The Lib Dem candidate in the Highgate by-election has today taken direct action in a bid to clear up Highgate.

Rachel Allison, along with Highgate councillor Bob Hare, has removed a dumped bicycle chained to the railings in Wood Lane, which was causing a long-standing eyesore for Highgate residents.

Using an angle-grinder, Rachel Allison and Bob Hare removed three locks, as well as the remains of two bikes, including one case where just a single wheel remained.

Cllr Hare says that the bikes were gradually disappearing, piece by piece over a long period. The pair were praised by local residents for their stand.

Liberal Democrat Highgate ward candidate, Rachel Allison, comments:

“I am pleased that this eyesore has been removed, and delighted to lend a hand, though it’s shame that Haringey Council didn’t take action themselves.

“If elected on 6th March, I will be making it my top priority to clear up this sort of mess.”

Liberal Democrats have demanded that Haringey Council rethinks its plans to scrap free leisure facilities for residents over 65.

In a letter to the Leader of the Council, local Lib Dem councillor David Winskill criticises Haringey for failing to consult local residents and for a lack of consideration of the effects the changes will have on the health and well-being of residents.

Lib Dems announced on 4th February 2008, in their alternative budget, that they would reinstate free facilities and have set up an online petition against the plans: http://ourcampaign.org.uk/leisure

Cllr David Winskill, Lib Dem Leisure, Culture and Lifelong Learning Spokesperson, comments:

“This decision was taken right at the last minute and with absolutely no consultation. We decided to go straight to the top to get it reversed so that older residents can be confident that they won’t have to go through the indignity of a means test to go for a swim.

“The change in pricing structure is something that should involve the community, not just imposed. Again the Labour-controlled council does not want to listen.

“The cost of the free leisure passes to Haringey Council is minute, especially compared to the massive communications budget the council has each year.”

Hornsey and Wood Green MP Lynne Featherstone adds:

“Haringey is supposed to have health and well-being at the top of its agenda – but this initiative would have the effect of deterring older people from using Haringey’s Leisure Centres and have a very negative effect on their health. It must be withdrawn now.”

Parking chaos continues for residents in Crouch End following further delays by Haringey Council over the promised start of a key local consultation.

Parking boss Cllr Brian Haley told representatives of Crouch End residents’ groups in December 2007 that a draft plan to alleviate the parking problems would be presented in January 2008. The area’s Liberal Democrats are concerned that delays to the start of consultation will hold up the implementation of solutions to the parking problems.

Last summer, local Lib Dems highlighted the parking misery endured by Crouch End residents inundated with cars displaced by parking restrictions in nearby roads after the implementation of Controlled Parking Zones (CPZs) in Highgate, Stroud Green and in Hillrise (Islington) and also Stop n Stop schemes in the area, coupled with the temporary closure to the Highgate station car park.

Cllr Lyn Weber (Crouch End) comments:

“Haringey Council only seems to have excuses, not solutions to this problem.I thought we had made good progress. A lot of good will had been built up between resident groups and Haringey Council who were working together to find a solution. How do Haringey respond – with excuses and delays. How long will it be until residents have a solution?

“Last August we found out that people in Crouch End faced seven months of parking misery. Now, due to the inaction of this Labour-controlled council this is likely to be longer.

“There is also the ongoing cost: to the environment with cars circling like vultures for spaces to park in, residents’ stress levels are rising, family life is being disrupted and small businesses don’t want to go to areas blighted by no parking spaces.All we get is excuse after excuse: it’s just plain wrong.”

Cllr David Winskill (Crouch End) adds:

“Although I am a cyclist I can sympathise with the difficulties that residents face. It’s impossible for people to park. Had Haringey talked to other boroughs about their experiences of the effects of CPZs we might not have been in such a mess.”

In a bid to overturn Haringey Labour’s decision to scrap free access to local leisure centres for the over 65s, Lynne Featherstone MP and Councillor David Winskill visited Park Road Leisure Centre to launch a petition together with concerned residents.

On Monday, Labour councillors voted to scrap the concession. The new charges will come into force in less than eight weeks, saving £52,000.

People wanting to support the campaign should visit http://ourcampaign.org.uk/leisure or contact Lynne Featherstone on 020 8340 5459.

Lynne Featherstone MP says:

“£21 for a monthly pass is a big chunk out of the state pension.People are very angry about this unfair proposal and I have heard from many worried elderly people who fear that this will put a stop to them using the pool and gym.

“This is such a ridiculous piece of penny pinching. The £52,000 saving would not be necessary if Labour had been able to make the cost cuts it had promised.”

Cllr Winskill, Lib Dem spokesperson on Leisure, Culture and Lifelong Learning adds:

“What kind of a message is this sending out to old people who have heeded the government’s call to get out and exercise? It shows just how short-sighted this Labour council is. This policy is almost bound to lead to costs to the NHS that far exceed £52,000.

“Regular exercise can keep older people fit and out of doctors’ surgeries, as well as provide companionship and social contact for those living by themselves.”

Cllr Winskill will meet with Haringey Council officials on Monday to express the anger of all sections of the community about these new proposals.

Local MP Lynne Featherstone has vowed to carry on the fight for a fair deal for Haringey’s students after schools minister, Jim Knight, has refused residents’ demands to scrap the school funding system that sees every Haringey pupil receive £1,183 less until 2011.

