The Liberal Democrats have welcomed an agreement at the inquiry into Haringey’s UDP (Unitary Development Plan) that a revised map will be considered over the proximity of residents to green space in the borough. Lib Dem Environment Spokesperson, Bob Hare, who raised the issue a the inquiry last Thursday, says that the Council’s present definition of proximity to green space is selling residents short and could contribute significantly to future overdevelopment in the area.

The complex but vital issue centres round Haringey’s open space deficiency map, and how Haringey Council defines the benefit of nearby open space for residents. At present Haringey says that residents living within 400 metres of a green space enjoy such amenity. This means that those proposing development nearby might not have to provide much greenery with any new buildings. However, Haringey uses this definition for even the smallest of green pockets, even where the green spaces in question could not be regarded as green open land being enjoyed by residents.

The planning inspector agreed to accept as evidence a new map from Cllr Hare, which will give a much more realistic definition of residents’ proximity to green space – treating large spaces such as the Alexandra Palace Park differently from a small pocket park on a street corner.

Cllr Bob Hare comments:

“This is far more than a technical issue. How the Council defines existing green spaces will have an enormous impact over the years on what green spaces are preserved or created elsewhere in the borough.

“At present, Haringey is being far too generous towards development in its current definition of what is enough open space. This will only fuel suspicions that Haringey Council is too soft on the potential for overdevelopment in the area.

“A wide definition of proximity to green space will let the Council off the hook when it considers the issue in other proposed developments. If this issue is not resolved, it could have far reaching consequences for local residents for many years. I welcome the inspector’s call for more evidence on the issue and we will continue to pursue this at UDP inquiry.”

Haringey Council’s new Executive Member for the Environment has been urged to look into the ongoing problem of double charging for waste collection.

This follows more than two years of constant requests from Cllr Matt Davies (Lib Dem, Fortis Green) and Lynne Featherstone MP to rectify the situation.

Residents living in managed blocks of flats are being charged twice for waste collection in Haringey. All residents pay the same Council Tax rates, but those in houses receive a wheelie bin as part of their waste service. In blocks of flats, bins are not provided by Haringey Council and so residents must pay for the hire of bins – in addition to their Council Tax.

“With the new Executive Member for the Environment recently starting his work, I have urged him to look into this matter in the hope that we will progress further in resolving it than we have got recently,” says Cllr Davies.

“It is completely unacceptable that residents who pay the same tax are getting a different level of service. Haringey have provided most households with wheelie bins as part of the rubbish collection process but they have not given people living in blocks similar facilities.

“Whether Haringey Council takes over the charges currently being paid by residents, buys suitable bins outright for residents or renegotiates its contract with Accord to include provision of bins for these tax-paying residents, this is action which must be taken. The current situation is simply unfair and cannot be allowed to continue as it has so far under this Labour administration.”

Lib Dem Councillor Matt Davies has expressed anger and concern at Haringey Council’s failure to act over hazardous, exposed bench fittings in Midhurst Gardens, N2 despite repeated requests to remove the fittings and regenerate the greens.

Cllr Davies and his Fortis Green colleagues have been asking Haringey Council to replace raised and cracked paving stones and look at realising the full potential of the open space since August 2003. Prior to that, the benches on the greens had been removed – as they had been damaged through vandalism. However, the concrete slabs which the benches used to stand on were not removed and they still have the old, twisted metal fixings sticking out of them.

Despite numerous council questions and correspondence on this subject over the last 18 months, the metal fixings have not been removed. They present a hazard to anyone using the park, in addition to being unsightly.

Cllr Matt Davies (Fortis Green) comments:

“I am very concerned that Haringey Council has still not removed this hazard. I have asked many times for improvements to be made to the greens – for the paving to be properly re-laid, for gardening work to be done and for more regular litter collection.

“But the Council has not even managed to removed these twisted metal brackets, let alone the now redundant concrete slabs which used to support the benches.

“The Council must remove these metal fixings immediately, followed by the concrete slabs. Then regeneration of the greens must be pushed forward to ensure that local residents can take advantage of the full potential of one of our all too rare green open spaces.”

Liberal Democrat London Assembly Member and now Member of Parliament for Hornsey and Wood Green, Lynne Featherstone, will today announce that she is to stand down from the London Assembly in order to devote her time and energies to her constituents.

Ms Featherstone was first elected as a Liberal Democrat Londonwide member to the Assembly when it was established in 2000 and has held a number of prestigious posts including Chair of the London Assembly Transport Committee, Member of the Metropolitan Police Authority, Member of the London Commission for Racial Equality and Member of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority.

