It was revealed this week by Woodside and Noel Park Liberal Democrats that new residents of Eclipse House, in Station Road, Wood Green, are being issued with permits allowing them to park their cars in nearby streets in the Wood Green controlled parking zone.

Lib Dem candidate for Woodside in the local elections, Nigel Scott, says this breaches a condition applied to the planning consent granted in 2002 preventing occupiers of the building from being given permits.

Nigel Scott comments:

“Not only has the planning condition to refuse parking permits to buyers in this building proved to be worthless, prospective buyers are actually being encouraged to buy by being offered parking permits by the developer.There are currently applications pending for hundreds of ‘car free’ flats in Wood Green. If all the newcomers who have cars are given permits, there will probably be fighting in the streets over parking. There is simply not enough space.”

Newly elected Lib Dem Noel Park councillor Fiyaz Mughal adds:

“This proves how hollow the Council’s undertaking was. They said there would be no parking permits issued for occupiers of this building, but as soon as it is completed – they issue them anyway!How will they be able to prevent occupants of any other new development from securing parking permits now?”

Hornsey & Wood Green Lib Dem MP Lynne Featherstone says:

“Haringey Council has to explain who is authorising these permits and explain where it leaves the Council’s policies on encouraging car-free developments. Otherwise how can residents have any trust in the Council’s planning policies?”

Haringey Liberal Democrats are asking for immediate action to be taken after it arose that the £50 million regeneration project The Bridge New Deal for Communities (NDC) has been managed so badly by Haringey Labour that no financial accounts of the project can be produced.

Councillor Wayne Hoban asked both the Director of The Bridge NDC and Haringey Council to provide him with copies of the audited accounts and auditor’s notes for the five years that the project has been running, only to be informed that no such accounts were available. Cllr Hoban has written to Haringey’s District Auditor to ask for an urgent forensic investigation of the NDC’s accounts.

Cllr Hoban comments:

“I find it incredible that this £50 million project should not have annual Audited Accounts. These are a major safeguard against mismanagement and ensure that the money is being spent appropriately, and it is extremely concerning to find that none have been kept.

“Concerns expressed by the local community about the way in which this multi-million pound project has been managed to date appear to be well founded, and require immediate action. I am extremely disappointed in the long delay, which I consider to be unacceptable.I have asked the District Auditor to respond immediately to my concerns, and I think it very important that he do so as soon as possible.”

He further comments: “In view of the non-availability of audited accounts for the first five years of the project, nothing less than an independent forensic auditor’s investigation of The Bridge NDC accounts will do.”

An application by O2 to erect a 15m mobile phone mast on the pavement on Woodside Avenue N10 has been withdrawn in order to carry out wider consultation, following the intervention of Lib Dem councillor Martin Newton (Fortis Green ward). Cllr Newton made contact with the company carrying out the pre-consultation and discovered that hardly anyone in the community had actually been consulted on the proposals.

Only St James’s Primary School, Tetherdown, Treehouse Trust, one resident, ward councillors and MP Lynne Featherstone had been contacted by the company.

Cllr Newton has supplied the company with a list of residential streets, hospitals, schools and other local facilities that might be affected by the proposal and asked for these to be included in the new consultation.

Cllr Newton comments:

“I am pleased that the company have withdrawn their application and that a wider group of people can have a chance to air their views. I hope that this will result in O2 deciding not to proceed, as I found this application particularly insensitive at it is sited on the doorstep of St James’s Primary School, Cranwood Nursing Home, as well as being close to several other Schools, Nurseries, St Luke’s Hospital and many local homes.”

Liberal Democrat poll-toppers have been celebrating this morning after their best night ever in Haringey elections. The party made an astonishing 11 gains from Labour, and were just a handful of votes away from winning control of Haringey Council.

With several key results on a knife edge all night, the Lib Dems become the biggest party in terms of the popular vote, outpolling Labour by 116 votes across the borough. Lib Dem candidates narrowly lost some very tight races, where a tiny swing would have given them overall control.

In Labour’s night of disaster, the party lost four of its cabinet members – for finance, environment, social services and performance, all areas where Labour’s controversial policies have brought unpopularity with Haringey voters.

Lib Dems made a sensational breakthrough in Wood Green, with four new councillors, and in Tottenham where Lib Dems Karen Alexander and Carolyn Baker became the party’s first councillors in the Tottenham parliamentary constituency. In the west of the borough it was a clean sweep for the party, with Labour majorities in Stroud Green and Hornsey demolished, to add to the five wards already held by the party – all of which were held with greatly increased majorities.