The Government’s lack of action was confirmed yesterday in a face-to-face meeting between the Labour Minister and Ms Featherstone, where she put the case for fair funding.

Ms. Featherstone also presented a petition backed by 615 local residents who supported the campaign.

Commenting, Lynne Featherstone MP says:

“How the Government calculates Haringey schools funding bears little relation to the needs of our schools. Our teachers are rightly paid inner London wages, but the schools are being short-changed by around a thousand pounds a year for every pupil.

“This is not a problem that can be kicked into the long grass as part of another protracted review.It is clear from the level of support we have received that local parents and guardians want action now.

“I will continue to badger Jim Knight and Ed Balls at every turn to give our schools a fair funding deal.”

Plans to give more control to local residents are at the heart of alternative budget proposals put forward by Haringey Liberal Democrats. The £1.5 million package would provide two dedicated officers for each ward designed to be based in local neighbourhoods and to reflect the individual needs of each community in the London Borough of Haringey. Lib Dems believe that this would give residents a stronger say in how their money is spent locally.

Cllr Robert Gorrie, Lib Dem resources spokesperson, comments:

“Every community is different – different problems and needs. Our proposal seeks to provide a resource to the local community that can be responsive to these local priorities.

“The Labour government and Haringey Council have too often sought to centralise services. This is completely the wrong approach. Local residents know the issues in their ward better than anyone and it is time that we recognised this. The Liberal Democrats are now the only party that would give people a stronger voice in how their hard earned taxes are spent.”

Cllr Gail Engert (Muswell Hill ward) adds:

“This is what Liberal Democrats are about – trusting the local community and rewarding that relationship with a meaningful budget that residents can help to decide.”

Council Tax would not have to rise in Haringey this year if Labour-run Haringey Council had not failed to deliver savings say Haringey’s Liberal Democrats.

Haringey Council promised to deliver £4.5 million savings but have failed to do so. Instead, residents have had to bare the brunt of increases in the cost of services totalling £10 million.

Lib Dems criticised Haringey Council’s budget at the Full Council meeting on 4th February 2008 by highlighting Haringey Labour’s financial mismanagement, which will result in residents paying higher taxes and paying more for services.

“For all Labour’s talk of cuts and savings, the burden Haringey Council puts on residents continues to increase, as do the costs of its services,” says Robert Gorrie, Lib Dem Finance Spokesperson.

“Labour’s financial mismanagement has cost Haringey’s taxpayers dear, and will continue to do so.

“£4.5 million of savings that were forecast only last year have not been delivered for next year. That failure cost Haringey Council more than the extra money they will get from increasing Council Tax next year.

“If those savings had been delivered Labour could have chosen not to put up Council Tax.”

Commenting on today’s announcement by the Arts Council to continue this year’s funding for Jackson Lane, Rachel Allison, Lib Dem candidate in the Highgate council by-election, said:

“This is wonderful news. It’s a tribute to all the people at Jacksons Lane and in the local community who supported the campaign to protect the centre’s funding. The loss of a such a big grant at just a few weeks’ notice would have been a devastating blow, and I am delighted that the Arts Council has seen sense.”

Local Lib Dem Leader and Highgate councillor Neil Williams, who along with local MP Lynne Featherstone has been running a high-profile campaign to protect the Centre’s funding, adds:

“I’m relieved and delighted for Melanie Sharpe, her whole team, and the whole community- but in agreeing to carry on funding, the Arts Council have laid down a clear challenge to Haringey – provide the support and investment in your own building that it clearly needs. Lynne Featherstone and I made it clear, face-to-face, with the Arts Council that we would work tirelessly to make sure that this happens. We now have a year to make sure that Haringey Council delivers.”

The Bridge New Deal for Communities (NDC) must give the wider public a chance to appreciate local ideas about the development of Wards Corner, Seven Sisters, say Haringey’s Liberal Democrats, in advance of Saturday’s all-day conference on the NDC’s future.

Under the plan proposed by Grainger’s, whom NDC say are the only developers interested in the site, Wards department store would disappear, to be replaced with selected High Street shops and a gated development of 180 flats.

But the Wards Corner Community Coalition (WCC), formed by local residents and the market traders who have mushroomed there over the last two years, have raised £8,000 of their own money to suggest a radical alternative. WCC’s plan shows how the site could be developed to preserve the familiar landmark, encourage local traders, and open it up with a people-friendly piazza, reminiscent of Covent Garden.

On Monday January 21st, Liberal Democrats called for WCC plans to be given “proper consideration”.

Community Involvement spokesman Cllr John Oakes told the Full Council meeting:

“The WCC scheme is much more in tune with Haringey’s 2004 planning brief forthe site, which says Wards store has ‘architectural merit, and should be preserved. That seems to have been thrown out of the window.

“But we say the NDC should enable WCC to get their plans properly costed, by a firm independent of Grainger’s, in the same way that the NDC is offering£2 million worth of help and finance to Grainger.

“And Haringey must keep its December 12th promise of a meeting between WCC and Regeneration spokesperson Cllr Kaushika Amin well before the formal planning process starts.

“Grainger’s should open their books on costs and quantities involved in their scheme, in line with the ‘total transparency’ also promised at the December 12 meeting between WCC and the NDC.”