Angry residents last night watched Haringey Labour vote down Lib Dem attempts to put on hold Haringey Council’s controversial bid to turn the whole of west Haringey into a controlled parking zone. Lib Dem Councillor John Oakes had tabled a motion proposing that the current consultations be suspended in favour of a proper, full and effective consultation to include emergency meetings of the Area Assemblies.

Labour councillors felt the wrath of a packed public gallery at the meeting of the full council, as they refused residents the right to speak on their parking plans. The Lib Dems have condemned Labour for trying their hardest to prevent Councillor Oakes’ motion from being discussed at all, and gave rambling answers to ‘planted’ questions from their own members.

Eventually, to cheers from the gallery, Labour members agreed to Lib Dem demands to alter the agenda so that time was made for residents to hear the CPZ debate.

Councillor John Oakes comments:

“With such huge concern about the CPZ plans, residents were very rightly furious that Labour could act in such an arrogant manner. The consultation on this is widely agreed to be useless, yet Labour keep telling the public that they are giving them what they want. It is very clear to residents that they have not been given the chance to tell Labour what they want.

“Many have not received their consultation forms, and Labour haven’t bothered to consult with local businesses or representatives. The matter has never been discussed at Area Assemblies, and it is very clear why this is. Labour want to push the decision through as quietly as possible. They are not interested in hearing people’s opinions at all. They should be absolutely ashamed of themselves.”

Note – full text of Councillor Oakes’ motion:

This Council:

Acknowledges the very high level of public concern over the current proposals for parking schemes in the borough;

Acknowledges that the level of consultation undertaken by the Council with residents, businesses and elected members of this Council on these schemes has been entirely ineffective and is not acceptable;

Believes that parking schemes need to be seen by residents and businesses as a positive contribution to their immediate local environment, and not as the careless creation of a remote authority greedy for every pound it can get;

Believes that a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution is not correct, and that proper consultation is necessary in order to ensure that in each area the parking scheme is tailored to meet local needs;

and mindful of the new Statutory Guidance on parking imminently expected from the Department of Transport;

Resolves to suspend the current consultation process indefinitely while this new statutory guidance is pending;

Resolves to further suspend the consultation process until such time as an effective and thorough consultation process has been undertaken in every area affected, to include public meetings in each area.

Proposer:Cllr Oakes
Seconder:Cllr Davies

There was anger with Labour in the council chamber last night, as their environment lead member was forced to admit that £25,000 has been wasted on futile attempts to turn part of Priory Park into a skate park.

Lib Dem councillors have been warning Labour-run Haringey Council for almost a year that the site was unsuitable, and had uncovered that Thames Water had told the council as long ago as February 2005 that the site would not be suitable because ofthe large open drainage chambers situated beneath the concrete area chosen for the sake park. However, despite repeated warnings and questions from Liberal Democrat councillors, Labour denied the problems until recently, when it finally admitted that the plan could not go ahead.

Lib Dem Leader Councillor Neil Williams, who asked the question, comments:

“It is shocking that the council has wasted so much money on these plans, despite being told nearly 18 months ago that the idea was not a runner. It shows staggering incompetence.”

Local councillor Gail Engert, who has been pressing the council on the issue for months adds:

“All along Labour has been in denial about problems at the site, and has tried every trick in the book to stop local councillors getting involved. If they had listened, they could have saved Haringey Council Tax payers a great deal of money. They have also paid lip service to the views of local residents, and it is such a shame for falsely raising the hopes of local kids about the future of the site.”

Lynne Featherstone MP, renowned e-campaigner and award-winning blogger, has signed Amnesty International’s campaign calling on corporations and governments world-wide to act to protect freedom of expression in cyberspace.

Lynne Featherstone MP comments:

“Freedom of speech is the cornerstone of any truly democratic society and we must not shy away from standing up for this right as progress into the new global digital era.

“Tyrants and depots are right to fear the Internet as it will hopefully be the means to end their repressive rule, but we must act now before spineless corporation kowtow to these hateful regimes.”

She has signed up to the campaign to publish extracts from banned documents on her website.

Notes to editors:

The Amnesty campaign is at http://irrepressible.info/pledge

The pledge says, “I believe the Internet should be a force for political freedom, not repression. People have the right to seek and receive information and to express their peaceful beliefs online without fear or interference. I call on governments to stop the unwarranted restriction of freedom of expression on the Internet – and on companies to stop helping them do it.”

The extracts from censored documents appear in the bottom right of the front page of Lynne Featherstone’s website, www.lynnefeatherstone.org

Lynne Featherstone MP has organised a first meeting with Royal Mail and residents to explore the possibility of setting up a Hornsey & Wood Green Mail Watchdog.

Following the thousands of responses to her postal survey, highlighting the poor levels of service in many parts of the constituency, Ms Featherstone has brought together a working party to set about establishing a local organisation to work with Royal Mail in driving up standards.

Lynne Featherstone comments:

“I was overwhelmed by the responses to my survey and the extent of the problems locally.I have already done a lot to get Royal Mail to tackle residents’ complaints individually, but now I want to take it a step further to make sure the improvements are here to stay.

“I have previously had great success in setting up Bus Watch, which has been instrumental in standing up for bus users’ rights.Now I want to see what I can done to my sure my constituents get the postal service they deserve and pay for.”

