Commenting on the allocation of £2 million by the Department for Education to meet unseen costs (such as furniture removal) of the PFI deal for Haringey secondary schools and the rumour that the Labour run council is contemplating a PFI deal for primary schools, Lib Dem Leader Cllr Ross Laird said:

“It certainly speaks volumes that the council has had to make this suggestion to Ministers in order to gain the welcome £2m to make up the education budget shortfall brought about by the secondary schools PFI deal.

“Having spoken to the Lead Member for Education and officers, I gather that the council did indeed flag up the possibility of a PFI deal for primary schools. This would clearly be a long way off and no actual plans exist. Given all the problems with the secondary schools PFI, it seems rather foolhardy to be suggesting a primary schools PFI.”

Cllr Barbara Fabian, Lib Dem Education Spokeswoman, added:

“I would hope that if Haringey is contemplating future PFI deals they would consult stakeholders and parents first.”

Muswell Hill Lib Dem councillor Ross Laird has welcomed news that Housing Association Housing 21 has secured £3,000 to trim the trees at Connaught House.

The trees have been causing damage to the flats, just off Connaught Gardens. The problem is one of a number of issues that Councillor Laird has been pursuing to improve the area. He recently held a public meeting with residents, covering issues such as dumped rubbish, potholes, abandoned cars and crime in the area.

Ross Laird comments:

“I am pleased that Housing 21 is now able to address the problem of trees. I will be pressing to ensure that all the issues raised by residents are fully dealt with.”

Highgate’s Lib Dem councillors are demanding swift action from the Labour-run council to clear up the autumn leaves and rubbish in North Hill and North Road, the busy residential thoroughfare that connects Highgate village to the A1.

Lib Dem councillor Neil Williams says that leaves and debris have been heaped into piles and just left on the two roads, and have either blown away or turned into a slippery slime that poses a threat to elderly residents trying to walk about the area.

Cllr Williams also says that the roads are not getting a proper weekly sweep, and is asking Haringey Council to take action.

Neil Williams comments:

“I have been looking at the state of the these roads in Highgate this weekend, and frankly it is a disgrace.There are piles of leaves and rubbish everywhere. North Hill and North Road are getting nowhere near an adequate clean from the council, and I am asking them to take immediate action.”

A successful meeting on the local problem of graffiti was organised by Highgate’s Lib Dem councillors on Tuesday.

Local resident and graffiti-buster Mike Read told the audience at St Michael’s Primary School, North Road, how he and residents had raised funds for a dramatic clean up of the problem in Southwood Lane, and used the meeting to make contact with other local groups and residents interested in tackling the problem.

The meeting also heard councillor Lynne Featherstone speak about the issue and Haringey Council’s record in dealing with graffiti. As a result of local campaigns, Haringey is now under pressure, she said, to reverse its policy of only cleaning up graffiti that is racist or obscene.

Local community police inspector Simon Heffer also updated locals on the efforts of the police, who have been working with Southwood Graffiti Action and local councillor Neil Williams following the Southwood Lane clean up.

Residents were pleased to hear that, as of this week, the police will have six more officers available to deal with these kinds of crimes in Highgate and the west of the borough. There was disappointment, however, that the council did not accept an invitation to attend the meeting.

Local councillor Neil Williams, who organised and chaired the meeting, comments:

“I am very pleased with the way things have gone. Mike Read of Southwood Graffiti Action has made some more useful contacts and the meeting showed the strength of feeling there is on this issue.

“I am disappointed that representatives from the Haringey Council failed to accept an invitation to come to the meeting. We must keep up the pressure to ensure that the Labour-run council takes this issue seriously, as graffiti just breeds more serious crime.”

You can get Lynne Featherstone’s graffiti fighting fact-sheet here (pdf format).

Haringey’s Liberal Democrats were celebrating this morning as news came through that popular local councillor and existing GLA member Lynne Featherstone has stormed straight to the top of her party’s list of prospective candidates for the next GLA elections in 2004.

Lynne Featherstone came first among Lib Dem candidates across London bidding for a place on their party’s list for the ‘London-wide’ section if the Greater London Authority. Having been placed third last time, Ms Featherstone this time moved up to first place. She won the run-off for the top slot by a comfortable 1899 to 1401 vote margin over Graham Tope.

Lynne Featherstone comments:

“I am delighted to have finished top of the poll. I will continue to campaign on the London issues that most concern Londoners – helping to sort out the transport crisis and keeping Mayor Ken under control.”

Highgate councillor Neil Williams comments:

“This is a marvellous result for Lynne. I think her particularly strong record of campaigning against the break up and sell off of the Tube across London very much counted in her favour.She was also widely praised for leading the investigations into congestion charging, something she took on as soon as she was elected to the GLA. Locally, we are very proud that she will now head the Lib Dem slate across London.”

