Lib Dems in Highgate have welcomed the news that Haringey Council has now agreed a date for a special neighbourhood assembly meeting which will focus on the Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) issue now facing Highgate. Lib Dems say it will be a welcome opportunity for local people to put their point of view on present proposals from both Haringey and Camden councils for CPZs in the Highgate area.

The agreement to the 6th November meeting follows pressure from the Lib Dems, who had complained that in the grossly oversized Muswell Hill area assembly, Highgate residents would not have a big enough say on local council issues. As a result, the Lib Dems secured agreement that Highgate could have two special meetings of its own, and this is the first of those.

Highgate councillor Neil Williams said: “This meeting will be a crucial chance to look at the council’s proposals and to ensure that Highgate residents’ views are heard. We will be watching closely to ensure that the process is fully carried through.”

Neil Williams says that Highgate residents wishing to be kept up to date with the details of both this and future Highgate meetings of the neighbourhood assembly should send an email to Neil.Williams@haringeylibdems.org.

Neil Williams has also teamed up with Lynne Featherstone, Lib Dem transport spokesperson at the London Assembly, to give residents a chance to give their views via an on-line survey.

Muswell Hill Lib Dem councillor Lynne Featherstone has called for a rethink on the speed humps along Muswell Hill Road after revealing that the latest traffic figures show an increase in accidents since the humps were introduced.

The official figures, produced by Haringey Council, show that there were 25 accidents on the busy road in the three years before the introduction of the speed humps, but that this rose to 27 in the three years after their introduction.There has, though, been a welcome reduction in serious accidents.

“The reduction in severe accidents is good news,” comments Lynne Featherstone, “but the overall increase in accidents suggests speed humps are not the right solution to traffic issues along Muswell Hill Road.

“Not only have the humps failed to reduce the overall number of incidents, the vibrations caused by traffic passing over them is causing severe problems for some residents living along the street. I will be seeking to explore alternative solutions to this problem with Haringey Council.”

Local Liberal Democrats have welcomed the announcement that two beleaguered council blocks are to have their lifts replaced – something the Lib Dem have long been campaigning for.

Haringey Council’s procurement committee has agreed that the lifts in council blocks on the Sandlings estate, Wood Green, and the lift at Birkbeck Road, Hornsey are to be replaced. The Council accepted a tender of £348,212 as part of the Lift Improvement Scheme Budget for 2002/3.

Commenting on the move, Lib Dem housing spokesperson, Dave Beacham, said:

“This is very welcome news for the residents of the blocks. The Lib Dems have campaigned hard for improvements to these and other blocks in Hornsey and in Wood Green.”

Haringey’s Liberal Democrat leader, Lynne Featherstone, has announced that she is to step down from the role next month. Ms Featherstone gave the news to her fellow councillors at the regular meeting of Lib Dem councillors on Thursday night. Ms Featherstone is also a member of the Greater London Authority and was chosen as her party’s Parliamentary spokesman for Hornsey and Wood Green last month.She wants to concentrate more on her Greater London Authority role and as a local ward councillor for Muswell Hill.

Lynne Featherstone has led the Lib Dems in Haringey from success to success, and has been a tireless campaigner on local issues.Under her leadership, the party crushed Labour in the west of the borough in this year’s local elections, wiping out the Tories in the process.At last year’s general election, Ms Featherstone scored the party’s third highest vote increase in the country, pushing the Tories into a distant third.

Lynne Featherstone will step down in November, when the council group will choose a new leader. In a vote of thanks, Wayne Hoban, Chair of the Lib Dems’ 15-strong council group, said:

“We owe a great deal to Lynne, who has put Haringey Lib Dems in pole position to challenge Labour in the borough – and we have wiped out the Tories in the process. She is a great friend, has been a superb leader, and will continue to be a key part of our local team.”

Lynne Featherstone comments: “It has been hugely enjoyable and exciting to lead the Lib Dems in Haringey. I will continue to play a prominent a role in the coming period, and look forward to even more campaigning on local issues.

