Lib Dem candidate for Mayor Simon Hughes was campaigning in Haringey again on Saturday, visiting shops and shoppers in Crouch End and Muswell Hill, as well as taking a tour of the Haringey Heartlands area in Wood Green.

Mr Hughes, along with GLA candidates Lynne Featherstone, Wayne Hoban and local Lib Dem councillors, stopped off at the famous Dunns Bakers in Crouch End, where they met bakery staff and purchased a selection of Crouch End cakes from baker Chris Freeman.

Simon Hughes met shoppers in Muswell Hill and Crouch End, and visited the controversial Queen’s Lodge site with local councillors. He also travelled to Wood Green for a briefing on the Haringey Heartlands development.

Simon Hughes comments: “I always enjoy coming to Haringey, and campaigning with Lynne Featherstone, Wayne Hoban, and the local Lib Dem team in the area. The shopping streets in Muswell Hill and Crouch End are a good example of local shops serving their local communities particularly well.

“It is hugely important that in these busy areas police are seen to combat the fear of crime. If elected, Mayor, I will put four police and four other uniformed officers in every ward in Haringey to make sure that local people feel safe, secure and confident of our police service.”

Lynne Featherstone adds:

“It was a pleasure to welcome Simon Hughes again to Haringey. It’s clear that the race for Mayor is between Simon and Labour’s Ken Livingstone, and we’ll be working extremely hard for a Lib Dem Mayor for London.”

Lib Dem environment spokesperson and Highgate councillor Bob Hare has requested action from Haringey Council to resolve the blocked drain problem in North Hill, Highgate.

Since work was done on a new roundabout in the road early this year, nearby drains have not functioned properly with regular pooling of water on parts of the road.

Haringey Council has claimed that it is the responsibility of the drainage contractors, Thames Water, to maintain the drains and investigate any problems. However Cllr Hare is concerned that the drainage problem in the area is just one example of many roads across the borough that sustain varying degrees of flooding during the wetter months due to poor drainage.

He believes it is the failure of Haringey to monitor and enforce action by Thames Water that is creating the problem. He is calling on the Council to detail its contractor’s drain clearing programme and its own monitoring programme.

Bob Hare comments:

“I want to get to the bottom of the drainage problem so that the road is cleared of the pools of water that appear regularly. Haringey should be taking responsibility and monitoring the work of Thames Water to ensure that local Council Tax payers are getting value for money.”

Lib Dem GLA candidate for Enfield and Haringey, Wayne, Hoban, has expressed concern over recently revealed figures showing that the amount of funding given to promote sport in London has plummeted by 92% in the last year.

The figures, released in a Parliamentary answer to Simon Hughes, the Lib Dem mayoral candidate, show that in 2002 £33.5million was given to promote sports in the capital. By 2003, this has dropped by £26.5million to just £6.6million. This equates on average to more than £800,000 less for each London borough to spend on the promotion of sport.

Wayne Hoban comments:

“With obesity rates rocketing it is astounding that Ministers are failing to invest in promoting sport across London. It is a tragedy that the Government has failed to recognise the benefits that sports provide.

“Getting young people into sport is a passport for a lifetime of good health. For older people sport reduces social exclusion and prevents brittle bones.

“Encouraging more Londoners into sport reduces crime, builds communities and gets people fitter, happier and healthier.”

“It is somewhat ironic that whilst this government is actively promoting London’s Olympic bid, they are simultaneously making huge cuts in sports investment in the capital.”

Cllr Lynne Featherstone has welcomed news from TfL’s Public Carriage Office (PCO) that they have successfully prosecuted an unlicensed minicab company in Wood Green.

Eclipse Exclusive Cars, Lordship Lane, were fined £300 plus £297 costs, at Brent Magistrates Court last month, after they were reported by Public Carriage Office licensing officers for the offence of operating without a licence.

Cllr Featherstone is pleased at the news that the firm, along with three others in London, has been successfully prosecuted. She says that the new measures aim to assure Londoners that when they use a cab they are not risking their safety.

Lynne Featherstone comments:

“Last month’s successful prosecution sends out a clear message that illegal operators will be brought to book. Such firms may be uninsured, with unroadworthy cars and no checks on the drivers. The sooner unlicensed operators are off our roads the better.”

Lynne Featherstone has secured an assurance from the Metropolitan Police that they will increase police patrols late at night in the Bounds Green area.

Cllr Featherstone was alerted to a local crime problem after she received reports from a concerned resident who had witnessed several crimes in a short period of time inTrinity Road, N22. Although the police response was swift, there was general concern that there was no visible police presence in the area to deter opportunistic thieves.

In a letter sent to Cllr Featherstone last week, a senior local police officer confirmed that Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) have been briefed and have made Trinity Road, N22 one of their priority patrols. In addition, a new high visibility patrol of uniformed officers assigned to tackle anti-social behaviour has included the area in their patrol.

Cllr Featherstone has welcomed the police’s positive response and is also pressing Haringey Council to improve lighting in the area. Haringey currently has no plans to upgrade the street lamps in the road.

Lynne Featherstone comments:

“I am delighted with the police’s response to residents’ concerns, which I hope will deter crime in the area. A police presence in the evening will hopefully help to improve the situation.”

Cllr Lynne Featherstone has secured further assurances from Haringey Council that they will address the road safety issues on the busy, but narrow, Pages Lane, N10.

Despite success in securing yellow lines last year by the Lib Dems, there has been a lack of enforcement by Haringey – resulting in cars and even route 234 buses parking on the lines, often blocking the pavement for pedestrians.

