Plans to replace a fence surrounding St Aloysius College’s sports ground, Hurst Avenue, N6 has been met with stiff opposition from local residents and Crouch End ward councillors.

The proposal is to erect a new 1.8m high palisade fence and gate to improve the security of the sports ground. However local residents are concerned that the solid fence will attract greater levels of vandalism and graffiti, and will destroy the amenity value of the playing fields for local residents

Crouch End councillor David Winskill, a former pupil at St Aloysius College, has backed the calls of local residents. However he says that the schools security concerns must be addressed to and has offered to set up a meeting with residents, Council officers and the school to find a solution to the problem.

Cllr Winskill (Crouch End) comments:

“St Aloysius’ playing field is a wonderful green oasis in the middle of a built up area – its amenity value cannot be over-estimated. However, vandalism has plagued the playing fields for many years and cost the College a great deal of money. I am sure that there is a way through this that reconciles security needs with maintaining the sense of space enjoyed by residents and visitors.”

The 480 hours that Haringey Council’s website was down from 11th December 2005 has demonstrated a worrying lack of contingency planning according to the Lib Dem opposition.

The figure came in a response to a question tabled by Cllr Jonathan Bloch (Muswell Hill) at Monday night’s Full Council (6th February).

The cause of the website failure had been the oil explosions at the Hemel Hempstead depot, where the Council’s web hoster was based. However, Cllr Bloch is concerned that Haringey’s lack of foresight in its contingency plans meant that the three standby servers were also situated on the same premises.In addition, since the site went back online last month, it has been plagued with problems which have made access to the site impossible at times.

He says that the lack of planning in this case is alarming, but what concerns him more is the possibility of similar short-comings in more important front line services.

Cllr Bloch said:

“It is good business practice to ensure that back-up servers are situated at a different location to your main server and not on the same electricity grid. It is worrying that this widely known safeguard has been overlooked.

“What the Council needs to be doing is making sure that in light of this oversight, they are reviewing all their current contingency plans.”

Lynne Featherstone, MP for Hornsey and Wood Green and Lib Dem spokeswoman for Police, Crime and Disorder said in response to the new Government five-year strategy to reduce the re-offending rate of criminals:

“For the last nine years, the Government has failed tackle the twin scandals of prison overcrowding and reoffending.In that time many local people have fallen victim to crimes committed by people who were previously in prison or on probation.

“Today’s announcement is a welcome recognition of the value of community sentences.Too often politicians have avoided the subject for fear of being branded ‘soft’. In fact, an intensive community sentences can be far more demanding than a sentence spent sitting in a prison cell watching TV.

“It is encouraging to see the Home Secretary adopt the Liberal Democrat policy that offenders should, wherever possible, pay back their debt to the community through active work.”

Lynne Featherstone has welcomed the news from the Metropolitan Police Authority that Highgate is to receive its own Safer Neighbourhood Team.

Highgate sits on the corner of three London Boroughs – Islington, Camden and Haringey – and has been the victim of neglect on occasions, with no individual borough taking overall control.

Lynne Featherstone MP has been campaigning for joined up policing in Highgate for a long time, including when she sat on the Metropolitan Police Authority herself as a member of the GLA before becoming MP for Hornsey & Wood Green in 2005.

Last month Lynne Featherstone wrote to Len Duvall, Chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority to ascertain when the Highgate team will be introduced.

Lynne Featherstone MP said:

“I welcome the reply I have received from the Chair of the MPA, informing me that the introduction of the first part of the Highgate Safer Neighbourhood Team will be in April this year.

“For too long Highgate has been at the bottom of the police agenda. At last a historic and geographic wrong will be righted.”

Lib Dem MP for Hornsey and Wood Green has written to Royal Mail chiefs demanding that the post box on the junction of Park Avenue South and Park Road be brought back into action.

In October 2005 Royal Mail told Lynne Featherstone MP that the box had been sealed due to local building work, which actually by then had been completed, and that Royal Mail was to contact the council to see whether the box could be relocated.

Lynne Featherstone MP said:

“Enough is enough, four months is a long time and local residents have been inconvenienced long enough.

“I am asking for this post box to be unsealed and made available for use again at the earliest opportunity.

“This is yet another example of how Royal Mail is letting down local people.”

Lib Dems are outraged as Labour leader of Haringey Council, Charles Adje, made a mockery of democracy in the borough by giving a 25 minute speech in response to an oral question, talking out the time available for other questions to be asked.

His lengthy speech was in response to an oral question tabled at a meeting of Haringey Council by Liberal Democrat Leader of the Opposition Cllr Neil Williams, concerning the Audit Commission’s report into the massive £10m budget overspend on the controversial Tech Refresh IT project.

Refusing to answer the question directly, Cllr Adje spoke for a full 25minutes. As a result, of ten tabled questions only two were reached.

The third question was to the Labour Executive Member for Organisational Development & Performance, Cllr Takki Sulaiman, asking if he would apologise for this massive overspend and accept responsibility. Another Liberal Democrat opposition councillor later asked this during a debate and Cllr Sulaiman would not respond.

Cllr Neil Williams, Leader of the Opposition, comments:

“The Labour Leader started his 25 minute non-answer to my question by saying he did not believe in ‘Yah Boo’ politics. But by treating the Council to his party political speech instead of properly answering the question on this massive IT over-spend shows what he really believes in. His contempt for democracy was clear for everyone to see.”

