes, over 60 Labour MPs defied their own party, with neighbouring North London MPs Frank Dobson (Holborn and St Pancras) and Glenda Jackson (Hampstead and Highgate) among those who voted against the plans.

Lib Dem Health spokesperson Cllr Neil Williams (Highgate) comments:

“This is very disappointing, as it leaves local ‘two star’ trusts such as the Whittington out in the cold, while other hospitals, not in our area, will have a bogus elite status conferred upon them. I’m very disappointed that our MP didn’t oppose this change, which is bad news for health services in Haringey.”