Ms Featherstone has led a series of high profile campaigns in the Assembly including tackling bus driver behaviour; reducing fare dodging; opposing the PPP of the Tube; scrutiny of the Congestion Charge reform of Stop and Search; improving police 999 response times; probing parking enforcement in London and revealing the hidden unreported crime figures.

Lynne Featherstone said:

“It has been an honour and a privilege to work for Londoners and try to help make the capital a better place to live. It has often been the case that ideas that the Mayor has dismissed out of hand from the Liberal Democrats have miraculously become Livingstone’s new policy announcements six months later.

“It is been a wonderful experience but now is the right time for me to stand aside and focus exclusively on helping my constituents in Hornsey and Wood Green. It would be an impossible task for me to, at the same time, perform my duties as both as an effective Member of Parliament and hold Mayor Ken Livingstone to account as a London Assembly Member.

“I look forward to working with my Liberal Democrat colleagues at the Assembly on key issues like the lack of affordable housing, the increases in violent crime, the shoddy public transport system and the cost of Ken, that continue to affect the quality of life in the capital.”

Lib Dem Party Leader Charles Kennedy has appointed newly-elected Lynne Featherstone as a spokesperson on Home Affairs in Parliament. Lynne joins the team of Mark Oaten, and will have specific responsibility for police, crime and disorder for the party nationally. The appointment is a challenging one with so many home affairs bills moving through Parliament in the current session.

Her new role reflects Ms Featherstone’s long-standing work and campaigns on policing issues, and her experience over several years on the Metropolitan Police Authority, from which she has recently stepped down. Lynne’s experience in local and London-wide campaigns will also stand her in good stead. She has fought for several years to have the police station front counter in Muswell Hill reopened to the public, and has also campaigned London-wide on police response times and unreported crime.

Lynne Featherstone comments:

“I am looking forward to getting to work in this new role. I hope to bring local and London-wide experience of crime and policing issues to a national setting, as it is something I care passionately about.

“Gun and knife crime are particular priorities, and we also need innovative policies to tackle anti-social behaviour – not measures that simply move the problem from one area to another. Parents, teachers, local councils and the police need to work more closely together to tackle these problems.

“We need to move people, particularly young people, away from criminality.The police do a fantastic job, and I am looking forward to working with them in this new role.”

At this morning’s deputation to the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) on concerns over policing in Highgate, Lynne Featherstone MP and Lib Dem Leader Neil Williams welcomed the Authority’s agreement to encourage the three borough commanders that serve the Highgate area to work together more closely on the issue. While the Police Authority said the move was really up to borough commanders, Cllrs Featherstone and Williams say it is a step in the right direction and action must be encouraged.

Lynne Featherstone, who tabled the question, comments:

“I am pleased that the Authority is now asking the borough commanders to work together on this issue, but progress needs to be rapid, in order to increase confidence in policing in Highgate. The police really must address the issue on a Highgate basis, not just a local ward or borough basis.”

Cllr Neil Williams adds:

“We have been waiting a long time for action and will continue to press the police on this. Highgate deserves the same neighbourhood policing operation as other areas. We have seen some welcome drops in certain types of crime in Muswell Hill and Crouch End, and Highgate needs the same treatment. Encouraging the commanders to address the issue is good, but we need a plan of action.”

Lynne Featherstone gave her maiden speech in Parliament yesterday evening, and in House of Commons tradition paid tribute to Hornsey and Wood Green and its people as well as setting out some local priorities as the area’s new MP.

Ms Featherstone used her speech to highlight the need for school places in the area, and also the problem of mobile phone mast applications.

She also said she would fight to keep the Alexandra Palace as a local resource, and resist any future attempts to turn the site into a super casino. She pledges to work to preserve Hornsey Town Hall for community use, and would press the Deputy Prime Minster to intervene to protect the site.

Ms Featherstone praised the former MP Barbara Roche for her work on civil partnerships, and also praised the people of Hornsey and Wood Green:

“In the end, it is always people that count. The ethnic mix of the constituency is exciting: there are hundreds of languages and many different communities that live, work and play in our fantastic melting pot. The challenges that that brings are huge and I look forward to working with all residents to help them achieve their aspirations. This rich tapestry, where all human life percolates, is Hornsey and Wood Green. I love this area and I am honoured to serve its residents.”

Note: The speech can be read in full on the Parliament website.

Highgate’s Lib Dem councillors and the area’s new MP are urging Tubelines to think again about its controversial design for the new Northern Line Control Centre on the fringes of Highgate Woods.

The Lib Dems say that despite months of discussions, the company has not listened to concerns over the design of the building and its impact on the sensitive woodlands nearby.The Lib Dems want the plans reconsidered and are pressing Tubelines again to take action.

