Liberal Democrat Social Services spokesperson Councillor Wayne Hoban has expressed deep concern at Haringey Council’s decision to stop discussions with the Teaching Primary Care Trust (TPCT) to develop an elderly care home on the Hornsey Hospital site.

At the Executive meeting held on 26 July, dissatisfaction was expressed regarding the TPCTs decision to reconsider funding and time scales for both phases of the Hornsey Central Hospital site development, which would mean that it would be unlikely that the care home would be built before 2009.

The planned development was supposed to replace the many places lost for elderly care in the borough following the Council’s decision to close Cooperscroft and Trentfield care homes, which is opposed by families of the homes’ residents along with Lib Dem councillors and Lynne Featherstone MP.

Cllr Hoban has written to the TPCT to ask for an explanation as to why they have revised their original plans. He has also contacted Haringey Council asking them to reconsider its decision to close Cooperscroft and Trentfield care homes, which is currently under judicial review.

Cllr Hoban comments:

“We were assured that the decision to close Cooperscroft and Trentfield care homes would not adversely effect provision of care home beds in the borough on the basis that alternative provision would be provided on the Hornsey Hospital site. That plan has now been blown out of the water by this decision. It is clear that the planned closures must not proceed until alternative provision is in place.”

Lynne Featherstone, MP for Hornsey and Wood Green added:

“It is bad enough that the Council are to close Cooperscroft and Trentfield care homes and now the local Teaching Primary Care Trust are backing out of their plans.Haringey Council now need to make some important decisions about the provision of elderly care in the local area.

“Older people in Haringey deserve better than this.”

Liberal Democrat councillors in Alexandra have met with local residents, traders and Haringey Council officers to establish a working group to secure much needed improvements to The Triangle, N22.

The Triangle, sited at the junction of Palace Gate Road and Crescent Road in Alexandra ward, is a small open space that has been badly neglected by Haringey Council over the years. Ward councillors have been working hard with residents and traders for some time to convince Haringey to invest in improving the area.

Following a successful bid for funding from the Muswell Hill Area Assembly’s community project fund last year, draft consultation plans have been drawn up, largely based on feedback received through previous consultation processes undertaken by ward councillors.

The plans, displayed previously at the recent Muswell Hill Area Assembly meeting, include proposals to upgrade the site in two phases over a 2 year period to include planting of new trees, resurfacing of the area, introduction of hanging baskets, flower tubs, etc. The working group will work closely with all interested parties to ensure that the final plans meet with widespread support.

Lib Dem ward councillors David Beacham and Wayne Hoban have welcomed the establishment of the working group. They are hopeful that strong community support for the project will transform the Triangle.

Cllr Beacham comments:

“The meeting was highly productive and I am delighted that we have established a working group that draws upon all interested parties within the local community.”

Cllr Hoban adds:

“This is the first step but the project is so much easier with the full support of so many parts of the community.”

Lib Dem councillors have expressed concern at figures produced by Haringey Council which show the refresh project of the Council’s desktop infrastructure is running late and massively over budget.

It has already exceeded the original budget by £10 million and implementation is now scheduled a year later than planned.

Cllr Hoban will be writing to Haringey Council to ask them to explain how this huge overspend was allowed to happen. He will also seek guarantees that this revised figure will be the final budget for the project and costs will not continue to be allowed to spiral.

Cllr Hoban comments:

“It is of great concern that Haringey Council has gone so hugely over-budget and over-deadline on this and other IT projects. The losers here are the local taxpayers who have to foot the bill for this failure.”

Cllr Wayne Hoban, Deputy Leader of the Lib Dem group in the London Borough of Haringey, has written to Haringey Council’s new Chief Executive demanding an urgent response to his request, under the Freedom of Information guidelines, for a full copy of the The Bridge New Deal for Communities project’s last audited accounts, including auditor’s notes.

Cllr Hoban had originally requested this information from the NDC Programme Director at the beginning of June in response to receipt of a copy of a letter sent by local residents to the Office of The Deputy Prime Minister in November 2004, in which they had requested an independent forensic accountant to look into the finances of this community-led, government-funded programme.

Although the NDC Programme Director has responded to Cllr Hoban’s enquiry, the audited accounts have not yet been produced, despite an assurance given on 15 July that we are in the process of pulling together the information.

