Lib Dem Muswell Hill Councillors pledged at a residents’ meeting to do everything they can to safeguard the Post Office on Park Road following the closure of the HSBC Bank on the parade. Cllrs Ross Laird and Jonathan Bloch were speaking at the first formal meeting of the newly formed Park and Priory Village Users’ Association, led by Mario Petro.

Cllr Ross Laird commented:

“We are delighted to be working closely with local residents to safeguard their Post Office and essential services. Lib Dems are at the forefront of saving Post Offices throughout the country and we will do everything it takes to safeguard the Park Road branch. We will be working with the newly formed residents and traders’ association to get a petition round to local residents and making representations to the Post Office.

“In addition, we are calling for a clutch of environmental improvements to the area to make it more customer friendly. These include improved carpark provisions and pedestrian crossings which will give customers easier access to the shops.”

Note: you can get a copy of the petition here.

In the controversy surrounding Haringey Council’s handling of the roll out of wheelies bins in the borough, the Lib Dems say that bins left in the street are causing a daily hazard for many residents.

In many streets, bins left out on the pavement are causing an obstacle course for the disabled, visually impaired and those with pushchairs.

Lib Dem Environment spokesperson, Cllr. Bob Hare has written to the council demanding that action is taken.

Bob Hare comments:

“I have received a number of complaints about this problem. Refuse collectors say they are following their instructions to leave the bins where they are found them, even if this is outside the property. As a result, many bins are now permanently in the street, and are blocking pavements. The Council must ensure that pavements are wheelie-bin free.”

Local Lib Dems say that Haringey’s beleaguered Council Tax payers would see their bills cut by £100 under national proposals outlined in their Alternative Budget by the Liberal Democrats.

The local Lib Dems believe the policy will be popular with Haringey residents, who have just suffered a massive 17.4% increase in their Council Tax bills from the Labour-run Council.

Average Council Tax rises across the country this year will be the highest ever. These large rises will mean average council tax bills across the country will have risen by over £400 under Labour. In their Alternative Budget, the Lib Dems would give Council Tax payers a refund of £100, largely funded by an increase in income tax for the very rich. The increase would also pay for the scrapping of tuition fees for students.

The cuts in Council Tax would be an interim measure pending the complete abolition of the Council Tax and its replacement with a much fairer Local Income Tax.

Haringey’s Lib Dem Leader Ross Laird comments:

“The Council Tax is a very unfair tax. It hits those on lower incomes, such as local pensioners, particularly hard.The Council Tax takes no account of people’s ability to pay, so a nurse or pensioner can pay more than a multi-millionaire.”

Lynne Featherstone, Lib Dem Parliamentary spokesperson, adds:

“Labour have made much worse the Tory invention of Council tax. Lib Dems would abolish the tax and replace it with a much fairer local income tax. Taxes should relate to the ability to pay. Gordon Brown could provide this relief now, if he introduced the Lib Dem plans.”

A group of around 20 local residents met in Queens Avenue (N10) on Saturday 1st Marchto voice their objection to a possible new hotel.

53-55 Queens Avenue, the old Queens Lodge rest home, is currently being converted into flats. However, the owner has now submitted an application to change the building into a hotel.

The residents are objecting because the site is on the residential end of Queens Avenue, which is also a conservation area. An additional major concern is that another hotel will further exacerbate the parking problems on the road.

Lib Dem Councillor Matt Davies attended Saturday’s demonstration. He has been following the building work for over 6 months and has previously objected to aspects of the plans.

Commenting, Cllr Davies (Fortis Green) said:

“I am very concerned about the way planning applications for this site have been dealt with all along and the lack of consultation with local residents.

“When a request was made to change the number of approved rooms in the new flats from ten to twelve I objected – and was even told that such a request would be turned down. Later we found out that the owner has now been given permission to build twelve flats!

“The Council must listen to local residents this time. A hotel at this end of Queens Avenue would be inappropriate, unpopular and unnecessary.”

As concern grows over the planned closure of the Archway Road Post Office, Highgate Lib Dem councillor Neil Williams has written to Haringey Council Leader George Meehan demanding that the Council opposes the plans.

Lib Dems in Highgate have expressed alarm that two Post Offices on the Archway Road have been earmarked for closure (one in Haringey and one in Islington) as a result of Post Office restructuring plans for the area.The Lib Dems say there are many elderly residents in the Highgate and Archway areas who rely on their local Post Office. Highgate is a hilly part of London and the walk up to the village can be a trek for some residents.

The loss of one or both Post Offices will also be a blow to the hard-pressed businesses on the Archway Road.

Mr Williams is also protesting to the Post Office that Haringey councillors have not been consulted by the Post Office about the plans, despite the Post Office saying in public that it would consult local councillors about its massive nationwide closure programme.

Highgate Lib Dem councillor Neil Williams comments:

“I have asked the Leader of the Council to throw his weight behind efforts to keep Post Offices open. Last year, Haringey refused to give a commitment that it would oppose Post Office closures in the borough, but now is the time for the Council to speak out. The Haringey Post Office on Archway Road will be sorely missed and it will be a serious blow to the Archway Road if the branch is closed.”

Lib Dem Parliamentary spokesperson, Lynne Featherstone, who has been campaigning on the future of Post Offices across Haringey and recently presented a petition against Post Office closures to Vincent Cable MP at Parliament, adds:

“This proposed closure is part of a much broader plan to shut Post Offices, and sadly the Labour government is backing it. It is a service we must protect, as Archway Road could be the tip of the iceberg.”