After months of discussions, Lib Dems say that Tubelines, which is not obliged to submit the plans to the usual planning process, has hardly moved at all to meet the concerns of those who fear the buildings impact on the woods. While some steps have been agreed to protect residents’ views, almost no changes to the proposed construction have been made to protect the views from Highgate Wood.

In fact, without consultation with anyone representing the users of the woods, the building has been moved four metres closer to the woods, necessitating additional tree felling at the edge of the woods on land owned by Tubelines.

Highgate Lib Dem councillor and environment spokesperson Bob Hare, together with representatives of the Corporation of London (responsible for the woods) and the Highgate Society, have been asking consistently for changes to the buildings design to reduce the visual and ecological impact. These include a flat brown roof which would help local wildlife, wood cladding of the concrete structure, the ability to support ivy on the walls, banking of earth on parts of the walls and sinking or partially burying the whole building.

He says these changes would benefit residents as well as reduce the large visual impact.

Lib Dem MP Lynne Featherstone has also visited the site and agrees that action is needed to reduce its impact. The Corporation of London, which is responsible for the woods, also shares concerns and has written to Tubelines.

Cllr Bob Hare comments:

“These improvements, and many more, should have been designed in from the beginning. Instead, from our first meeting, we have found ourselves discussing a warehouse-like structure that has not changed in response to our concerns. Now, even as building work starts, there are still no commitments from Tubelines to incorporate any changes.

“Not only is the building large, but it is close to the boundary fence of the woods. Tubelines’ own mock-ups show it will be seen both through the fence slats and over the top of them. The proposed building will be sited beside one of the more secluded parts of the wood, where, until now, there have been no surrounding buildings. It’s unacceptable.”

Lib Dem MP Lynne Featherstone adds:

“Highgate Woods is a vital part of the local environment and it is time Tubelines responded to public concerns about this building. We need to minimise the impact on the woods. Tubelines must listen and make changes to the design.”

Local MP Lynne Featherstone, along with Highgate councillor and Lib Dem Group Leader Neil Williams, is to raise concerns over Highgate policing at this week’s meeting of the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA).

The two, along with other local councillors and residents, will be pressing for greater cross-borough co-operation over policing in Highgate following increasing concerns over crime among local residents.

Ms Featherstone and Cllr Williams say that because the area is split between three London boroughs (Haringey, Camden and Islington), Highgate is often last in line for initiatives such as Safer Neighbourhoods scheme despite the crime problem. No single borough will put the Highgate area forward for a Safer Neighbourhood team, even though its policing needs are the same as those in other areas.

Lynne Featherstone comments:

“I hope the Police Authority will listen to these concerns. Solutions to policing in neighbourhoods that cross borough boundaries are being tried out in other parts of London and it is time such initiatives were brought forward in Highgate.”

Cllr Neil Williams adds:

“Residents are increasingly concerned about crime in the Highgate area. I hope we can work with other local councillors who represent the wider area to push for more police resources in Highgate. We certainly need our own dedicated policing team covering the whole of the Highgate area and that is what we will be pressing for this week.”

Liberal Democrat councillors in Muswell Hill have welcomed the recent planting of new trees in M & S car park. The action comes after the felling of some trees in the car park at the back of Marks and Spencer and a subsequent site visit last August attended by councillors Gail Engert and Bob Hare.

Following the visit, council officers released a report and costings for the car park. The improvements included:

Six new trees to be planted around the car park
General tidy up of areas that have become overgrown
Information boards to be re-positioned at the rear of Marks and Spencer to allow for more trees
Some pruning of current trees to improve lighting and regular inspections to be carried out
Investigating the cost of installing bicycle stands in the car park to stop trees being damaged

However it has been persistence by Muswell Hill councillor Gail Engert that has kept the issue of improvements to the car park on the council’s agenda. So far, five of the six trees have been planted, the overgrown hedgerows have been tidied up and much of the litter has been cleared from the surrounding bushes.

Cllr Engert, along with Lib Dem environment spokesperson Cllr Hare, is delighted that the proposals are starting to take shape but notes there is still much work to be done before the agreed work is completed.

Cllr Engert comments:

“I am delighted that the plans made last summer are coming to fruition. Litter has been cleared, trees have been planted and the overgrown hedgerows have been cut back. I am sure that local residents will be delighted to see more greenery in the area. However we are yet to see some of the other improvements, such as the bike stands, proposed last year, and we will press the Council to complete the job.”

Cllr Hare adds:

“This car park shouldn’t be an eyesore and I think the new plantings and other improvements, when completed, will make the area more pleasing.”