Lib Dem Councillor for Crouch End Ron Aitken is backing over 120 residents of Oakfield Court, Haslemere Road, in a campaign to stop the latest attempt at another unpopular ‘backland’ development in the area.

The move follows last week’s controversial decision by Haringey Council’s planning committee to ignore residents’ concerns and approve a controversial backland development in Aubrey Road in the heart of Crouch End.Ron Aitken has praised the stand of the residents of Oakfield Court.

Ron Aitken comments:

“Oakfield Court already has 58 households and is an outstanding 1930s design. It is in the conservation area.

“I think it is wrong to cram more flats onto the green areas around the existing site. The council must listen to the residents.”

Lib Dem Parliamentary spokesperson Lynne Featherstone has laid down a challenge to Labour MP Barbara Roche over the controversial issue of student top-up fees.

Labour’s 2001 election manifesto promised not to introduce top-up fees. Now, however, many in the government are supporting plans to let universities charge higher fees – with the result that access to the top universities will be determined by wealth rather than ability.

Ms Featherstone says this suggested U-turn is a betrayal of Labour promises over the issue, and the local MP should be supporting hard-up local students on the issue, particularly with the area having many students and the Middlesex University campus in Bounds Green.

Lynne Featherstone comments:

“I welcome the fact that some Labour MPs have already spoken out against top-up fees – recognising that if the government breaks its promises on this issue students will suffer as access to university courses is determined by wealth rather than ability.

“I urge Barbara Roche to join her colleagues like Frank Dobson and speak up clearly and publicly against top-up fees.”

Highgate’s Lib Dem councillors have welcomed a commitment this week from the local police chief that he will provide a police ‘kiosk’ in Highgate. The move follows a long campaign by Lynne Featherstone and the area’s Lib Dem councillors to restore a police presence in the area.

Chief Superintendent Stephen James made the commitment at a meeting yesterday with Ms Featherstone. The arrival of a permanent police kiosk in Highgate will depend on the force receiving its planned increase in police numbers, as promised, by the end of March 2003.In a constructive dialogue with the Lib Dem leader, Chief Superintendent James also agreed that it was vital for local residents to be able to contact the police easily by telephone and receive an answer from local officers who know the Highgate area very well.

Lynne Featherstone comments:

“This is good news for Highgate, and we welcome the police’s commitment to restore a more visible police presence in the area.While it is disappointing that the reopening of the front counter is not seen as an option given the current state of police resources, this is still a very welcome move.

Highgate local councillor Neil Williams adds:

“We now need to make sure that this welcome commitment is delivered, and that things move forward. One thing we must address is where a police kiosk in Highgate would be best placed. I would welcome the views of local residents at this stage, so we can keep the pressure up.”

A Highgate Lib Dem councillor is calling on Haringey’s Labour-run council to take action to repair the lighting on the Archway Bridge. The move follows months of lame excuses to Councillor Neil Williams (Highgate) and attempts by Haringey Council to dodge questions on the issue.

Two of the famous and elegant globe lights on the famous bridge have not been working for as long as Archway locals can remember. Since his election in May, Councillor Williams has repeatedly asked the council to take action and has been offered a range of weak excuses.

Neil Williams comments:

“I am simply not accepting Haringey’s excuses on the bridge lighting. If Islington can work so hard on the traffic calming plans on Hornsey Lane, the historic route of the bridge, Haringey ought to be able to get two lightbulbs working on the bridge. It is such a shame, as this is one of our most historic landmarks.

“I will now be asking the council to provide solid evidence that the cost of getting the lights to work is as high as the council says. I am rather sceptical.”

Note:

Under an agreement between Islington and Haringey, the former looks after Hornsey Lane while the latter has the lead on the bridge. The whole route forms the Haringey’s southern boundary with Islington.

Lib Dem GLA member and local councillor Lynne Featherstone has won assurances on local police numbers following questioning of the Chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA).

She was questioning him over fears that police numbers in Haringey may plummet after March 31st, which is the deadline for meeting the Met’s police numbers target. Ms Featherstone, who also sits on the MPA, was acting on information she had received suggesting that police numbers may then fall once the target had been met as around 40 officers in Haringey were being prevented from proceeding with their applications for jobs in other areas or other police squads until after March 31st.

Those approaching Ms Featherstone feared that having made the target, officers would then be able to move on to new jobs, so that from next April, numbers might start to plummet and the same problem of understaffing in Haringey’s police force would reappear all over again.

After close questioning by Ms Featherstone the MPA’s chair undertook to ensure that numbers would not fall after the target date.

Lynne Featherstone comments:

“Making sure that Haringey gets and then keeps its full compliment of police officers as promised is absolutely vital. I am glad to have a public assurance from the Chair of the MPA that those numbers, once we have them, will not only be maintained, but may be increased. However, I will be watching very closely to see what happens to numbers in Haringey after 31st March.”