For the Tories, it was once a gain a disastrous duck, with the complete failure to capture Highgate ward, where Lib Dem Leader Neil Williams and colleagues Bob Hare and Justin Portess won with an increased majority. In terms of votes, the Tories slipped into third place in the Tottenham constituency and a dismal fourth across Hornsey and Wood Green.

Lib Dem Leader Neil Williams comments:

“This is a brilliant local election result for the Lib Dems. I am so proud of the whole team for what they have achieved. As we always suspected, just a handful of votes decided the election in the end, and Labour’s majority of just three seats may well not last a full four years. With this terrible result for Labour, you can guarantee there will be more Labour infighting and chaos while the concerns of local residents are ignored. However, we now have a very large Lib Dem group which is ready to take over at the first opportunity.”

Key election facts:

• The Lib Dems became Haringey’s most popular party, winning 20,347 votes to Labour’s 20,235.
• Just 77 Labour switchers – 29 in Bounds Green and 47 in Woodside ward – would have given the Lib Dems control of Haringey Council.
• The Lib Dem vote rose 9% while Labour’s share dropped by 5% – a 7% swing to the party.
• In Lynne Featherstone’s Hornsey and Wood Green parliamentary constituency, the party polled a massive 48% to Labour’s 26%. The Tories finished fourth.
• In Tottenham, the party won its first council seats, and pushed the Tories into third place across the Parliamentary seat.
• In Muswell Hill, Lib Dem candidates Jonathan Bloch and Gail Engert became the first candidates since before the mid-1980s to poll over 2,000 votes.
• In four wards, the Lib Dems won by over 1,000 votes – Alexandra, Fortis Green, Muswell Hill and Crouch End.

Bookmakers have seen a run of money backing the Lib Dems to win the local elections in Haringey since markets opened just a few days ago. The Lib Dems are reiterating that they are determined to take control of Haringey Council.

Sporting Odds, the online bookmakers, had the Lib Dems at 16 to 1 on Wednesday evening. By the end of Thursday, odds had dropped radically to 2 to 1. At lunchtime on Tuesday, the Lib Dems were the odds-on favourites at 10 to 11 on, with Labour just behind on evens.

Betfair, the online gambling market, have shown the Lib Dems and Labour running neck-and-neck for days, with both parties having spent time as the favourite.

Councillor Neil Williams comments:

“We have had an excellent response on the doorstep, and it is clear that people are engaging with the key pledges that we have made to improve the way Haringey Council is run. Labour are self-destructing on the national level, and we believe that it is time for a breath of fresh air. We are more determined than ever to take Labour on on May 4th.”

Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for the Environment Councillor Bob Hare has pressed Haringey Council to pay more attention to urgent repairs needed on the borough’s roads, following the discovery of large pot holes on the southbound carriageway of Green Lanes, opposite the south end of Ducketts Common.

Cllr Hare says one huge hole poses a real threat to cyclists, who are unlikely to be able to swerve around it due to its large size. The result of the partial collapse of a Thames Water manhole, the hole is several inches deep, and has been neglected for months despite the danger it poses.

Cllr. Hare comments:

“A hole as large as this is a real danger to cyclists, especially when the road is one of borough’s busiest both for cyclists and traffic. At night, a hole like this could be lethal to a cyclist. The Council has failed to act for over two months to ensure this hole is made safe for cyclists and other traffic. The Council must force Thames Water to carry out the repairs urgently or should do them itself and make Thames Water pay.”

David Schmitz, Lib Dem candidate for Harringay ward, comments:

“The Council’s record of action on road repairs is poor. This is not the only hole dangerous to cyclists – there’s another just a couple of minutes’ cycle north on Wood Green High Road. I and my colleagues will continue to do all we can to put pressure on Haringey Council to address this health and safety issue.”

The Lib Dems and Wood Green residents have been dismayed to discover that the Planning Inspectorate has given permission for the construction of the controversial ‘Playstation’ tower on the corner of Brabant Road and Station Road, alongside the vehicle entrance to Morrisons supermarket.

The news reached objectors in a letter dated April 20th.This follows months of campaigning by local residents groups, angered at the decision by Labour Mayor Ken Livingstone in his ‘London Plan’, to try to cram Wood Green with tower blocks and to make it more like Croydon. This has led to a rash of planning applications for over large, badly designed, 1960s style blocks of flats in the area.

One block – on the opposite corner of Station Road and Brabant Road, ‘Eclipse House’ has already been completed.

