Lib Dem traffic spokesperson, Susan Oatway has tabled an urgent oral question to the next full meeting of Haringey Council (4th October) regarding the traffic situation in Dukes Avenue and the neighbouring roads.

The request comes a week after a consultation report was published on road calming measures for Dukes Avenue and just days after a resident was hit by a car while crossing the road.

Cllr Oatway, who represents Alexandra ward, has worked closely over the last two years in drawing up the plans to tackle some of the traffic problems on the busy rat-running route. However now that the consultation report has been published, she wants Haringey Council to start implementing the measures and she will be seeking clear time scales to which the agreed work will be completed.

She says that the work will go someway to addressing the traffic problem, but there are still many issues regarding road safety in the area that are yet to be addressed.

Cllr Oatway comments: “The agreed works must be implemented as soon as possible before any more accidents happen. The area has been waiting long enough for these safety measures.”

Lib Dem Leader Neil Williams says the Labour Government is attempting to draw a veil over controversial plans to ‘rationalise’ vital maternity and children’s accident and emergency services in the North London area.

Cllr Williams says that Labour has postponed the controversial plans amidst fear of a backlash from north London’s voters in the run up to a possible general election next spring.

The local health service began a consultation process on the possible changes last year but this has now ground to a halt. According to an email leaked to The Guardian newspaper and reported last week, the Chief Executive of Islington primary care trust, said:

“The Department of Health has indicated that a negative (public reaction) prior to a general election would not be acceptable.”

Neil Williams says that local people are having the impact of these changes concealed from them until after the general election. The plans involve concentrating children’s and maternity services at fewer sites in the five boroughs in the North London area, instead of the present spread of services across six north London hospitals. Cllr Williams says that children’s A&E services at certain sites could therefore close, and full reassurances must be given before any ‘rationalisation’ plan.

Lib Dem Leader Cllr Neil Williams comments:

“By postponing this consultation it is now absolutely clear that Labour are keeping local residents in the dark about their plans for the NHS in the area. They do not want people to know about how these changes might effect Haringey patients. Parents may have to travel longer distances to take their kids to A&E, and would this be as safe in an emergency situation?

“Even the current Labour Lead Member for Health and Social Services expressed concern about these plans when they came to the Council’s Scrutiny Committee Last year. However Labour is now attempting to sweep the whole issue under the carpet until after the general election.”

Lib Dem Leader Neil Williams has welcomed the decision of Planning Aid for London to take on a controversial planning case in Hornsey, which could deny elderly residents vital light and the use of their garden. Residents approached the planning help service after advice from Cllr Williams, who has been helping them on the case.

Cllr Williams has expressed serious concerns about plans by developers to erect large buildings on the site in the Campsbourne, Hornsey, which would have a terrible impact on local residents. Although works have stopped in recent days, builders are planning to erect nine new business and residential units on the small site off Hornsey High Road.

The buildings would rise immediately behind the residential blocks in nearby Pembroke Road.Current plans allow for three-storey buildings with a 13 meter high brick wall (the rear wall of the proposed buildings) to be erected within 27 feet from the windows in the rear walls of the Pembroke Road residential properties and sited immediately in line with the bottom of the gardens of Rectory Gardens.

Cllr Williams says the whole case reveals another dreadful planning blunder by Haringey Council, and permission should never have been granted for the new buildings. If the works are finished, local tenants and residents would only have the view of a blank wall approximately 39 feet high from the windows of their homes, depriving them of direct air flow and light. Such large buildings would also overshadow further nearby properties on Rectory Gardens, The Campsbourne, and Campsbourne Road.

Lib Dem Leader Cllr Neil Williams comments:

“I am pleased that Planning Aid for London has taken this issue on, as this is a very serious case. I have also asked Haringey Council a number of additional questions this week about the granting of planing permission for this appalling scheme.

“It is a difficult case, but I do not see why, if a planning blunder like this is made, that residents should have to suffer the consequences.”

Lib Dem Deputy Leader, Wayne Hoban has written to Vodafone to confirm that residents in Alexandra ward remain opposed to their proposal to install a mobile phone mast and base station in Harcourt Gardens pocket park, N22.

The action follows a meeting held with local residents last night organised by Cllr Hoban and chaired by fellow Alexandra Councillor Susan Oatway at Alexandra Park School.The meeting was called to discuss the current status of Vodafone’s plans for the pocket park based at the junction of Albert Road and Durnsford Road, as well as feeding back responses from Haringey Council and Vodafone to questions raised at the previous meeting held in March.

Concerns had been raised over the summer when a BT contractor team turned up unannounced one weekend during the summer to undertake preparatory work, including digging up the road, without being required to submit their plans to Haringey Council.

Cllr Hoban believes that this act demonstrates that the law needs to be changed to ensure that mobile phone mast installations are subject to planning control, which they are not at present.