Cllr Hoban states:

“In view of the serious nature of allegations made concerning the financial management and accountability of this important multi-million pound project, it is vital that the audited accounts be produced immediately. Any delays will fuel the suspicion that there is something to hide. It is essential that the financial management of this project is seen to be transparent and accountable so that it receives the full backing of the local community it is designed to benefit.”

Hornsey and Wood Green MP, Lynne Featherstone, is supporting the British Lung Foundation’s 20th birthday campaign by getting breathless on an exercise bike at the House of Commons during a lung health awareness day.

The Get Breathless! campaign encourages everyone of all ages and abilities to get breathless in aid of the British Lung Foundation, while thinking about their own lung health.

The British Lung Foundation is the only UK charity working to help people with all 43 lung diseases. It provides information and support to patients and their families, funds world class medical research to find solutions to lung disease and campaigns for improved treatments and services.

Lynne Featherstone, MP for Hornsey & Wood Green said:

“I am delighted to support the getting breathless campaign with the British Lung Foundation in its 20th birthday year.

“Even I was surprised that as many as one person in every seven in the UK is affected by a lung disease and has to live with breathlessness all the time. Tt is vital that people look after their lungs and taking part in this campaign is a great way to start!”

Dame Helena Shovelton, Chief Executive of the British Lung Foundation said:

“We are thrilled that Lynne Featherstone MP is taking part in the Get Breathless! campaign.The 8 million plus people in the UK living with a lung condition will know how hard it is to do day to day tasks when you are fighting for breath. By supporting our campaign Ms Featherstone was able to find out just what that is like.”

Alexandra Councillor Wayne Hoban has welcomed news that Haringey Council will be investing £161,000 in Albert Road Recreation Ground and its children’s playground in 2005/06.

The funding is being provided to improve the quality, presentation and attraction of the site and to meet ‘Green Flag’ standards. It will allow upgrade of play/sports surfaces, roads & paths, etc.

The popular and well-used recreation ground and children’s playground has seen considerable improvements in recent years, largely through the combined efforts of the Friends Group, Haringey Tennis, council officers and local Lib Dem councillors.

Cllr Hoban comments:

“The Recreation Ground and playground are much valued and well used. I am very pleased that significant funding is at last going into the site, and will continue to work closely with the Friends Group, Haringey Tennis and all other interested parties to ensure that all sections of the local community benefit from this funding.”

Muswell Hill and Lib Dem Councillor Gail Engert has secured a controlled parking zone (CPZ) for the small estate of Beattock Rise, off St. James Lane N10. This week the Council started preparing for the implementation of the CPZ which is to prevent cars from outside the estate parking on the small entrance road and blocking access to an estate which contains some sheltered housing.

The installation of parking restrictions comes after Haringey Council last month confirmed that it had consulted residents and had received eight responses, all in favour of a CPZ, with one parking permit per household being issued.

This is welcome news to both local residents and Cllr Engert who was worked hard since her election last year to ensure that the residents, some of whom are elderly and disabled, are able to park their vehicles close to their homes.

Cllr Engert hopes that this will end years of parking misery for residents in the small road and will press the Council until the work is completed.

Cllr Engert (Muswell Hill) comments:

“Since I became a councillor last year I have campaigned for controlled parking for these residents. As some of the residents are elderly and disabled it is essential that they have easy access to their vehicles so they can live independent lives, and also any emergency vehicles like ambulances can gain entrance to the estate. I am delighted that the Council have finally acted and I will be eagerly awaiting the completion of the work.”

Muswell Hill councillor and Lib Dem spokesperson for education, Gail Engert, has welcomed news that Haringey Council will be recruiting a new member of staff to work part-time at the Muswell Hill Centre, Hillfield Park, N10.

The youth centre in the heart of Muswell Hill is hugely popular with young people in the area. However there has been concern that at times there was not enough staff to supervise all the centre’s users. Cllr Engert has assisted local residents and the centre’s management committee in petitioning and lobbying the Council on this issue.

Yesterday Haringey Council confirmed that they would be taking steps to recruit a part-time member of staff to bring the Centre’s team up to full-strength.

Cllr Engert comments:

“The Centre is a great asset to the community and I am pleased that I been able to assist residents and the management committee in securing extra staffing to meet the demand.

“I am confident that with a full strength team the centre will go from strength to strength.”

