Liberal Democrats in Muswell Hill are to ask Haringey Council to help remove an archaic Royal Charter which is operating as a restriction on trade at markets atAlexandra Palace.

Haringey Council is being asked to approach the Old Enfield Charitable Trust to repeal a Royal Charter dating from 1618, which restricts the holding of Saturday markets for an area of six miles from Enfield Town Centre. Lib Dem Finance spokesperson, Jonathan Bloch has also written to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) asking them to investigate the problem.

Although the ODPM acknowledges the ‘issues surrounding Royal Charters and the difficulty in removing there powers’ they have agreed to investigate the issue. Now the Lib Dems want Haringey Council to approach the Old Enfield Trust and ask for their co-operation in repealing the bizarre law, which could open the way for Ally Pally to test popular farmers’ markets on a Saturday. Many believe such events would be more popular than the current Sunday market.

Cllr Jonathan Bloch (Muswell Hill ward) comments:

“It is ridiculous that this archaic law is dictating when Haringey can hold markets. I hope that the Council is supportive of the efforts being made by the Lib Dems and local trading groups to remove it.”

Cllr Gail Engert, who has submitted a written question on the issue to next week’s full council, adds:

“In order to ensure that Haringey secures maximum benefit from the market, it should be up the local community when such events should take place. We will continue to pursue this issue.”

Lib Dem councillors in Alexandra ward have successfully lobbied Haringey Council to secure funding to improve road safety on the busy Alexandra Park Road and Durnsford Road. The roads, that are crossed by many children on their way to Rhodes Avenue and Alexandra Park schools, will be improved after a Safer Routes to School grant was secured.

Local Lib Dem councillors Susan Oatway and Wayne Hoban, along with local residents, have been pursuing the issue for over a year and are delighted by the news that will see some safety improvements to the current situation. However they are under no illusions that much more needs to be done to ensure that road safety is improved in this and many other areas of the borough.

Lib Dem Deputy Leader Wayne Hoban comments:

“I am delighted that this long overdue funding for this road has been secured. It will allow us to make a start working with local residents on the implementation of some safety measures for this road.

Cllr Oatway adds:

“Residents have worked hard to secure this funding and they should be applauded. However this is just the start and we will continue to press for more to improve road safety.”

Liberal Democrats have welcomed plans by the Road Safety Camera Partnership (RSCP) to install speed cameras along Bounds Green Road, between the A406 North Circular and Brownlow Road, in a bid to calm traffic and reduce the number of speeding-related accidents.

The road, which is an accident blackspot in the area, had been highlighted to Haringey Council as needing action. The Lib Dems requested that Haringey Council investigate the possibility of redesigning the dangerous ‘pinch point’ opposite the old Middlesex University building, where two lanes narrow down to a single lane. Many serious accidents have occurred at this point over the last few years. The most recent resulted in multiple fatalities, caused through impatient drivers overtaking on the wrong side of safety bollards to escape tailbacks caused by the ‘pinch point’.

Lib Dem councillors Lynne Featherstone and Wayne Hoban have welcomed news of the cameras, but insist that the current road layout needs to be addressed in order to make it safer.

Cllr Lynne Featherstone comments:

“It is great news that RSCP has decided to install cameras on this treacherous stretch of road. It is after years of campaigning by local residents and Lib Dems to make the road safer.”

Cllr Wayne Hoban adds:

“We will continue to press Haringey to address the physical defects in the layout of the road and make sure that safety is improved for the sake of both pedestrians and motorists.”

A Highgate Lib Dem councillor is asking Haringey Council for urgent action to clean drains in a local road where several have been blocked for many months.

Cllr Bob Hare says that drains in Wood Lane, Highgate have been blocked but despite requests, the Labour-run council has so far failed to take action.

Blocked drains on the road are causing water to run down driveways into garages and towards the front of houses. Cllr Hare is asking for a special council visit to the busy and narrow road, which lies near Highgate tube station.

Cllr Bob Hare comments:

“It’s about time the drains in Wood Lane were cleared. Haringey Council’s approach to clearing drains in the area appears to be very haphazard. Whatever their regular schedule of cleaning, a special visit needs to be made to Wood Lane as the present situation is not good enough.”

With polling in the London and European Election just weeks away, an analysis by the local Lib Dems has revealed that the party has polled far more votes than its rivals in the local government by-elections which have taken place since the last local elections. The figures have been welcomed by London Assembly member Lynne Featherstone, who heads her party’s London-wide slate of candidates for the GLA elections.

In the three by elections since the last council elections – in Tottenham Hale, Stroud Green and Muswell Hill – the total vote for the parties was:

Lib Dems:3,170(51.9%)
Labour:1,420(23.3%)
Cons: 878(14.4%)
Green: 635(10.4%)

Lynne Featherstone says that the large Lib Dem lead is all the more telling given that two of the three wards were in formerly ultra-safe Labour territory and the three wards are broadly representative of the borough, one being in the west, one in the east and one in the centre.

The message from the parties’ vote shares is reinforced by the individual ward results, which saw the LibDems hold one seat and gain one from Labour, whilst Labour had a net loss of one seat and no other parties won any seats. Lynne Featherstone comments:

“These figures show clearly that the Lib Dems are the challengers to Labour in Haringey, where voters are no fed up with Labour, both locally and nationally. We are looking forward to improving our position in the London and European elections, where Haringey will play a vital role.”

Over the Easter weekend graffiti was daubed over the fence in front of the collapsed Queen’s Lodge, in Queen’s Avenue, Muswell Hill. The graffiti read: “Corrupt council caused this chaos and destruction”.

