Four of Haringey’s stations are set for a major clean up after Cllr Lynne Featherstone met with Network Rail representative Mick Murphy to show him the rubbish and flying-tipping problems at Harringay, Hornsey, Alexandra Palace and Bowes Park stations on Monday. The meeting was called by Councillor Featherstone following a huge number of complaints from residents complaining of litter, fly-tipping and broken fencing around local railways and stations.

Following the site visits, Mr Murphy agreed that litter and dumped materials at all four stations would be cleared. Ms Featherstone has long battled to establish who is responsible for rubbish and dumping at the beleaguered stations. Whilst the train operator (WAGN) was technically responsible for litter and rubbish within 100 metres of the station platform – this only covers material that may have blown from the platform, and not the acute dumping problems near the sites. The Lib Dems say that the volume of litter at the edges of the station sites is due to dumping and to workers leaving building debris behind. Therefore Ms Featherstone says the problem is largely one for Network Rail’s to resolve.

Mr Murphy explained that he would be filing a report at the end of the week detailing the works to be done and who is responsible for doing them. Mr Murphy also confirmed that he would commission new fencing for Harringay, Hornsey and Alexandra Palace stations in an effort to reduce fly tipping.

Cllr Featherstone is satisfied with the progress at the meeting following months of frustration where no party was willing to take responsibility for the rubbish clearance. Although this is the beginning of the clear up plans, she is hopeful that action will be taken and will be paying close attention to the works.

Cllr Featherstone comments:

“It’s a case of so far so good. The recommendations that have been agreed will certainly make these stations cleaner, more pleasant places to use.

“In the past, there have been problems in getting contractors to take responsibility for railway cleanliness so I have asked for a timeline of the work to be drawn up, along with agreement over the contractors’ responsibilities.

“This will ensure that all contractors fulfil their obligations in cleaning up local stations. All of these works need to happen quickly, as residents have waited long enough already, and are utterly fed up with the current state of their stations.”

Liberal Democrats in Haringey have slammed the Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health Trust for running a ‘Victorian mental health service’, following the publication of a highly critical report last week into mental health services in the three boroughs by the Commission for Health Improvement (CHI), a Government ‘watchdog’.

Among the key findings of the CHI Report, which found some good practice in areas such as music therapy and the Antenna scheme for black and ethnic minority mental health, were:

• Informed consent was not always obtained before treatment and medication was routinely given in patients’ food.
• There were numerous ‘ligature’ points around buildings.
• Negative feedback from patients about their treatment by staff.
• Basic Nursing care was poor.
• Doors to and from wards were often locked.
• Bed occupancy was 130% with 36 patients using 18 beds during the day and patients being ‘slept out’ at night.
• Police stations were used as places of safety with no explanation to patients or carers as to why they were in a police station and not a hospital

CHI concluded that there were “significant concerns about the quality of patient care in some areas of the Trust, around maintenance of service users privacy and dignity and poor risk management”.

Lib Dem Social Services Spokesperson, Cllr Ron Aitken, is shocked by the report on the Trust, which is proposing to close two vital day hospitals in Haringey:

“It is frankly horrifying – more like a Victorian Bedlam than the NHS of the 21st Century promised by Tony Blair.

“The Trust should lift the threat to Canning Crescent and Kate Marsden day hospitals. I would also like an assurance that treatments have not been administered to patients without consent. This is a very serious concern.”

Red faced staff providing Haringey’s ‘green box’ recycling service have issued a green box to a local resident only to take it back again when they realised that the person concerned did not live in the area covered by Haringey’s doorstop service.

Local resident John Trafford-Owen, of Newnham Road, Wood Green, had asked for the ‘green box’ in a bid to help Haringey boost its recycling rate. The box was duly delivered. When Mr Trafford phoned again to ask when his bottles, cans and newspapers would be collected, he was told that Newnham road is not on Haringey’s limited collection route. The Council then had to arrange for the box to be taken back again.

Mr Trafford-Owen says:

“This is a case of Haringey’s left hand not being too well acquainted with its right. The department that issues the boxes is not the same as the one that collects them. While council staff were helpful and polite, it’s not much use for them to take the trouble to provide a recycling box if they have no intention of collecting any recycling.”

Lib Dem councillor Lynne Featherstone comments:

“On a more serious note, this tale highlights Haringey’s failure to roll out its recycling service across the borough. Haringey has a terrible recycling rate, and this needs to be improved as soon as possible. People like Mr Trafford-Owen are only to willing to oblige if the council will let them, but their streets are left out at the moment.”

Lib Dem councillors are urging Haringey Council to speak up for the large student population in the borough and oppose tuition fees, which are hitting local students hard. The move follows the results of a survey carried out on sixteen year olds showing that two thirds of them could opt out of university because of the cost of top-up fees.

The survey was carried out by the Lib Dem national party during spring 2003, and involved 311 schools and 2,489 year 10 and 11 pupils. Haringey’s Lib Dem Group leader, Cllr Ross Laird is concerned about these figures and the affect that top-up fees could have on potential students in the borough. He is also concerned about the knock on affect to the local economy that a less skilled workforce would have.

Many students in the borough will have to cope with greater poverty, debts and stress as result of increased tuition fees. Figures published this week by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) already show a dramatic increase in depression amongst students with debts. Ten percent of those seeking counselling claimed to have tried or contemplated suicide.

