Lib Dem Councillor for Muswell Hill, Ross Laird, has received undertakings from Royal Mail that they will remove graffiti from the post box at the end of Lynton Road, N8 as part of his campaign to rid the area of some of the worst graffiti.

In recent months the campaign has gathered pace with the Lib Dems successfully lobbying the Council to increase its budget for graffiti fighting from £15,000 to £100,000. However the real breakthrough has come following the Council’s decision to renege on their policy to only remove graffiti deemed racist or offensive as a result of the Lib Dems publicising the failures of this policy.

Cllr Laird is now hopeful that the Council will now take action to improve other graffiti blackspots in the area. He commented:

“The whole area around Lynton Road and The Grove is covered in graffiti. I’m glad that Royal Mail has agreed to remove the graffiti from the post box at the corner of Lynton Road and Middle Lane and I’ll be lobbying the Council hard for graffiti to be removed from other walls, garages and street furniture from around Lynton Road, Palace Road and The Grove.”

Residents living in the Alexandra Park area are being urged by local Lib Dem Councillor Wayne Hoban to come and contribute to the public meeting on the future of ‘the triangle’, a green space at the junction of Crescent Road and Place Gates Road. The meeting is to take place on the 24th April, at Handbag Café, 8 Crescent Road.

Alexandra Councillor and Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Cllr Hoban has written to residents to encourage them to join him at the meeting to discuss proposals made following a site meeting he had with Council officers in February.

A series of actions have already been agreed with Council officers including the removal of metal fixtures and litter, producing a plan of possible pants and seeds and clarifying ownership of the site, which is important before the Council commits itself to future significant work. However Cllr Hoban now wants residents’ suggestions on how to make it a real focal point for the area.

Cllr Hoban comments:

“The triangle has been an eyesore for far too long, when instead it could and should be an attractive part of our local community. This is why we are keen that residents have an opportunity to contribute to the debate over future plans for this site. The meeting in February was productive and a lot of positive ideas came out of the site visit. However we need to know what the residents want because they are the people who will be the beneficiaries of any improvements.”

Lib Dem councillor for Muswell Hill, Lynne Featherstone, has voiced her concerns regarding the Muswell Hill roundabout revamp following a visit to the site last week.

Cllr Featherstone (Muswell Hill) was concerned by the apparent redesign of pedestrian islands in the area to allow larger bus stops around the roundabout. According to Cllr Featherstone this goes against plans put forward to the Council and the Muswell Hill & Fortis Green Residents’ Association for approval that suggested a much more pedestrian friendly roundabout.

Cllr Featherstone comments:

“I am very concerned about this situation. During the consultation I was delighted to see that the plans showed conservation money was going be spent on a very ‘pro- pedestrian’ revamp. However on visiting the site, it seems the pedestrian islands have actually been reduced in size to make room for bus stops.

“I have asked the Council to investigate why the agreed plans seem to have changed. It is unacceptable if changes that were meant to make the area more attractive and pedestrian friendly, seem to have been used to increase traffic flow.”

Highgate Lib Dem councillor Neil Williams has expressed satisfaction that controversial plans to build a house on the former Archway Road ‘Pocket Park’ have been rejected by Haringey Council. The move came at a meeting of the planning committee last week.

The committee rejected the proposals, which will now go on to appeal to the Department of the Environment.Cllr Williams said the planning committee was right to make their objection heard at this stage, pointing out that the Council has twice before had proposals to build on the former park rejected.The Highgate Conservation Area Advisory Committee and the Highgate Society have also opposed the plans.

Cllr Neil Williams comments:

“Haringey has rightly concluded that this site has the potential to be a small but much valued green oasis in the urban expanse of Archway Road. This matters, as the right environment will be good for residents and will encourage local business.”

Cllr Lynne Featherstone adds:

“We will continue to oppose this application as it moves towards appeal, and we will be pressing the Council to ensure that the site is improved, and that action is taken over the past removal of trees from the site.”

Haringey Council has agreed to tighten up its procedures for dealing with dangerous waste, after an explosion of a hazardous canister in Muswell Hill in late March. The move follows the intervention of Lib Dem councillor Matt Davies (Fortis Green).

Muswell Hill residents called the Council on 18 March to report that that there was a metal container with ‘flammable liquid’ written on it by a pavement in Queens Avenue and it was leaking.

Residents report that the Council said they would get someone to come and collect it. That evening, at about 10.30pm, the canister exploded and the liquid had been ignited, destroying a nearby car.