“Although this building was finished six months ago, it is still almost empty”, said Noel Park Liberal Democrat candidate Fiyaz Mughal. “This shows the hubris of New Labour. They think they know what’s best for people and insist on giving it to them whether they want it or not. It is now clear that this type of accommodation does not appeal to the ‘key workers’ it is aimed at.”

“Local people badly need decent, affordable homes”, said Woodside Lib Dem candidate Ajmal Masroor, “but why do Labour politicians and planners refuse to learn the lessons of the 1960s and attempt to foist badly designed, cramped flats, with no communal facilities, onto the long suffering citizens of Wood Green?”

“Plans like these drive a coach and horses through Haringey Council’s own Unitary Development Plan, as well as national planning guidelines”, said local architect Colin Kerr. “Developers try it on, and Haringey’s Planning Department and the Planning Inspectorate are letting them get away with it.”

“A Liberal Democrat run Haringey Council will ensure that our local planning officers vigorously defend planning committee decisions in future when they put the council’s case to a Planning Inquiry,” said group leader Neil Williams. “There is no point in the committee turning down a proposal if the council sits on its hands at an ensuing inquiry”.

Liberal Democrat candidates are campaigning with Lynne Featherstone MP to improve recycling facilities in Haringey. Their proposals include a comprehensive business recycling scheme, larger green boxes for residents who want them and tougher regulation of street cleaning contractors.

They hope to build on the success of their previous campaigns to get more door-to-door recycling in the borough. The Lib Dems are determined to take control of the Council at the upcoming local elections, and have pledged to put the environment at the centre of their policy commitments, with more and bigger recycling boxes and a scheme for businesses. Many residents complain that their recycling boxes are not large enough to hold everything they can recycle.

Nationally, the party has a strong record on the environment – in the neighbouring borough of Islington, levels of household waste recycling rose enormously after the party won control in 2002.

Lynne Featherstone, Liberal Democrat MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, comments: “Labour’s record on street cleaning and the environment has been poor. Until they started bowing to pressure from the Lib Dems and others, Haringey recycled just 5% of waste, and they continue to waste money on self serving publicity rather than spending it on cleaning up the borough.”

Ed Butcher, Lib Dem candidate for Stroud Green, comments: “Labour just don’t seem to get the importance of easy recycling for everyone. It’s about real local action now to preserve our planet’s resources for future generations.”

Lib Dem Environment Spokesperson and Highgate councillor Bob Hare has condemned Haringey Council for its mismanagement of trees in the borough. Cllr Hare, who is his party’s environment expert, says that Haringey has a woeful record of protecting local trees from the ravages of irresponsible utility companies when they are doing street works.

Cllr Hare this week took Monica Whyte, one of the three lib Dem candidates in the key marginal ward of Hornsey to look at tree damage in Hornsey High Street. They visited the site of a dead 150 year old poplar tree, which was killed because of utility street works and scandalous negligence by Haringey Council.

Cllr Hare says Haringey Council is supposed to control trenching works near trees. There are firm guidelines for utilities (called ‘NJUG guidelines’ – National Joint Utilities Guidelines). The Council allowed this cherished poplar tree’s roots to be exposed for a week or more in September 2003. The exposed roots were then re-buried in loose gravel. Not surprisingly, two years later, this massive tree was dead and had to be felled. The scale of the environmental loss is evident from the fact that is took a team of workmen two days to reduce the tree to a 12 foot stump.

Bob Hare comments:

“This sad story is the end result of the total failure by Haringey council to regulate the company responsible for digging up the pavement all round the tree. It is a disgrace that its roots were exposed in this way, and the problem not remedied. This is just one of the many trees that have been lost in this way in recent years, yet the Council has never prosecuted a company for this type of damage.”

Lib Dem candidate Monica Whyte adds:

“It is shocking to see the scale of the damage that can be done to one of the High Street’s much loved trees.Haringey council must do better, and set in place mechanisms to ensure that this does not happen again. The character of our High Street has been greatly damaged by its loss.”

Fortis Green Lib Dem councillor and local election candidate Matt Davies has completed his London Marathon charity run today with a personal best. He shaved five minutes off his previous best time, running the course in 5 hours and 37 minutes, raising over £2,000 for Amnesty International.

Cllr Matt Davies comments:

“Although aching all over, I’m delighted to have finished the run, even with a very modest improvement in my best time. More importantly, we have raised money for Amnesty, and I would like to thank all of those who sponsored me, especially my fellow Haringey councillors.

“Although I am taking the rest of the day off, I’m looking forward to getting back on the campaign trail. All the leaflet delivering in recent weeks has been very good training.”