Cllr Hoban (Alexandra): “This is an issue of great importance to local residents and Haringey must press the Government to look into reforming current legislation to give local planning departments more power to control the growing number of base units and aerials.

“I have written to Vodafone to express local opposition to their current plans, but in the absence of legislation to control such developments, we can do little more than protest.”

Following the publication of the report on the Finsbury Park CPZ satisfaction survey, Stroud Green Liberal Democrat councillor Laura Edge has called on Haringey Council to adopt a more flexible approach to tackling parking problems in the area.

Many respondents living within the current CPZ commented that the hours of operation were too long and that a one-hour block at the beginning or end of the day or a two-hour block in the middle of the day would adequately deter commuter parking. In its report Haringey Council dismissed these concerns maintaining that such hours of operation would not act to discourage “inessential vehicle trips” outside the limited control period.

Ms Edge remains unconvinced and has criticised Haringey Council for adopting a “one-size-fits-all” solution to the problem. She argues that different streets in the area encounter different parking problems and have different needs. She also stresses the importance of balancing the need to secure adequate parking for residents against the needs of local businesses and schools.

Ms Edge is particularly concerned about Haringey Council’s current blanket approach in view of its decision to consult on the extension of the Finsbury Park CPZ. Responses to the survey of residents in roads surrounding the current CPZ revealed mixed feelings about its extension, with 52% of residents in favour and 48% against.

Laura Edge comments:

“The results of the survey of residents in areas surrounding the current CPZ indicate considerable division of opinion within the community over the expansion of the scheme. I hope that Haringey Council will adopt a flexible approach attuned to the particular needs and problems of the area.”

Ms Edge has also called on the Council to improve arrangements for obtaining residents’ and visitors’ permits after 58% of respondents said they were not satisfied with current arrangements. Ms Edge welcomed the decision to pilot the issuing of permits from Hornsey Customer Services but also called for the reduction of bureaucracy around the issuing of permits.

Ms Edge also called on Haringey Council to take immediate action over the problems associated with the garage in Upper Tollington Park, which has been dumping cars in the street. Residents of Upper Tollington Park expressed concern over the behaviour of the garage in their responses to the survey and in its report Haringey Council stated that it was “formulating a strategy”with local police, parking attendants and the DVLA to deal with the problem.

Ms Edge says that this is not good enough:

“I was told back in May of this year that Haringey was devising a strategy to deal with this problem. How much longer is this going to take? Local residents aren’t interested in strategies – they want concrete action to tackle a problem which has become a long-standing blight on their lives”.

Lib Dem Councillor Lynne Featherstone is calling for Haringey Council to take urgent action to resolve the fly-tipping problem in Queens Wood after Haringey’s contractors, Haringey Accord, informed her that it was not their responsibility.

Cllr Featherstone, along with her colleagues in Muswell Hill and Highgate wards, have campaigned for the last couple of years for Haringey Council to take action to control this fly-tipping blackspot with some success.

Haringey Accord have made Queens Wood Road a priority road and have made assurances that road sweepers will report fly-tipped items on regular sweeps of the area. They have also installed CCTV to record those dumping at this location.

However Accord have stated that the wood itself is not their responsibility and as a result much of the fly-tipped rubbish remains uncollected.

Cllr Featherstone is concerned at the current gap in Haringey’s clean-up service. She has contacted Haringey Council to seek assurances that they will resolve this issue with Accord and ensure that fly-tipped rubbish is removed from the wood within 48 hours of it being reported.

Cllr Featherstone (Muswell Hill) comments: “It is a concern that Haringey Council appears to have gaps in the service.

“However, I am pleased that action is being taken with respect to the road itself and I hope that the CCTV will help to prosecute those responsible for this most anti-social practice.”

Haringey Liberal Democrats have welcomed the decision on the Alexandra Palace traffic calming consultation report presented at Haringey Council’s Executive last week.

The consultation process was to decide how best to spend the £100,000 secured by London Assembly Member Lynne Featherstone (Lib Dem) to address concerns by local residents over speeding and traffic on Dukes Avenue and the surrounding roads in N10.

The initial focus group involved more than 10 local residents’ groups from the area who, along with council officers andlocal councillors help designed three road calming options.

Earlier this year a consultation document was sent out to all residents in the area with three options presented:

Option One: Traffic calming – a series of pinch points, with give-way priorities and refuge islands along Dukes Avenue, The Avenue, Grove Avenue, Rosebery Avenue and Muswell Road to encourage a reduction in speed whilst travelling through the area.

Option Two: Zoning – road closures at strategic locations to prevent the area being used as a through route; pinch points to encourage a reduction in speed along The Avenue, Grove Avenue and Dukes Avenue.

Option Three: – opposed to both options or do nothing: it was also agreed that the wording of the questionnaire would allow residents to register their objection to both options.

The Council received over 850 valid consultation responses by the 9th July deadline, a response rate of 32.9%.

