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.”

Lib Dem councillor Matt Davies ran and completed the London Marathon at the weekend, and in the process raised over £1,500 for the Terrence Higgins Trust. Cllr Davies, who represents Fortis Green ward on Haringey Council, finished the world’s biggest marathon in five hours and 45 minutes.

“The race went pretty much according to plan,” said a tired but delighted Matt Davies back home in Muswell Hill. “There was one slightly downbeat moment after seven miles, when a runner dressed in a rhinoceros suit ran straight past me, but it wasn’t too much of a setback. I’m very pleased to have finished the course.”

Matt was congratulated by fellow councillor Lynne Featherstone:

“We’re very proud of Matt,” said Ms Featherstone. “The whole council team has been encouraging him as much as we could in the past few weeks. I’m very pleased he has made it, and raised so much money for the Terrence Higgins Trust.”

Following last week’s Budget, local Lib Dem Parliamentary spokesperson Lynne Featherstone has said that increases in government support for elderly residents are not enough, and will not give Haringey pensioners the improvements in their well being that they so badly need.

Lynne Featherstone says that the small pensions increases are a step in the right direction, but the Government is only offering an extra £2.17 a week. The Lib Dems say this is well short of the £15 extra that Liberal Democrats believe the oldest pensioners deserve.

Lynne Featherstone comments:

“After their disastrous 25 pence pensions increase, this shows that Labour may be slowly waking up to the needs of pensioners- but not quickly enough. Lib Dems will still battle for a better deal for pensioners, and continue to press the government to move in the right direction.

“The most effective means of helping the poorest pensioners in places like Haringey is though increasing the pension, particularly for older pensioners, such as those over 80.”

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.”

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.”

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 the battle to save the Archway Road Post Office, local Lib Dem councillor Neil Williams has welcomed the backing given at last week’s full council meeting to oppose the closure. Council leader George Meehan was responding to oral questions from Cllr Williams, who is campaigning with local residents on the issue.

The Council also agreed to tighten up the Council’s procedure for letting local councillors know about proposed closures, as the Labour leader was forced to admit that he had not been aware of the closure plans until written to by Highgate’s Lib Dem councillors.The Lib Dems say they fear that other Post Offices in the area will face the axe as a result of the Labour government’s and the Post Office’s urban closure programme. Mr Meehan agreed he would ensure that councillors were made aware as soon as possible of any approaches from the post office over their controversial branch closure plans.

Cllr Neil Williams comments:

“I am pleased that Haringey Council has offered their support to save the Archway Road Post Office, albeit that it is a Labour government that is responsible for what could turn out to be decimation of Post Offices in the area.”

Cllr Lynne Featherstone, who recently presented a petition from residents against Post Office closures to Vincent Cable MP, adds:

“We will be making sure that the Council keeps its promise of briefing local councillors as soon as possible of any future proposed closures. Sadly, there may be several in the coming months as these planned cuts bite deeper and deeper.”