Lib Dem councillors are set to continue their campaign for a debate on ID cards after the Labour councillors avoided the issue by talking it out at a full meeting of Haringey Council. They prevented a motion tabled on ID cards being debated and the next opportunity is not until the full council meeting in October.

The Council reached the two motions at the end of the meeting’s agenda with 40 minutes of the meeting remaining. This would have allowed twenty minutes for both sides to speak and vote on each of the two motions.

However, Labour members wasted the full 40 minutes on a party-political motion thinly disguised as a discussion about ASBOs. The tactics of Labour members in avoiding a debate on ID cards will disappoint a large number of local residents in Haringey who feel very strongly about the ID cards issue.

Cllrs Laura Edge and Matt Davies re-submitted the ID cards motion at the end of Monday’s meeting. They want to see a united Council join the local Lib Dem MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, Lynne Featherstone, in opposing the Government’s controversial plans.

Cllr Edge (Stroud Green) comments:

“Local residents deserve to know where their councillors stand on this issue and hopefully the Council as a whole will agree to do all it can to lobby against the Government’s outrageous proposals on behalf of Haringey’s residents. We cannot allow the Government to play fast and loose with our civil liberties. ID cards will not solve any problems – but will create more. Community relations in Haringey are excellent, a credit to the great diversity of the borough. The introduction of ID cards can only jeopardise this.”

Cllr Davies (Fortis Green) comments:

“The Council has once again failed to listen to the many residents who are against ID cards. The Labour Government’s proposal to force ID cards on us sends a chill down my spine and I believe we must do all we can to stop this nightmare becoming reality. On ID cards, as with so many issues, Haringey Labour has nothing to offer local people except time-wasting and game-playing. They need to get a grip on reality and listen to the people who elected them.”

At Tuesday night’s specially convened meeting of Haringey Council’s Executive, the concerns of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee over a proposed grant to the Haringey Business Development Association were upheld.

Last week’s special Overview & Scrutiny Committee hearing considered the original decision of the Labour Executive, in response to a call-in by backbenchers. Cllr Matt Davies (Fortis Green) and Cllr David Winskill (Crouch End), Lib Dem members of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee, had argued for the issue to be debated in public. However, after a lengthy discussion on the matter, the item was debated in private due to a technicality.

Overview & Scrutiny referred the decision back to the Executive to reconsider, with the recommendation that the funding should not be granted until a full financial appraisal had been undertaken. The recommendation was purely advisory as the powers of Overview & Scrutiny are limited but at Tuesday’s meeting of the Executive this recommendation was accepted. Taxpayers’ money now will not be committed unless a convincing business case is provided.

Cllr Matt Davies (Lib Dem, Fortis Green), who was at the special Executive meeting to see the conclusion of the Overview & Scrutiny Committees call-in, comments:

“It is good to see that the Executive have taken on board the concerns raised during the call-in of this item. However, it does highlight the relative impotence of the Overview & Scrutiny call-in procedure in Haringey, as the recommendations we made were only advisory and need not have been adopted.”

The Liberal Democrat opposition have been working hard to force this debate into the public arena following Labour leaks to the newspapers. Finally, last night the Executive agreed to hold their discussion in public with former Labour Leader George Meehan leading the charge. Cllr Meehan said that it was time to stop hiding away and later admitted that the outgoing Chief Executive’s support for the HBDA project had been lukewarm while maintaining he did not believe it had been a factor in his departure.

Cllr Wayne Hoban (Lib Dem, Alexandra), the Deputy Leader of the Opposition who was also present, comments:

“I am delighted that at last there has been some sort of public debate on this issue. My Lib Dem colleagues have been working hard to get at the truth, which has been blocked through exempt papers and private discussions. Finally, some of the issues have been brought out into the open, although full publication of all documents which are not legally exempt is now essential.”

Cllr David Winskill (Lib Dem, Crouch End), Overview & Scrutiny Committee Member and Lib Dem Spokesperson for Regeneration, comments:

“I am glad it is now clear that this project which would use a considerable sum of taxpayers money is going to be properly assessed. There has been no full business case or justification presented to the Council. The Lib Dems fully support policies that encourage small businesses in the borough, but any initiatives must be well thought out and assessed with proper due diligence: we must know how and if they are going to work before spending Haringey residents hard-earned cash.”