By a clear majority, local residents opted for Option One. Lib Dem traffic spokesperson and Alexandra ward councillor, Susan Oatway, has welcomed the result. She has been involved with the focus group from the beginning and is pleased that a clear decision has been reached following over two years of consultative meetings.

Now that consultation has been concluded, Cllr Oatway is keen for Haringey Council to start working on its quick implementation. She is also hoping that the busy Alexandra Park Road will be considered for interactive speed signs along with Dukes Avenue, Muswell Road and Rosebery Road, to help remind drivers of the speed limits.

Cllr Oatway (Alexandra) comments: “We welcome the decision at the end of a long and thorough consultation process and I would like to thank all the residents who have been involved.

“There is a significant majority in favour of traffic calming and the Council have taken the various comments from different roads intoconsideration. I have asked that they consider a vehicle activated speed sign for Alexandra Park Road to help increase road safety for the many children walking to and from school.

“I am hopeful that the agreed action will ensure improvements in speed reduction and road safety in this residential area.”

Lib Dem councillors have welcomed the demonstration streetlight at the corner of Etheldene Avenue and The Chine (N10). The new lamp is designed to be sympathetic to Haringey’s conservation areas where houses are generally older.

The lamp is approximately 30% higher than the old cast iron gas lamp columns, which have all long been converted to use electricity with a pipe extension holding the bulb. If liked by local residents, the new columns are likely to be used in a number of roads that are in need of new lighting in and around Highgate, Crouch End, Muswell Hill and Fortis Green. All of the new columns would be fitted with a lamp that gives a white light providing a better level of illumination than existing streetlights.

Lib Dem Councillors Bob Hare and Gail Engert believe that the new lamp could be the compromise that Haringey Council has been looking for. Many residents in Crouch End were dismayed last year whendistinctive old cast iron columns – many of which have the borough’s initials cast into them – were replaced with modern ones that were not in keeping with the surroundings.

Both councillors welcome the potential of the lamp, but say that it is important that residents look at the new lamp and feed their comments back so that an informed decision can be made. Lib Dem Environment Spokesperson Cllr Hare adds that there are a few roads both in the west and east of the borough where the period of the houses and character of the area may mean the best option is to restore the original columns with new lamp fittings.

Cllr Gail Engert (Muswell Hill) comments: “This lamp offers what may be a more suitable replacement for old lamps in the conservation areas. However, it is important that residents make their views clear on the new lamp and I would encourage as many residents who can to go and see the lamp and let us and Haringey Council know what they think of it.”

Cllr Hare (Highgate) adds: “It is also important that Haringey Council ensures that, whatever the verdict is on the new lamp, at least some of the specially cast period lamp posts in the area are restored to ensure that the area’s local distinctiveness and heritage is maintained.”

Amidst the growing public concern over the application to build a concrete batching plant on the Cranmore Way Industrial Estate in Hornsey, local councillor Laura Edge (Lib Dem, Stroud Green) is calling on Haringey Council to conduct a full environmental impact assessment of the development.

In light of concerns expressed at last night’s public meeting, Ms Edge says such a detailed study is essential in view of residents’ fears and advice given by English Nature on the issue. She also points out that Haringey Council had initially asked for an assessment but the applicant appealed to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister which ruled that this was not necessary.

Laura Edge is also asking Haringey Council to ensure that a noise assessment is carried out in front of Chettle Court, the nearest property to the proposed site. Noise consultants failed to make such an assessment, claiming that they could not gain access. Ms Edge says that confidence in the planning process will not be achieved until an independent noise assessment takes place.

Laura Edge comments:

“I firmly believe that the site is not suitable for a concrete batching plant, and I believe that these comprehensive appraisals will demonstrate this. These must now take place. As a matter of fairness and courtesy, Haringey Council must also keep residents fully informed at all stages in the planning process. This includes writing to everyone who attended the meeting to let them know when the plans will come before Haringey Council. Green N8 and the other local groups which have worked hard on the issue must be kept fully informed.”

Cllr David Winskill (Crouch End) who was also at the meeting adds:

“I am particularly concerned at the admission last night that from London Concrete that their present estimate of 56 lorry movements a day are based on the plant working to approximately 50% capacity. If the plant was working at full tilt, we could be looking at well in excess of 100 movements per day.

“This would have a dire environmental impact on the local area, and must be factored in to any assessments by Haringey Council.”

Commenting on the report in the Evening Standard that Haringey had employed a bus driver with convictions for sex offences against children, Cllr Ron Aitken, Lib Dem Social Services Spokesperson, said:

“The employment of Dennis Bell, a known and persistent threat to children, clearly shows that Haringey Council has failed to learn the lessons of the Victoria Climbie case.

“Yet again, assurances that Haringey Council’s child protection procedures were being implemented properly have shown to be without foundation, with potentially terrible consequences.

“It is time that senior staff took responsibly for this alarming discovery. Those responsible should resign.”