Residents interested in taking part in Hornsey & Wood Green Mail Watch should contact Lynne. The next meeting is to be held in early autumn.

Haringey Liberal Democrats are demanding that Haringey Council schedule emergency meetings of the borough’s Area Assemblies as soon as possible, in order that residents have a chance to be consulted on plans for the controversial parking schemes being planned by Haringey Council across the borough.

Lib Dem councillors have written to the Council to demand that emergency meetings of the Area Assemblies in the borough are scheduled as soon as possible. Large numbers of residents are becoming increasingly angry that they have not been consulted on the CPZ and parking restriction plans, and the Lib Dems are demanding that the Labour-run council include the people of the borough in the decision-making process on CPZs and parking restrictions.

Muswell Hill councillor Jonathan Bloch was amazed that the proposals for the ‘Stop and Shop’ scheme were not on the agenda of the most recent Muswell Hill Area Assembly meeting. He comments:

“This is just one more example of this Labour administration ignoring the people of the borough. It is deeply worrying that council officials did not put this item on the agenda when the last Area Assembly meeting was held on 15 June 2006. It cannot have been inadvertently left off. At the very least, we would expect that residents would get the chance to meet with representatives of the Council’s executive and have their concerns taken on board – they have been denied this chance.

“Also, local representatives of Muswell Hill have had no prior consultation on these plans which is unacceptable – what are local representatives for if they are not consulted?”

Councillor Wilson (Lib Dem, Stroud Green) comments:

“For many local people these new parking proposals have come completely out of the blue.As usual, consultation with residents, businesses and local representatives has been entirely inadequate. There is no point having Area Assemblies if they do not discuss important local issues like parking controls.”

Lynne Featherstone, MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, comments:

“Labour have shown a shocking lack of concern for the views and wishes of the people of Haringey. It is completely unacceptable that residents have not had the chance to debate the proposals at their Area Assembly meetings, but in truth this is just one of the ways in which they have been denied a voice. Labour claim that these parking schemes are for the benefit of the people of the borough – if this is true, why won’t they listen to them?”

Lynne Featherstone, Lib Dem MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, marked the first anniversary of the 7/7 bombing with the mayor, local police chiefs and the Council Leader in the memorial gardens in front of the Civic Centre.

Lynne Featherstone comments:

“Today across London all communities stand together.Our hearts go out to the families and friends that have lost loved ones and to those who continue to suffer from the injuries they sustained on that dark day a year ago.

“Haringey and London have proved that we’re at our strongest when we stand together.No act of terror can break our spirit.”

Local parents have contacted Lynne Featherstone MP for Hornsey and Wood Green in desperation as their children face a second summer without play equipment at Noel Park Recreation Ground.

In autumn 2004 the play equipment was removed to make way for buildings of a new children’s centre, which was welcomed by local parents. Building work has been finished for some time, but the promised new playground equipment for the under 5’s has still not been installed.

Lynne Featherstone met with a representative of the Parents Forum and has now written to Haringey Council urging them for a speedy installation.

Commenting Lynne Featherstone MP said:

“Haringey Council’s failure to replace the children’s play equipment is simply not acceptable.

“I have written to Haringey Council urging them to resolve this as soon as possible.”

Planned extensions to flats adjacent to the Odeon cinema in Muswell Hill have been shelved, following the objections of residents in the area backed up by Muswell Hill councillor Gail Engert, who attended the day-long appeal hearing.

The battle between residents and developers has been ongoing, and Councillor Engert has campaigned against earlier schemes on the same site.

Councillor Engert had led objections to the proposals on the basis that the plans did not fit in with the surrounding buildings and were out of character with the area as a whole. The Planning Inspectorate’s appeal decision, published on the 27th June, dismissed the developer’s appeal, concluding that the plans “would result in significant harm…to the character and appearance of the conservation area”.

Councillor Engert comments: “The addition of another level to the Odeon cinema building, complete with a bridge over the car park entrance, would have spoiled the appearance of a much-loved local landmark and detracted from the area as a whole. I am very pleased to hear that these proposals have been turned down.”

Haringey Labour’s record on street cleaning has been shown to be seriously lacking for the second year in a row, as Haringey Council’s own annual performance report shows that the Council missed its own target for local street and environment cleanliness by a greater margin than last year.

Haringey Council brings in an independent surveyor to assess its success in meeting its street cleaning targets. The survey assesses how many of the streets it examines do not meet national standards of cleanliness. The Environmental Campaigns (ENCAMS) survey “provided disappointing results with an increase to 37% in 2005/06 from 32% in 2004/05… The 2005/06 target of 30% was missed by a significant margin”.

Labour’s recent election campaign in the borough was not shy about their performance on street cleaning, claiming that, “Labour has an excellent record on improving street cleaning in Haringey. Independent surveys show that relative to the rest of London our streets are getting cleaner and cleaner”. These claims have been called into question by the Lib Dems.

Lib Dem spokesperson for the Environment Councillor Martin Newton comments:

“While Labour are blowing their own trumpets and boldly proclaiming that they have an excellent record on street cleaning, the truth is that they miss their targets year after year, and allow standards to slide.”