Liberal Democrat councillor for Muswell Hill Gail Engert has continued the Lib Dems’ clean-up of the area by securing the removal of dumped rubbish from a number of roads around Muswell Hill Broadway.

The news comes just a week after Cllr Engert secured vital improvements to the cleanliness of the Muswell Hill section of the Parklands Walk and tackles problems of litter, fly-tipping and potholes in areas around the Broadway including Hillfield Park, Avenue Mews, and Princes Lane.

The Liberal Democrats have long campaigned for improved street cleaning particularly around the Broadway. Last year local MP Lynne Featherstone secured a thorough clean-up of Avenue Mews and Cllr Engert is disappointed that Haringey Council has failed to maintain it.

She says that she will be monitoring the area after the clean-up is complete to ensure that the Council maintains the level of cleanliness that residents expect and deserve.

Cllr Engert comments:

“Waste left around the streets looks unpleasant and attracts vermin and other pests that local residents and businesses could do without.

“I am pleased the Council has agreed to act over this problem but they must be more active in preventing the problem re-occurring. I will be pressing for assurances that these problem areas will be regularly cleansed.”

Highgate’s Liberal Democrat councillors have welcomed the news that work is due to begin this week to improve safety at the zebra crossing on the junction of North Hill and Broadlands Road, N6.

The news comes ten months after the Lib Dems sought action from Haringey Council to improve pedestrian safety on the junction following a fatality on the zebra crossing at Christmas 2004.

Work will start today on raising the zebra crossing, providing an anti-skid surface and improving lighting to increase the visibility for both pedestrians and drivers as well as physically forcing vehicles to slow down. These measures have been supported by local residents and local Lib Dem councillors and should be complete within eight weeks.

Highgate’s Lib Dem councillors, who have been campaigning for speeding restrictions on the road for many years, say that the measures are a start but more needs to be done to reduce the speed of the traffic on the busy road.

Lib Dem councillor Bob Hare comments:

“I am pleased that work has finally begun on this accident blackspot and residents can finally be assured that work is being carried out to improve the crossing. However there is a need for Haringey Council and Transport for London to look into more comprehensive measures to reduce speeding on North Hill, something that local councillors and residents have been demanding for a long time.”

Alexandra Ward councillor Wayne Hoban has slammed Alexandra Palace Park’s Charitable Trust for failing to maintain the toilets to a satisfactory or acceptable standard following a visit to the Park over the weekend.

When he visited the toilets, sited by the boating pond, he found large quantities of graffiti and evidence that the facility had not been satisfactorily cleaned for some time, with filthy toilets and sinks. One of the sinks was also hanging from the wall. To make matters worse, a note pinned to the male and female toilet doors stated that ‘misuse of the toilets would result in closure’.

Cllr Hoban has asked the Park Manager to explain why the toilets have been allowed to deteriorate to their current condition and why baby-changing facilities have not been provided.

Cllr Hoban comments:

“It is clearly unacceptable, particularly now that the toilet block which used to be sited by the children’s playground has been demolished, that these toilets cannot be maintained to a satisfactory level.

“The toilets are obviously not cleaned or maintained on a regular basis. It is also unsatisfactory that no baby-changing facilities have been provided. The park is used by many families and children using the nearby children’s playground and skatepark.

“Most organisations ensure that a maintenance rota is displayed in their toilets, indicating when they were last cleaned. This system should be adopted in Alexandra Park to ensure that visitors are assured of decent toilet facilities when they need them. Threatening to close the toilets if misused is not the answer.”

New figures on the take up of Pension Credit show that 1,669 pensioners in Hornsey and Wood Green constituency are missing out on money that is rightfully theirs.

Local Liberal Democrat MP Lynne Featherstone said:

“It is an absolute scandal that so many poorer older people are missing out on money they should be getting as of right.

“In the short term, I hope everyone who is unsure about their entitlements rings the Pension Service helpline (0800 99 1234) to find out if they are missing out.

“In the long term, we need to provide our pensioners with a decent pension that isn’t falling further and further below the poverty line each year.

“Labour has come up with too complicated a means-tested system for Pension Credits and should go back to the drawing board.”

Commenting on the report National Offender Management Service: Dealing with increased numbers in custody which calls for the improvement of contingency arrangements in case the prison population continues to rise, Lynne Featherstone MP, Liberal Democrat Prisons Spokesperson, said:

“Unsuitable, overcrowded and endlessly expanding jails won’t solve Britain’s prison crisis.

“Instead of presiding over an ever growing prison population Labour should ensure that the appalling 60% re-offending rate is reduced by providing rehabilitation and education.

“Our aim is to ensure that prisoners leave crime behind and become responsible citizens.”

Commenting on the Police Performance Assessment figures, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Policing, Lynne Featherstone MP said:

“The accurate assessment by local people of their own police force shows just shows how important it is for forces to engage with their community.

“The Government needs to urgently investigate the forces who have the worst ratings. Identifying poor performance is only useful if action is taken to follow it up.”

Lynne Featherstone MP, Liberal Democrat MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, has tabled a parliamentary motion calling for the Government to act over the chaos on the Northern Line. The motion calls for Gordon Brown to meet Ken Livingstone to find a way for tube maintenance contracts to be brought back in house.

Commenting Lynne Featherstone MP said:

“Local people have been let down time and time again by these private maintenance contracts. The shambles on the Northern line is just the latest in a series of delays that have occurred since Gordon Brown forced to underground to contract out its maintenance.