Cllr Ross Laird comments:

“The potential affect of top-up fees is very worrying. We have a young population in this borough and it is important that we support them in getting the most out of education. The Government’s proposals for top-up fees put this in jeopardy and with it the chances of increasing our skilled work force in the borough.

“The BACP report already shows the increased financial pressure that students are currently under as a result of tuition fees. The top-up fees will exacerbate the situation. We must make it clear that as a council responsible for a large student population we will not accept the Governments proposals.”

Crouch End and Muswell Hill Broadways are set to be become considerably cleaner places following the success of local Lib Dem councillors in campaigning for extra bins in the area. The council is currently in the process of installing ten new bins in Muswell Hill, and last week council officers confirmed that they will be installing new bins around Crouch End Broadway in August following the completion of a litter bin survey this month.

Lib Dem leader, Ross Laird who campaigned for many months to secure bins for Muswell Hill, is delighted with the news that Crouch End has also secured new bins. He is confident that this will alleviate the problem of litter in both Broadways and achieve a Lib Dem objective of cleaner streets in the process.

Cllr Laird (Muswell Hill) comments:

“I am delighted that Crouch End has now secured new bins for the Broadway. Through regular contact with local residents we have been able to support claims that these new bins were necessary and desired by the people who live and work in the area.

“This is a small step towards our Lib Dem goal of making Haringey a cleaner place to live and work but very significant to those in Crouch End, Muswell Hill and Fortis Green.”

Crouch End Liberal Democrat councillor Ron Aitken adds:

“Many residents have complained about the litter in the Broadway and I am pleased that we have managed to successfully address this problem. Once again, we have shown that the Lib Dems are a party that listens and gets results.”

Lib Dem GLA member and Transport committee Chair, Lynne Featherstone, has welcomed the improvements in frequency of the 143 bus announced by Transport for London (TfL). The change will see an increased frequency in local route 143, which Lynne Featherstone hopes will improve the reliability of the service.

Ms Featherstone and her Lib Dem colleagues had long campaigned for improvements to the 143 Archway to Brent Cross after repeated complaints from residents. On the busy route, which runs from Archway to Brent Cross via Highgate and East Finchley, Ms Featherstone told TfL last year that passengers trying to board 143 buses in the rush hour between Muswell Hill and Highgate often found that they are usually full and that they cannot get on board.

Lynne Featherstone comments:

“It is good to see that TfL has responded by improving services on the 143. We will keep up the pressure to see improvements to other local services.”

Highgate councillor Neil Williams, who has also campaigned on the issue and whose ward is served by the 143 route, adds:

“This is good news. I know from residents in Highgate that the frequency on the 143 causes immense frustration at times.It is a very major route for Highgate, and after having promised action past year, TfL have shown they have listened on the state of the service, and have taken some steps to improve it.”

Local Lib Dem councillors have welcomed the announcement by Haringey Council that it is to answer calls to step up the fight against graffiti in the borough. However, they have added a note of caution that they will be watching closely to see if the Council can deliver on its new pledges.

The move came at a ‘graffiti summit’ held at the Civic Centre on Thursday, attended by local councillors and representatives of the borough’s residents’ associations.

As well as running a five-month ‘blitz’ on graffiti, the Council has also agreed that from December, it will undertake to remove graffiti within 28 days of sightings being reported to the Council. A new ‘hotline’ has been set up, on 0845 673 1979, for residents to report incidents. Local Lib Dem councillors, who made the fight a key part of their election manifesto last year, are urging all residents to participate.

Lib Dem councillor and Environment Spokesperson, Susan Oatway, comments:

“I am pleased that Haringey has now recognised the scale of the problem, particularly in the west of the borough. Being soft on graffiti is a false economy, and just encourages other crimes, such as vandalism and dumping. >From a borough that had one of the lowest budgets for graffiti in London, this is a step in the right direction.”

Cllr Neil Williams (Highgate) who has pushed the council hard on the issue, and has given help and backing to Highgate residents who paid for their own graffiti clean up after the council failed to act, adds:

“It’s a positive and long-awaited move for which we have campaigned hard. However, we will want to see that the council has given the scheme the necessary muscle to make it work. Haringey was often far too slow at removing graffiti from its own property under its existing, rather low-key policies. However, this new plan deserves a fair wind, and it is vital that residents participate fully.”

Haringey’s Liberal Democrat councillors have called the appointment of former Islington Labour leader, Margaret Hodge, as the new children’s minister as ‘inappropriate’ and have called on the Government to remove her from her new post following reports of her failings as Leader of Islington Council to deal with council staff abusing children in care in the 1980s and 90s.

Social Services Spokesman Ron Aitken says that it is particularly inappropriate that someone who has failed in fulfilling their duties as Council Leader should be given such an important new ministerial role created following the Laming enquiry into the death of Victoria Climbie, where once again Labour council leaders were condemned for their failures.

Lib Dem social services spokesperson, Ron Aitken comments:

“Appointing Margaret Hodge continues the practice of allowing Labour politicians to avoid the blame for catastrophic child protection failures. It confirms the culture of leaving junior staff to carry the can which Lord Laming so rightly slammed, and shows how new Labour have not taken heed of Lord Laming’s conclusions.”