Cllr Lynne Featherstone has secured an assurance from Haringey Council thatparking restrictions will be imposed at junctions on two busy roads inHornsey – the High Street and Priory Road, N8.

The calls come following complaints from local residents that visibilityfrom junctions onto the main road is often hindered by tall deliveryvehicles parked closed to the junction, making it hazardous for drivers andpedestrians alike.

Cllr Featherstone says that the current parking restrictions are inadequate.She has contacted Haringey Council and requested that further parkingrestrictions be placed on the junctions of these busy roads.

Haringey Council has responded to the request confirming that they will belooking to increase parking restriction on the junctions to ‘no parking atany time’.

Cllr Featherstone comments:

“I am pleased that Haringey is going to take action to improve safety atthese junctions. This needs to be implemented quickly before there is aserious accident on one of these busy junctions and we will be pressing theCouncil to ensure the work is done.”

Lib Dem councillor Lynne Featherstone is asking Haringey Council to explainwhy they have replaced broken paving slabs with tarmac in both CranleyGardens and Church Crescent, N10.

The request comes after she was contacted by local residents expressingtheir concern at the ‘ugly patches’ that have appeared in the last fewmonths following the removal of broken pavements in the roads.

Some of the concrete patches appear to have been put in for paving slabs incertain areas because they were less susceptible to upheaval from treeroots. However not only has the tarmac already begun to crack under thepressure of roots, but Haringey Council’s tarmacing has spread to other parts ofthe roads.

Cllr Featherstone is concerned that Haringey Council may be going down a similarroute to road repairs with crude tarmac patching work rather then doing athorough repair. She has written asking them for anexplanation and assurances that paving slabs will be replace the tarmacsoon.

Cllr Featherstone (Muswell Hill) comments: “I am concerned that this crudepatching has started appearing on our pavements and I am seeking an urgentexplanation for it.

“I will be pressing Haringey Council to ensure that in the future they replacethe cracked paving slabs with new slabs and not tarmac.”

Lib Dem councillors Matt Davies’ and Lynne Featherstone’s swift action hasprevented the felling of a number of unusual trees at Strathlene House,Creighton Avenue, N10 after residents contacted them, concerned withactivities going on in Strathlene.

The Lib Dems contacted Haringey Council last week (29th September) asking forurgent action to be taken to stop the felling immediately. There wasparticular concern for the protection of two large oak trees that stand over75 feet high and over 150 years old and are situated in gardens of specialinterest.

The Council enforced the Tree Preservation Order (TPO) on Friday and anotice was attached at the entrance of the site at 6pm that night. Residentsand the site owners were also contacted and made aware of the order.

The two site owners, believed to be Daisycroft Care Home Ltd and FestivalCare Homes have an opportunity to object to the order which would then bedealt with by the Council’s planning department.

The Lib Dem councillors are pleased that their quick action has averted alocal environmental catastrophe.

Cllr Featherstone comments:

“I am pleased that we have succeeded in stoppingthe destruction of a valuable piece of greenery in the Fortis Green area.”

Cllr Davies adds:

“I’m grateful for the Council’s swift issuing of the orderand I hope that the site owners will acknowledge the importance of thesetrees and gardens to the area and not challenge these orders.”

At the meeting of the Licensing Sub-Committee on 27th September,the late licence application for the Raglan Hall Hotel on Queens Avenue was approved – but only with reduced hours and subject to a review in six months.

Cllr Matt Davies (Lib Dem, Fortis Green) led the objections to the application at the meeting, and five other local residents also spoke against the plan. The hotel had applied for a public entertainment licence to run to midnight on Sundays and 1am on Fridays and Saturdays.

“We are naturally disappointed that the committee did not reject the application outright,” says Cllr Davies. “But due to the strength of objections from local residents, the hours have been restricted – to 11pm on Sunday and midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. This concession could make a big difference to quality of life for Queens Avenue residents.”

The licence will also be reviewed after six months – the usual period for such a licence is twelve months. Residents objected due to existing problems with noise and anti-social behaviour. It is felt that these problems, which already exist due to private functions at the hotel, could become much worse if general public access is increased.