“Its time for the Chancellor and the government to take responsibility for the situation and meet with Ken Livingstone to see how maintenance contracts can be brought back in house.

“Labour’s policies have let down local public transport users over and over again. Hornsey & Wood Green residents deserve proper compensation and to know that something is being done to tackle these problems.”

The parliamentary motion has already received the support of over 25 Members of Parliament, including neighbouring MPs Rudi Vis, Diane Abbott and Jeremy Corbyn.

Full text of Early Day Motion:

This House notes with concern the ongoing delays and disruption on the Northern Line culminating with a complete shutdown of services; further notes that since the PPP contracts came into force, delays caused by track, signal and train faults have increased by 30%; is concerned by the complexity of the PFI and PPP contracts that have led to a lengthy procedure that has prevented the problems getting fixed before Northern Line passengers had to experience the whole line getting shut down; notes Transport for London’s Customer Charter which should allow commuters to receive a refund on their lost travel; and calls upon the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Mayor of London to undertake an urgent meeting to discuss how the PPP contracts could be brought back in house without extra costs to London’s taxpayers so that track, train and signal maintenance can be done by Transport for London.

Lynne Featherstone, Liberal Democrat MP for Hornsey & Wood Green, welcomed local pensioners to Parliament on Wednesday. Pensioners from all across the country headed London as part of the National Pensioners Convention lobby of parliament.

Lynne Featherstone MP said:

“I was delighted to meet the local group including people from Age Concern who took the trouble to come and lobby me in Parliament.Pensioners rightly feel let down by this Labour Government. They continue to suffer because of the unfair Council Tax and complex means-tests introduced by Gordon Brown.

“The Pensions Commission is due to report at the end of November so this is an excellent time to discuss all the issues that affect pensioners today. The National Pensioners Convention is pressing for a new Pensioners’ Charter. This provides a real challenge to all political parties.Many of the things they are calling for are things I fully support.And in Scotland it is Liberal Democrats in the Scottish Executive who are delivering free personal care and free public transport.I shall be listening carefully to all the proposals brought forward by local pensioners.

“It is disappointing that after eight years of a Labour government pensioners feel so let down that they have to come to Parliament from all over the UK to make their point. It is about time that Tony Blair and Gordon Brown started to listen to pensioners so that they are given the dignity and security they deserve in retirement.”

Notes:

The Pensioners’ Charter states that every pensioner should have the following rights:

• a basic state pension set above the official poverty level and linked to average male earnings.
• a warm and comfortable home.
• free health care treatment based on clinical need and an annual comprehensive health check.
• free community care and services to assist living at home.
• free long-term care.
• free nationwide travel on all public and local transport.
• free education, access to and participation in leisure and cultural activities.
• goods, services and benefits without age discrimination.
• active engagement and consultation on national and local issues affecting older citizens.
• advocacy, dignity, respect and fair treatment in all aspects of their lives.

Lib Dem councillor for Muswell Hill Gail Engert has secured assurances that some of the ward’s worst litter and graffiti blackspots will be cleaned up. This followed complaints from residents concerning the state of Parkland Walk.

The clean-up promises followed two separate site visits that environmental enforcement officers and park officers had with Cllr Engert last week, centring on the Muswell Hill section of the Parkland Walk.

Following lobbying of Haringey Council, Cllr Engert has already secured several successes including the clearance of the car park at the Dragon Club, for which officers served a notice for complete clearance, and the removal of tons of bottles, cans and litter behind the fencing above the Muswell Hill underpass. The Council has also done a thorough litter pick of the Muswell Hill stretch of the walk including the area outside Muswell Hill primary school.

However much remains still to be done. Cllr Engert pointed out to officers several other eyesores including the graffiti-covered tunnel under Muswell Hill, dangerous falling down fences, redundant posts, holes and graffiti on the St James’s Lane viaduct.

She is also concerned that many of the issues that she raised this week were raised by her Lib Dem colleague Lynne Featherstone MP and environment spokesperson Cllr Bob Hare less than 18 months ago.

Cllr Engert will be seeking assurances from the Council that these blackspots are regularly checked and cleared to prevent a reoccurrence of these problems.

Cllr Engert (Muswell Hill) comments:

“I am pleased that the Council has agreed to address these issues and I will be paying close attention to ensure the work is carried out swiftly. I shall also be doing regular patrols to make sure that the walk is kept litter-free and this clearance was not a one-off.”

Lib Dem councillor for Alexandra Susan Oatway has demanded Haringey Council resolves the street sweeping problem in Dukes Avenue following complaints that the Council’s contractor, Haringey Accord, was not sweeping properly.

Residents contacted Cllr Oatway reporting that the sweeper was picking litter rather than sweeping the streets properly and this appears to have been confirmed by Haringey Council in correspondence with residents.

Street cleanliness is an ongoing problem in the borough with the Lib Dems following up hundreds of complaints regarding this issue every year.

Cllr Oatway says that it is important that the Council rectify the sweeping problem to ensure that further problems are avoided this winter.

Cllr Oatway (Alexandra) comments:

“I have written to the Council demanding and explanation. Haringey Accord are paid to maintain Haringey’s streets and they appear to be failing to carry out their duties properly.

“With winter closing in it is essential that the problem is resolved to ensure that wet leaves are regularly cleared from gullies and pavements to prevent flooding and accidents.”