• Haringey ‘Leaders conference’ document reveals that band D tax set to rise by 17.8% this year
• Increase is likely to be 15% next year
• Labour accused of cynicism by holding tax levels down before election

Liberal Democrats have condemned new figures that confirm Haringey Labour plans an 18% increase in the council tax this year, and accused the party of cynical politicking over council tax levels in the borough. The move follows estimates of a 17.8% rise in the Labour council’s own documents, prepared for the ‘Leaders conference’ on 7 January.

The Lib Dems, who have been warning for months that Labour were planning substantial increases, say that figures in the Labour council document show that council tax levels are set to increase by over 50% over the four year life of the council.

The Lib Dems say that Labour have deceived Haringey’s voters, by fixing low increases and claming financial stability in order to limit their losses to the Lib Dems last May. Now that the elections are over, Labour are pushing through enormous increases.

Lib Dem Leader Ross Laird comments:

“Now we know what the huge level of council tax increases are likely to be, it is clear just how much local people have been misled by this Labour council. An increase of 18% will be a terrible blow, and will take the council tax to one of the highest in London. Haringey will not get away with this again.”

GLA transport policy committee member Lynne Featherstone has called for action as 12 months of extra supervision have failed to resolve the route 134 punctuality problem.

The vital Muswell Hill route came under fire during 2001 as users claimed that services were often late and delayed. London buses increased supervision to tackle the situation but have seen little improvement in results, with delays between January and November being reduced by less than 2% on the previous year. Councillor Featherstone is calling on London Buses leaders to invest more resources in solving this problem:

Lynne Featherstone comments:

“The 134 is a vital route. If we want to encourage people to use buses, we have got to provide efficient public transport services. There are many people who rely on the 134 to get them to and from work. London Buses have appeared ineffective so far in making the service better. I will be looking for them to invest more time and money to resolve what is rapidly becoming a major problem.”

Notes:

* Bus route 134 runs via North Finchley, Friern Barnet, Muswell Hill, Highgate, Kentish Town, Camden Town and Tottenham Court Road.

* Jan-Nov 2002 delays were less than 2% reduced on Jan-Nov 2001. (Measure used is average excess waiting time – EWT- which fell from 1.96 to 1.93)

Liberal Democrat councillors have reacted with disappointment to news from Haringey Police that they are putting on hold plans to re-open the front counter at Muswell Hill police station.

Liberal Democrats have been campaigning for the front counter to reopen, with a system of trained volunteers already successfully used elsewhere. Last year they organised a successful public meeting to give the police the chance to explain how such a scheme would work, attended by over 200 residents.

However, the police have now concluded that there are not enough volunteers available for a full-scale reopening of the front counter.

Muswell Hill councillor Lynne Featherstone comments:

“This is very disappointing, but the fight goes on to reopen the police station. Local people must have face-to-face access to the police.

“There is a great deal of support fro the reopening in Muswell Hill, with over 200 people attending a public meeting I organised last year, and many applying to be volunteers.”

Ms. Featherstone has asked the police to consider reopening the counter for a limited number of hours each week, using the volunteers who have already come forward:

“Starting small and building up to longer opening hours is an approach that has worked successfully elsewhere. I hope Haringey Police will look seriously at taking this forward given the high levels of demands amongst residents for the restoration of the front counter.”

Neville Collins, Liberal Democrat candidate in the Tottenham Hale by-election, says that the future of local post offices is a vital issue for people in Tottenham.

The Lib Dems say that Tottenham could lose up to five of its post offices if the planned Post Office closure plans envisaged by the Labour government goes ahead.

In order to safeguard the future of local post office services, local resident Neville Collins has launched a door-to-door petition in the area calling on Labour and the Royal Mail to put a stop to Post Office closures.

Lib Dem candidate Neville Collins comments:

“Post offices are a vital service to the local community in Tottenham. Closures must be stopped, or we could lose these services in large parts of the area. I urge as many people as possible to sign and return our petition to keep up the pressure.”

Haringey Council’s wheelie bin information leaflets have been tagged “a waste of paper” by the opposition Liberal Democrats. The Liberal Democrats have warned local residents that the leaflet distributed in Stroud Green and elsewhere has left out key information about the new wheelie bins on issues that have been of concern to residents.