Following the collapse of the former Queen’s Lodge (53 – 55 Queen’s Avenue) in February, local Liberal Democrat Councillors Stephen Gilbert and Matt Davies joined with Lynne Featherstone in calling for Haringey Council to open an inquiry. They tabled a motion calling for an inquiry at the last Full Council meeting inquiry, but it was ‘talked out’ by Labour Councillors.

Commenting on the graffiti, Liberal Democrat ward Councillor Stephen Gilbert said:

“I do not in anyway condone this, or any other graffiti, but it is a graphic illustration of the level of anger that local people are feeling towards a council that they believe has let them down.

“Local people are beginning to believe that this is more conspiracy than accident, and Labour councillors preventing a debate on the issue only fuels the impression that the Council has something to hide.

“Only an independent inquiry into how this happened can address local people’s legitimate concern. My colleagues and I will be tabling another motion for an inquiry at the next Full Council meeting, and I am challenging Labour councillors to listen to local people and vote for it.”

A Highgate Lib Dem councillor is calling for urgent action to protect distinguished oak trees at a sensitive Archway site facing a housing development.

Lib Dem councillor Bob Hare has said that Tree Protection Orders (TPOs) are needed at the Tile Kiln Lane site to prevent more loss of trees if further plans are brought forward for buildings on the narrow ‘backland’ site alongside the Archway Road. The branch spread of one of the trees lies above yet more land being marketed as a development opportunity.

The site has been the scene of controversy in recent months, following the granting of permission for a housing development along the lane. Another Highgate councillor and Lib Dem group leader, Neil Williams, argued to the planning committee that the site was too small for such a housing development and expressed surprise at the swift removal by developers of a large Turkey Oak tree. While the oak tree had been found to have been diseased, it was removed the day after a site visit by councillors.

Cllr Hare has asked for TPOs on the following trees:

(1) The oak tree which is at the south end of the waterboard cottage site (about to be developed) and close to the substation (site about to be sold, development possible);

(2) The oak tree on the Thames Water land on the east side and very close to the boundary wall of Tile Kiln Lane.

Cllr Hare comments:

“We need these orders as local residents in the area have worked very hard with us to try to protect the unique character of this site – and they will undoubtedly be dismayed at the possibility of losing further trees. I have asked Haringey Council to consider preservation orders so that developers know they will have to work with the existing level of tree cover. We don’t want to find that the trees are damaged and their life expectancy reduced.”

Highgate’s Lib Dem councillors have secured a long-awaited clearance of dumped rubbish in a pedestrian alleyway adjacent to the Archway Road – and they have secured Haringey Council’s agreement to install better lighting.

They have also demanded that Haringey Council intervenes to ensure the removal of newly-installed gates at one point along the path’s length, leaving full access for pedestrians.

The alleyway, which runs along the back of shops and houses between Southwood Lane and Jackson’s Lane, had become almost impassable due to the dumping of builders’ rubbish and other materials. Despite repeated requests, Haringey Council had failed to act for many years until last week, when the alleyway was cleared and the promise of better street lighting given.

Cllr Bob Hare comments:

“I am pleased that this belated action has been taken, as the alleyway was an eyesore and a magnet for dumping.

“The job now is to keep it clear, which Haringey Council has agreed to do. Better street lighting at the site will help. I will be monitoring the situation to ensure that the dumping problem is resolved, and working to ensure a right of way through the path.”

Liberal Democrat councillors are stepping up their pressure on Haringey Council to improve road safety in Priory Road, Muswell Hill following two separate accidents within eight days of each other at the end of March. Both incidents involved school children who were crossing the busy road.

The Lib Dems are pushing for two new crossings, backing the Warner Estate Residents’ Association’s calls for a pedestrian crossing to be installed by Danvers Road on Priory Road as well as pressing for another crossing point by Park Avenue North. At last month’s Council meeting the Association presented a petition with 841 signatures expressing their concerns for elderly people and parents with push chairs and prams who were unable to dash across the busy road.

Muswell Hill councillors Lynne Featherstone and Gail Engert have been pressing to obtain funding for the new crossings after the Labour-run council controversially said “no” to funding them. They believe that Haringey Council has not done enough to look for funding, estimated at £80,000 each.

Cllr Featherstone, who attended a meeting earlier this week with the Council, proposed that any negotiations with a supermarket for a store on the Hornsey Waterworks site should include an agreement to pay for two new crossings to compensate for the increase in traffic that the store would create.

Cllr Featherstone comments:

“Local residents should not be put at risk on this dangerous stretch of road through Haringey’s inability to fund vital safety measures or its inability to levy money from developers”.

Cllr Engert adds:

“The two recent incidents involving school children have again highlighted the importance of the crossings for Priory Road. We are not convinced that the Council is taking this issue seriously and we will continue to campaign for new crossings to make this road safer.”

Lib Dem GLA candidate Wayne Hoban has expressed concerns that Haringey’s care homes may be facing overload, following new figures collected by Lib Dem Mayoral candidate Simon Hughes.

Occupancy rates of care home beds, while a problem right across the capital, are running at 98% in Haringey – well above the 90% recommended rate, reducing the range of options and flexibility Haringey Council has when placing elderly residents in care.

Wayne Hoban comments:

“The current care home occupancy figures for Haringey are certainly a serious concern. Care home experts recommend that only 90% of beds should be taken, because this allows local councils to provide care for older people who need a bed at short notice in the right location, such as for people who have been admitted to hospital but are unable to return home.

“With high levels of occupancy, there is significantly less choice on where to place older people, which can result in older people being moved to inconvenient locations, further from home and away from their local support networks.”