I literally could not believe it when my Lib Dem councillor colleagues informed me that Labour had actually refused to let local residents speak on the proposed CPZs etc at the Haringey Council meeting on 17th July – despite residents turning up to express their views.

Not only would Labour not let local people speak then – but they also kept the issue off the agenda at the recent Muswell Hill Area Assembly. And to complete the hat-trick of secrecy and closed minds – none of the local councillors in Highgate, Muswell Hill, Alexandra and Fortis Green wards have been given a chance to have a say on the plans for their wards either. Whether it’s directly or through their elected representatives – the council clearly doesn’t want to listen to the public.

The Area Assembly should be the forum where problems should be discussed in embryo – long before concrete proposals are agreed and put to public consultation. That is the forum where a proper assessment of local parking stress needs to be brought first, along with a clear published statistical base outlining the current parking and traffic situation. That is the way to discuss an issue like this sensibly. And if there’s no problem and no public demand for action – then the issue can be put to bed long before lots of council time and money have been spent working up plans.

Labour have shown a shocking lack of concern for the views and wishes of the people of Haringey. I have written to the Chief Executive asking for the responses to the now closed consultation to be not only available to local councillors (they refused to show them to Fortis Green councillor Martin Newton – that’s another secret the council is keeping) but also to any local resident who wishes to examine them. They could easily be put up on the Council website.

There will be residents in favour and residents against Labour’s proposed parking plans but I doubt if there will be anyone who believes Labour have approached this in a proper and inclusive manner. The methodology is so brutish that almost everyone who has written to me is convinced this is just a way of raising revenue and bears little relationship to solving any real problems.

And that is a real shame, because it means the debate risks boiling down to "big CPZ" versus "nothing" when in fact there’s a host of details, such as yellow lines, number and location of pay and display bays, hours of parking restrictions, rules of discretion for traffic wardens, design of junctions, policy on parking in driveways, and so on and on, and I doubt very much whether the details on every one of these measures has been got 100% right across every last part of the area. But when the council blunders in that way it has, what chance is there of genuine parking and traffic issues getting a hearing and a productive discussion getting going amongst residents and local businesses?