“There are various omissions on key questions that have been asked by many of the local residents borough wide,” said Cllr Bob Hare.

“One of the major issues some people have is that they don’t want some kind of unnecessarily large eyesore on wheels sitting outside their house, but the leaflet fails to mention that wheelie bins come in different sizes. Residents should be told that they had a choice of a much smaller version and how to apply for one.”

Cllr Hare has also criticised the lack of information on how to appeal against getting a wheelie bin:

“Wheelie bins make sense in some areas, but in others they are not appropriate. Residents should be provided with full information on how to appeal if Haringey Accord decide their property is suitable for a wheelie bin but they disagree.”

Residents wanting further information on how to apply for a smaller bin or to appeal against having a wheelie bin can contact the Lib Dems here.

Haringey’s Christmas refuse collection timetable has been condemned by local Liberal Democrat councillors across the borough.

This follows Haringey Accord’s failure to keep to their special Christmas timetable resulting in rubbish left uncollected for several days. In an attempt to catch up on the backlog of missed collections, rubbish collections even had to take place on New Year’s Day.

“This is a serious concern,” says Councillor Lynne Featherstone, whose own rubbish collection did not take place on the advertised day over the Christmas period.

“Once again, Haringey has failed to get right the basics of providing services and residents were left with uncollected rubbish piling up,” comments Lynne Featherstone.

She has also expressed concern about where the money for the extra New Years Day collections is coming from:

“New Year’s Day was not meant to be a working day for the collection and I want to know where the extra money is coming from to pay for these extra costs. Residents should not have to foot the bill for the failure to empty their bins on time.”

London Buses have apologised to the disabled people of Haringey and promised to make changes following a meeting with Cllr Lynne Featherstone.

The meeting was arranged with TfL’s Peter Hendy, Managing Director of Surface Transport, following a number of complaints from disabled users of the route 41 and W3 buses that drivers were only opening one door and making access to the buses difficult or impossible in some cases.

“I am pleased with the positive response I have had from the TfL. They have promised to make design changes to ensure both doors open and access is easier for disabled users,” said Cllr Featherstone, who is a Muswell Hill councillor and a member of the London Assembly’s Transport Policy Committee.

“Although this may seem to many like a small issue, this kind of ignorance is compromising many people’s right to lead independent and dignified lives and is something that we as a party are trying to eradicate in society, both at local and national level.”

Liberal Democrats have criticized Haringey Council housing chiefs over the cancellation at short notice of the 6th January Area Housing Forums in Hornsey, Tottenham and Wood Green.

Council tenants and leaseholders were due to be consulted at the meetings about proposed increases to rent and service charges and plans to link these to property values.

Chair of the Hornsey Area Forum, Cllr. Ron Aitken, was only informed on the afternoon of the previous working day that, due to ‘a printing and distributional error,’ a letter from the Labour Lead Member for Housing about the rent increase, which should have gone out to tenants on 20th December, had not been sent out.

“Haringey has bungled again”, said Cllr Aitken. “Tenants or leaseholders who do turn up will be left out in the cold. This is further evidence of the appalling way Haringey treats its tenants”.

Commenting on the decision from London Mayor Ken Livingstone to give the go-ahead for the Grosvenor Road barrier, Alexandra ward councillor Susan Oatway said:

“It’s good news that a decision has finally been made as it means we can now get a move on with sorting out the other traffic issues in the area. The continuing delays and uncertainty didn’t help anyone.”

Haringey’s Lib Dems have chosen local resident Neville Collins as their candidate for the Tottenham Hale by-election on 23 January.Mr Collins has lived in the Tottenham Hale ward in the Chesnut Estate, off Tottenham High Road, since 1975.

Neville Collins has already hit out at the Labour council for wasting money on PR spin, rather than front line services, and the prospect of huge council tax increases in the area.

Neville Collins comments:

“I am delighted to have been selected for Tottenham Hale, and my campaign will focus on the failings of the Labour council. We face the prospect of huge increases in our council tax bills, but where are the services to show for it? The latest primary school results show Haringey council slipping further down the list of London councils.”