Cllr Matt Davies, Fortis Green Councillor, who was due to ask the third oral question, comments:

“The Labour Leader decided to protect Cllr Sulaiman from having to apologise for this fiasco. By talking for so long that there was no time for the question to be put. When speaking in the debate later, I invited Cllr Sulaiman to make an apology to the taxpayers of Haringey over his role in this mess, but he chose not to. Haringey Labour seem to be hoping that if they refuse to accept responsibility or apologise that no one will notice and they will be given another four years to repeat all their tired mistakes.”

Fears over how ID cards might be used by Haringey Council in order for residents to access services is the concern that is driving a question tabled by Cllr Laura Edge for tonight’s Full Council Meeting (6th February 2005).

Cllr Edge, who has been working closely with the ‘No ID Cards’ Campaign for the past 18 months, hopes to get the card issue back on the public agenda four months after the Labour-run Council failed to support her motion calling on the Council to oppose the Government’s plans.

She hopes that assurances will be given tonight that ID cards will not be required to access Council service, should they be introduced.

Cllr Edge (Stroud Green) comments:

“The potential impact of ID cards in enabling Government officials to access comprehensive information about an individual is terrifying and it must be fought all the way.

“The electorate has a right to know what plans their Council has to use ID card information, should the current Bill be passed.”

More young people are leaving secondary school without a single GCSE in Haringey than any other borough in London. Official figures (published in response to a Parliamentary Question by Lib Dem MP Sarah Teather) showed that over 1 in 20 fifteen year-olds left secondary school in Haringey last year with no GCSEs.

Despite Haringey Council following the London-wide trend of reducing the numbers leaving with no qualifications, the Lib Dem opposition is concerned that other boroughs with similar demographics have seen more dramatic reductions.

In 1997, Haringey’s figure was 11.4% and neighbouring Islington was 13.5%. However seven years on and Lib Dem-run Islington now has 4.4% leaving with no GCSEs, while Haringey’s is at 5.5%.

Cllr Gail Engert, Lib Dem Education spokesperson, is keen to get to the bottom of the issue.

Cllr Gail Engert (Muswell Hill) comments:

“Over 5% of secondary school leavers have no qualifications and this is unacceptable.

“There are certainly factors that need to be taken into consideration when viewing these figures, but the Government and Haringey Council needs to be doing more to target resources at this lost 5%.”

Residents have expressed their fury at Haringey Council’s apparent contempt for the consultation process after completely changing a design of a skate park planned for Finsbury Park which had been agreed at a consultation meeting earlier this month.

Now Stroud Green councillor, Laura Edge is calling on Haringey Council to explain itself over the changes. She is also seeking an explanation into complaints that the public meeting had no chair, that no introductions were made and that no minutes were taken.

The original plans had been agreed for a bowl style skate facility which would provide older and more experienced skate boarders with something different than what is currently offered at Ally Pally and what is planned for Priory Park which is a ‘street obstacle design’.

However between the public consultation and now, the agreed design has been completely transformed from a bowl into another ‘street obstacle design’.

This is not the first time that residents have expressed anger over the Council’s consultation process. Last year, residents groups around Priory Park along with local councillors expressed deep unhappiness at the Council’s failure to consult with and keep informed all interested parties throughout the consultation process.

Cllr Edge comments:

“The Council’s failure to consult over these alterations is shameful and I am seeking an immediate explanation.

“The original plans offered something different to skaters. Sadly, the Council seem to be more interested in building these facilities as quickly and cheaply as possible rather than providing facilities to suit all ages and abilities.”

Liberal Democrats at the London Assembly have launched a £20 million plan to put more than 270 police officers on London’s rail stations and trains. The plan is a keynote feature of their proposals for the Mayor’s Budget for 2006/07.

Commenting on the plan, Lynne Featherstone, MP for Hornsey & Wood Green and Lib Dem spokesperson on Police, Crime and Disorder said:

“Local people do not feel safe on rail stations or on trains at certain times, especially dark evenings.My Liberal Democrat colleagues on the London Assembly will press the Mayor to fund more police and police community support officers to patrol our stations and our trains. The Lib Dems have detailed costed plans for 10 new officers to be deployed the WAGN rail franchise’s 19 stations. Passengers need the reassurance of a visible uniformed presence.

“Ken Livingstone is actually planning to cut spending on policing our railways next year. Labour likes to talk tough on crime but when it comes to paying the bills, they won’t sign the cheques.”

Lib Dem Assembly Member, Graham Tope, who chairs the Metropolitan Police Authority’s Finance Committee, said he was confident that the plan offered excellent value for money.

The LibDem plan will cover all London’s commuter rail stations and trains and the funding includes costings for vehicles, equipment and logistical support. The Mayor would “buy” policing from the British Transport Police. The Mayor already funds policing for Tube and bus by the Met paid for out of Transport for London’s budget.

Notes:

1.The Liberal Democrat plan for Policing Rail is costed at £20 million to cover not only 272 police officers and PCSOs at a cost of £12.1 million, but all the support costs for this London-wide operation.

2.The proposals are included in the London Assembly LibDems’ budget proposals for 2006/07. LibDems also propose to slash some of the Mayor’s flagship plans – e.g. the controversial £650 million West London Tram scheme which could be replaced by an electric trolleybus scheme for a quarter of the cost.

3.The Mayor’s own budget proposals plan a reduction in spending on policing for rail stations and trains. Expenditure by TfL on policing and security on overground rail stations and line in London in 2005/06 is currently forecast to be £9.9m.In 2006/07 expenditure of £8.9m is budgeted.

4.Transport for London currently pay for policing on just one of London’s rail franchises – the Silverlink Metro franchise in North London – with 35 police officers and 10 PCSOs at a cost of £2 million (an average cost of around £44,000 per officer including on-costs). LibDem plans for the other nine rail franchises have been worked out on this cost basis, which we are assured is an appropriate costing assumption.