“I am glad that the Committee has seen fit to review the situation at an early opportunity,” adds Cllr Davies. “We will be monitoring the situation closely. If our fears that this licence could drag the public from the commercial entertainment areas of Muswell Hill into this residential street become reality, we will be calling on the Committee to revoke the licence.”

Fortis Green councillor Barbara Fabian has stepped down as a localcouncillor for the area. Barbara Fabian was elected in 2002 and has takenthe decision to resign because of ill-health. The news means there will be aby-election in Fortis Green ward in November.

Barbara Fabian comments:

“It has not been an easy decision, and I willgreatly miss being a councillor. I feel we have brought real benefits to theneighbourhood in the last couple of years. Only this week we have seen ourpolice station front counter opened to the public, and we have a bus serviceconnecting us with Hampstead and Swiss Cottage. The task now is to build onthese real improvements in the coming years. I have been putting offtackling health problems for some time, and I will now be able toconcentrate on having surgery on both my knees.”

Lib Dem Leader Neil Williams adds:

“We will greatly miss Barbara and we all wish her well. I know she has beenfinding it increasingly difficult, because of ill health, to carry on as acouncillor, and we will greatly miss her expertise, particularly oneducation and social services issues, where her years of professionalexperience brought a huge amount of expertise.”

Fortis Green was gained by the Lib Dems from Labour at the last localelections. In the London-wide election in June, the Lib Dems again beatLabour in the ward, with the Tories a distant third. Margaret Thatcher wasPrime Minister when the Tories last represented the area.

Result in June’s GLA elections in the ward: Lib Dem 32%, Labour 26%, Tories 21%.

Muswell Hill Councillor Lynne Featherstone cut the ribbon for the official opening of the Muswell Hill front desk with Met Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens yesterday. The ceremony marks a great achievement for Ms Featherstone and local residents, who have battled to re-open the front desk since its closure back in 2000.

Since the forced closure due to lack of funding, Cllr Featherstone has campaigned tirelessly along with local residents to recruit volunteers and seek support to get the front desk reopened. In June 2003, Cllr Featherstone recruited Sir John Stevens to her campaign. He said he would be ‘delighted’ to assist in attempts to reopen the front desk.

Since then progress has been dramatic. Most significant was the Met Police’s decision to appoint a new volunteer recruitment officer – Diana Dodds to co-ordinate the local volunteers.

Cllr Featherstone was thanked for her persistence and hard work in campaigning for the re-opening of the front desk at yesterday event attended by over sixty people, many of whom were local residents who have volunteered to man the front desk.

Cllr Lynne Featherstone comments: “I am delighted that after five years of frustration, our hard work has finally paid off and Muswell Hill and Fortis Green has a front desk open and run by volunteers from the local community.

“I must pay tribute to Chf Supt Stephen Bloomfield who committed publicly last year to the campaign and has delivered on his promise.

“I hope that this good news story will encourage many more local residents to lend a few hours of their time to what is a priceless service to this area.”

As concern grows over the future of council housing in the borough, Haringey Liberal Democrat councillors are calling for the Haringey Council to guarantee that all tenants will be balloted on the future of their homes. The party is also requesting that residents be allowed to vote on a fourth option, to maintain the status quo of having Haringey Council as landlord, an option the Lib Dems say could be denied to Haringey tenants.

Currently three options on the future of council housing in Haringey are available:

1) Stock transfer (e.g. to a Housing Associations)

2) PFI (Private Finance Initiative – long term contract awarded to private contractors to maintain & upgrade stock)

3) Arms Length Management Organisation – ALMO (council-run company which takes over the running and upgrading of the stock)

Lib Dems say that while there may be merit in alternative schemes, the Labour government is bullying councils such as Haringey into forcing change on reluctant local residents rather than allowing them to remain under local authority control. This is being done by withholding vital funding for council housing improvements -unless local authorities toe the Government line.

Leader of the Opposition Cllr Neil Williams says that Haringey Council must make a fourth option available along with clear and detailed information about the implications of choosing each of the options.

He is concerned that Haringey Council will not give tenants the right to a ballot, as was granted in neighbouring Islington and Camden councils. He also says that confidence in Haringey Council’s commitment to consult local residents is at rock bottom,following the council’s deliberate attempts, uncovered by the Lib Dems earlier in the year, to given tenants little notice of their own ‘roadshow’ designed to explain the issues.