The road, which is used as through route by many cars and pedestrians travelling to and from the local schools in the area, has been the subject of concern from local residents and Lib Dems for many years.

The Council added to the problem late last year when they granted a permit to a local shop in the area allowing lorries and vans to park on the yellow lines, despite assuring residents that no permits would be issued.

However following correspondence from Council Featherstone and a meeting with local traffic campaigner Mrs Cynthia Streibig, Haringey Council has promised to address the problem. The measures proposed include increasing parking enforcement staff patrols at peak times and investigating locations to install bollards to prevent vehicles parking on the pavement.

The Council has also agreed to discuss the congestion problem caused by the 234 bus route and the drivers parking on the pavement as well as investigating the reasons for a parking permit being granted to the local shop.

Cllr Featherstone is pleased that the Council is investigating the problem. However, she warns that she, along with local residents, will be keeping a close eye on the Council to ensure that action is now taken:

“I am pleased that the Council is finally addressing this serious problem. The road is narrow and busy, with vehicles often standing off because of the thoughtless drivers who park on the yellow lines. Enforcement will not only improve traffic flow but also increase safety for pedestrians, many of whom are school goers, who currently have to dart between the cars.

“Local residents like Mrs Striebig have done a lot to maintain the pressure on the Council over the years and I am hopeful that the problem will be alleviated. However, in light of the Council’s previous record on this issue, I will be keeping a very close eye to ensure that progress is made.”

A rubbish and vermin hotspot in Turnpike Lane N8 is set to be cleaned up thanks to pressure from Haringey Lib Dem Councillor Lynne Featherstone.

Council officers have confirmed that they are currently baiting the ‘active rodent infestation’ at a sub-station to the rear of Denmark Road.

The move follows requests from Ms Featherstone asking Hringey Council to take urgent action. Haringey is also seeking to serve a notice on the owners for the removal of rubbish, which is encouraging the vermin.

Cllr Featherstone was alerted to the problem by local residents. While she is pleased that the Council is taking action she wants Haringey to tackle rubbish ‘hotspots’ more effectively in future.

Lynne Featherstone comments:

“I welcome the response by the Council and I have been assured that baiting will continue until the rats are gone.

“However, these rubbish hotspots are allowed to reach a state where they become a health hazard before action is taken. The Council needs to ensure that notices are served on private property at an early stage when rubbish is accumulating.”

In a new push in the campaign for a full timetable on the 603 Muswell Hill to Swiss Cottage bus route, Lib Dem Lynne Featherstone has launched a text message poll on the increasingly popular local service.

Local people can now send a text message to Ms Featherstone on whether the route should be expanded to a full service. The expansion of the route has secured the backing of Lib Dem Mayoral candidate Simon Hughes, but failed thus far to get the support of Labour’s Ken Livingstone.

To vote ‘yes’ for a full service on the route, respondents should text ‘bus yes’ to 07795 328 405, or ‘bus no’ if they don’t back a full timetable on the 603.

Ms Featherstone hopes the move will add to pressure on Labour Mayor Ken Livingstone to back a full service and also the local Labour party in Haringey which has attacked the trial service connecting Muswell Hill to Swiss Cottage as elitist. This is despite years of local residents and Lib Dems campaigning on the issue.

Lynne Featherstone comments:

“After such a tough campaign over several years it’s vital that as many people as possible show their support for the bus route. With Labour Mayor Ken Livingstone dithering over the service, we need to put weight behind Simon Hughes’s pledge for the full timetable on the route. With elections looming, the time for pressure is now.”

The Liberal Democrats are calling on Haringey Council to make changes to the Board that has been set up to advise Haringey Council on the future of Hornsey Town Hall.

They want to ensure that all local groups can have confidence in the process and can feel that adequate attention is being paid to their views. The Board, which is looking into future options for the Town Hall, has come in for criticism for not being sufficiently representative of local people’s concerns and ideas.

In order to create confidence in the process, the Lib Dems are asking the Council to:

• Ensure that the board is more independent of the Council and not just seen as a ‘talking shop’.
• Appoint an independent co-chair, with relevant experience, to the Board, who is not a member of the Council.
• Appoint an additional representative from Crouch End for People to reflect their contribution to the debate.
• Ensure there is a councillor represented from each of the three wards that cover the immediate area.

The party is also asking that adequate resources are made available to the Board to enable it to do its work properly. Following their public meeting last week, Lib Dems believe that Crouch End for People have put forward several stimulating ideas which are in tune with Lib Dem wishes for a centre for the performing arts.

Lib Dem councillor David Winskill (Crouch End) comments:

“We need to implement these changes rapidly, in order to ensure that there is confidence in this process. There is a huge amount of expertise locally, and we need it on the Board.

“The more we work together, the more confidence we can build to ensure that we maximise the amount of public funding for Town Hall – and this will reduce the need for commercial partners, acting as a bulwark against any moves towards a quick sale of the site.”

Commenting on the Labour leadership and front bench elections, Neil Williams, Lib Dem Leader on Haringey Council, says:

“We congratulate Charles Adje on his election. However, I think that whoever leads the Labour group will not be able to make a positive difference for Haringey. After such a long period in office, the Labour group is internally split between various factions, and many of the new front bench team will be associated by local people with the Council’s very poor record over 30 years.”

Lynne Featherstone, Lib Dem Parliamentary spokesperson, adds:

“This was an opportunity for Labour to shake off the past and to look forward with a fresh approach. Instead, they have chosen to stick with many of the familiar faces that have contributed to Haringey’s long term failure under Labour. After over 30 years of Labour control, the words, ‘deckchairs’, ‘rearrange’, and ‘Titanic’ spring to mind.”