The Council has now told local councillor Matt Davies that Haringey Accord arrived the following day to remove the canister, as it had been classed as needing removal within 24 hours. However, the Council has agreed that the issue should have been dealt with more promptly, including involving the Environment Agency if necessary.

Cllr Matt Davies comments:

“This was potentially a very dangerous incident, and procedures have got to be tightened up in future. The Council has agreed to speed up the processing of these kinds of report from residents, though I have a concern about how this is handled if the issue arises ‘out of hours’.I will be pursing this further to ensure that procedures are as robust as they can be, as it was very fortunate that no one was hurt.”

Commenting on the announcement by the Post Office that it is to press ahead with the closure of the Post Office at 180 Archway Road, Highgate Lib Dem councillor Neil Williams, says:

“I am very saddened to see that the Post Office have not taken heed of the concerns of local people. I do not feel they have consulted enough, nor have they agreed to allow more time for people to express their views.Over 100 local residents have already returned their objections to me.”

Lynne Featherstone, Lib Dem Parliamentary spokesperson for Hornsey and Wood Green, adds:

“People along the Archway Road made it quite clear they did not want to see the closure of a local Post Office. There remains the fear that the Government and Post Office plans to close a third of urban Post Offices places up to ten local branches in Haringey under threat.

“We will continue to oppose these closure plans, as local Post Offices are vital to the local community.”

Local Lib Dem Councillors in Muswell Hill and Crouch End have teamed up to organise a meeting with residents to discuss recent planning applications and road improvement plans for Park Road.

The meeting will be held at the Princess Alexandra Public House on Park Road at 7pm on 1 May 2003. The Lib Dem councillors from the two wards, who represent both sides of the road, say they would like to meet as many residents as possible who are concerned about local developments.

Commenting on the planned meeting, Lib Dem Leader Ross Laird, who represents Muswell Hill, says:

“It is very important that local people make their voices heard throughout the planning and development process in Haringey. We hope the meeting will enable people to come up with innovative ideas to improve the area and also allow us to keep them up to date on current status of the approved plans for the development of some 40 flats on Park Road.”

Lynne Featherstone, Muswell Hill councillor, adds:

“We also want to use the opportunity of the meeting to discuss a few wider issues of concern to residents, such as the state of the local environment and planning enforcement in the borough.”

A Lib Dem councillor has called for concerted action by Haringey Council to tackle major dumping incidents in the Wood Green area. Lib Dem Environment spokesperson Cllr Bob Hare called for action following a major dumping incident in Western Road, Wood Green. Mr Hare says dumping in the area is a severe problem.

Cllr Bob Hare comments:

“The sheer scale of dumping in the area is appalling. This is a huge problem, and I would like the Council to beef up its enforcement measures in the area.

“This area, near the Penstock Path, should be a pleasant area. I have also had to report a dumped washing on the path in the last week. This is one of the worst dumping hot spots in Haringey.It is a great shame and the situation has got to improve.”

Lib Dem councillors have secured key concessions from a developer in return for permission to build 40 flats at 72-96 Park Rd, N8.

The development will now go ahead, but with fewer parking spaces than envisaged and finance allocated to improve the dangerous junction at Lynton Road / Park Road and Wolseley Road.

Commenting on the application, Cllr Ross Laird said:

“While I have some outstanding concerns about the height and scale of this development, it is a great improvement on the initial proposal.

“The developer has agreed to my suggestion that as well as making money available to improve local education facilities, they will also fund traffic management improvements at the junction of Lynton Road and Park Road.

“This should bring benefits by making the busy junction a lot safer. I remain a little concerned that residents will have to put up with noisy building works for months to come and have asked the developer to do everything they can to minimise the noise impact.”

In a bid to speed up progress with the long awaited Muswell Hill to Swiss Cottage bus route, London Mayor Ken Livingstone has promised publicly to raise the issue of the slow progress in developing the route with Peter Hendy – Transport for London’s bus supremo.

The promise came at Mayor’s Question Time last Wednesday at the Greater London Authority, when GLA member and Muswell Hill councillor Lynne Featherstone pressured him into following through on his promise of support for the route during his 2000 Mayoral campaign. In answer to Ms Featherstone’s question, the Mayor agreed to take the issue up with London Buses, to see if progress on the route can now be speeded up.

Lynne Featherstone comments:

“I am delighted that the Mayor is going to take this up again. He should be using his position to ‘knock heads together’ to ensure that rapid progress is now made.

“Coming up to the next Mayoral elections, many people in North London will remember his support for this vital new bus route when he wanted their votes. Local people will want to know why he has failed to deliver if the route is not implemented as quickly as possible.”