Residents in Muswell Hill Road were left fuming after Haringey Council removed a London Plane tree from outside number 46. Local Councillor Lynne Featherstone has taken up the issue with the council on behalf of the residents.

Lib Dem Cllr. Featherstone has contacted managers of Street Scene who were responsible for the removal of the tree to express residents’ anger over its removal. Street Scene have responded by saying that the tree was originally removed because of damage it was causing to neighbouring property but it may now be replaced if the funds are available.

Cllr. Featherstone comments:

“I am pleased that the Council has signalled that they are willing to replace the tree. However until they make a firm commitment, I will continue to press them on the issue.

“It may be one tree but in London, every tree and every patch of greenery counts and I think it is essential that we make sure that we do not lose trees in locations such as these.”

A solution to the problem of severe congestion in and around the Alexandra ward area moved a step closer this week, following an agreement to set up a working group of local residents to formulate detailed plans of how the council would spend the £100,000 allocated by Transport for London (TfL) to sort out local traffic problems.

The meeting, at Rhodes Avenue School on Thursday, took place after calls from Alexandra Lib Dem Councillor Susan Oatway for more action to be taken by Haringey Council in sorting out the issue. The working group will be set up in March and is likely to comprise 6 to 12 local residents. Its job will be to plan and cost the spending of £100,000 from TfL on improvements to Dukes Avenue and Alexandra Park Road areas. They will also plan and cost the safer routes to school scheme.

Cllr. Oatway expressed her satisfaction at the progress that had been made at the meeting:

“I am very pleased that we have started to move forward on this issue and we are that bit closer to the money that TfL have had on the table for the past two years. The local residents have been very constructive throughout and I hope that this will make for a productive working group.

“I am further encouraged by the news that TfL have offered further money to the area after they have amended their proposals for the A406. I hope that the money will relieve the suffering of the residents of Alexandra and Bounds Green who have had to endure this problem for far too long.”

Background:

Liberal Democrats secured an agreement from TfL to provide up to £100,000 in November 2001 towards traffic calming in Alexandra, provided that Haringey Council produced sensible and detailed plans. However, despite the offer first being made in November 2001, the money is still unspent as Haringey Council has repeatedly failed to produce the necessary plans and information to free up the money.

Muswell Hill ward councillor and London Assembly Transport Policy Committee member Lynne Featherstone has recently met with Derek Turner of TfL to try to break the deadlock. Mr Turner confirmed that the money was still available if Haringey Council presented appropriate plans and supplied the technical details required by Transport for London, but he warned that if appropriate plans and detailed information were not presented the money might even be lost to Haringey: “it was an unlikely but potential risk.”

Commenting on the decision of Haringey’s two Labour MPs to vote in favour of George Bush and Tony Blair’s drive for war in Parliament last night, Lynne Featherstone, Lib Dem Parliamentary spokesperson, said:

“Yesterday’s vote shows that Barbra Roche and David Lammy are woefully out of step with the concerns of people in Haringey, who do not believe a case for war has been made.

“Mrs Roche in particular, should note that while nearly all our neighbouring Labour MPs voted against war, she has backed George Bush’s war agenda.

“Our local MPs should join calls to allow inspectors to have sufficient time to do their job. Instead they have fed the drive towards war in Iraq.”

Lib Dem councillors Lynne Featherstone and Melanie Simpson have expressed their concern following recent reports that three local police stations out of the five in the borough may face closure to make way for a police super station.

For many years the Lib Dems have worked closely with local police on a number of issues, most recently the prominent campaign to reopen Muswell Hill Police Station’s front desk. However the two Councillors, who both sit on the Council’s Crime and Community Safety Committee, were shocked by the news that three of the five stations in the borough could be closed to accommodate the super station.

Cllr. Featherstone, who is also a member of Met Police Authority, commented:

“I am quite disturbed by this report. I think that it would be a big mistake to close down three of our stations in the borough. Residents already find it hard enough to get to the existing stations as it is. To remove them would make a bad situation worse for many vulnerable sections in our community.

“Moreover at an MPA full authority meeting today I listened to Chief Commissioner John Stevens talk of ‘Local solutions for local people’. The kind of proposal we are hearing for Haringey flies in the face of this commitment.”

Cllr. Simpson added that no plans had been finalised yet:

“As a Met Police Estates Spokesman said, there is no blue print as yet. However it is important that we express the concerns of our local residents to the Met. Police before any final plans are drawn up.”

Interactive road signs could be the way to reduce speeding and accidents in Haringey according to Liberal Democrat Cllr. Lynne Featherstone. The Lib Dem councillor and GLA member was speaking after visiting a site in Kentish Town where a sign had been erected.

The signs, which flash up a warning if the vehicle approaching is over the speed limit, were piloted in South West England last year and have had rave reviews with road safety officers claiming that some speed cameras are now hardly needed in areas where the signs have been erected.

Cllr. Featherstone comments:

“It was clear that drivers paid attention to speed warning that the signs gave and reduced their speed.

“There are parts of Haringey, such as Cranley Gardens and Muswell Hill, where drivers often fail to observe the speed limit. A sign that reminds them that they are going too fast could reduce the number of accidents as well improving the quality of life for residents in the area. This is one way forward and I will continue to press the council over this issue.”