Cllr Neil Williams comments:

“Yet again Haringey Council seems to be heading for a totally inadequate consultation of residents. Tenants must be allowed to choose their landlord, even if Haringey Council does not like the results – and that means a secret ballot and an option to remain under local authority control.

“Tenants also need to know the facts about the Labour Governments bullying tactics. If they have the facts they can make an informed choice and they have the right to expect the Council to support their decision.”

Lib Dem Councillor Lynne Featherstone is calling for Haringey Council to install more bollards and lay an anti-skid surface at an accident blackspot near the foot of Muswell Hill, N10 after the wall of a local resident was demolished for the fourth time.

The request comes a year after Ms Featherstone secured the installation of bollards in the area to protect pedestrians and homes on the accident blackspot. However Ms Featherstone says that the bollards, installed by Haringey Council, do not protect all the homes. This has meant that some houses have remained exposed to vehicles losing control on the road.

Following advice from local police, Cllr Featherstone is calling for Haringey to invest in additional bollards and an anti-skid surface to protect pedestrians and residents on Muswell Hill from further damage. She says that Haringey Council needs to act quickly to ensure the safety of local residents.

Cllr Lynne Featherstone comments:

“It is important that Haringey Council immediately addresses this issue to protect residents, properties and pedestrians, and make this part of the road safe. Action has been needed for some time, and these extra measures are absolutely necessary to improve safety.”

After months of chasing Haringey Council, the Lib Dems have finally secured repairs to a badly damaged stretch of pavement on Colney Hatch Lane, near Greenham Road, N10.

The problem was first reported by Lib Dem councillors last winter after a leak from the shops on the road caused damage to the pavements and made the surface muddy. Hairngey Council logged the complaint for inspection in February of this year.

However it remained unrepaired, despite pressure from the Lib Dems, with Haringey Council citing poor weather or lack of materials as reasons for the inaction.

Finally this month repairs have been made following further complaints from Cllr Lynne Featherstone and her Fortis Green colleagues. She is pleased that the repairs have taken place but is concerned at the length of time it has taken to repair the pavements that have been hazardous for the best part of a year.

Cllr Featherstone comments: “I’m pleased that the Council has finally taken action to repair this pavement which has been particularly hazardous to elderly and disabled residents who have had to contend with the slippery and unstable surface.”

Cllr Gilbert (Fortis Green) adds: “It is a concern that it has taken nine months for Haringey to take action over this particular issue. We will be paying close attention to make ensure that the Council doesn’t make a habit of this kind of inaction.”

Lib Dem Social Services spokesperson Ron Aitken has expressed ‘deep concern’ following the news that no senior managers or politicians are to resign following the revelations last week that Haringey Council had employed a convicted paedophile, Dennis Bell, as a school bus driver.

Bell, who had a string of nine convictions dating back to 1972, was employed to drive a bus for disabled children without police checks. He worked for Haringey for several months before police following up a motor offence raised the alarm.

Liberal Democrat Councillor Ron Aitken had tabled a series of questions under Urgent Business to the Director of Social Services and Lead Member Cllr Kate Wynne for a key Child Protection meeting on 23 September.

However, Labour Councillor George Meehan, who chairs the Children Services Advisory Panel, ruled that the questions relating to the employment by Haringey of Bell were “not urgent business but very old business indeed”.

Cllr Meehan refused to allow Cllr Aitken to state his reasons for demanding the resignations of leading politicians and senior managers. Cllr Aitken says that Haringey Council leaders’ failure to take responsibility for the near-catastrophic failure to police check Bell demonstrated how little they had learned from Victoria Climbie tragedy.

Cllr Aitken Comments: “Yet again, arrogant Labour politicians, some of whom were criticised by Lord Laming’s Report on the death of Victoria Climbie, have refused to face up to their mistakes.

“Cllr Meehan does not think employing a paedophile is an urgent matter for a child protection meeting and that is deeply worrying. I hope that some of the Labour politicians and senior managers, who kept this quiet, re-examine their consciences and resign”.