“My decision is really a recognition that the council group is in good shape and I can step aside with complete confidence that the work of the council group will be in good hands. And I will continue to play my part as a councillor for Muswell Hill and with all my local campaigns such as securing the reopening of Muswell Hill police station front counter.”

Haringey Council’s Key Stage 2 results remain among the worst in the country, according to results published today in the Times Educational Supplement.

Provisional aggregate scores show that Haringey has the sixth worst results in England for Key Stage 2.

Commenting on the results, Lib Dem Education Spokesman, Cllr Ross Laird said:

“Haringey’s education service is still struggling to meet the basic needs of local pupils. While the authority and schools are to be congratulated on their GCSE results, these figures demonstrate that the Labour-run council still has a mountain to climb to get grades up to an acceptable level.”

Councillor Ross Laird, Lib Dem councillor for Muswell Hill, has expressed his dismay that one month on from his call for Haringey Council to help clean up piles of rubbish in Farrer Mews, Muswell Hill, the situation has not improved.

Cllr Laird commented:

“Farrer Mews is verging on being an utter disgrace. There are piles of rubbish and abandoned household appliances. The fact that it is not in full glare of the public is no reason for ignoring the state of the area. I have written to the director of Haringey Accord, the council’s cleansing contractor to urge an immediate clean-up operation.”

Crouch End Lib Dem Councillor Ron Aitken has called for Haringey Council’s Environment Department to take action over a green space on Crouch End Hill that has become overgrown and dilapidated. The slope, next to the BT Site and the 91 bus stop, used to provide a welcome respite for travellers on their way up the hill from Crouch End. However in recent years the shrubs have reached out onto the pavement and benches have been vandalized beyond use.

Ron Aitken was contacted by a constituent who wrote:

“This slope is now completely covered in rampant brambles, which have not only covered the open space but are now intruding onto the pavement….another of the benches which used to provide a resting place for the elderly has completely disappeared and the back of the third is broken.”

Cllr Aitken has written to Haringey Environmental Services asking them to act. Ron Aitken comments:

“Haringey must try harder to look after the small green spaces that can make Crouch End such a pleasure to live in. Let’s hope they sort out this site.”

Highgate Lib Dem councillors have welcomed the news that Haringey Council has agreed to their demands for better consultation with residents over a possible controlled parking zone (CPZ) in Highgate.

The councillors had demanded a special area assembly meeting for Highgate residents to discuss the plans. Haringey Council is now going organising the meeting for late October or early November.

Lib Dem councillor Neil Williams comments:

“Parking is an important and emotive issue, and it is important that residents are given the chance to meet with council officials to discuss the plans being put together by the council.”

Lib Dem transport spokesperson at the London Assembly, Lynne Featherstone, adds:

“This is welcome news, particularly as the knock-on effects of Camden’s plans for its side of Highgate are likely to be significant if they are implemented. We need better co-operation across the borough boundary in order to ensure that Highgate as a whole doesn’t suffer from different councils taking contradictory steps.”

Lib Dem Leader Lynne Featherstone has written to the head of the Government’s Social Services Inspectorate (SSI) demanding an explanation over Haringey’s controversial attempts to interfere with an investigation carried out by the SSI into Haringey’s children’s services.

The move follows the uncovering of the issue by the local Lib Dems and The Guardian newspaper. In a letter to Denise Platt, Chief Inspector of the SSI, Lynne Featherstone has accused the Labour-run council of:

1.Making direct contact with the recipients of SSI questionnaires, despite the fact that the information accompanying the questionnaires assured users that they were ‘anonymous’.

2.Offering home visits in order to “help” recipients to fill in the forms. One person, for example, was rung by Council staff who endeavoured to make an appointment for someone to call round to help her fill in the form.

3.Asking at least one recipient of the survey form if they had brought it along to a case conference The council had apparently planned to collect the forms rather than have them sent directly to the SSI.

Lynne Featherstone comments:

“In defending this behaviour, Haringey Council has argued that the SSI’s inspector is happy with this procedure and has no concerns over Haringey Council’s behaviour in this respect. I find it very surprising that an organisation investigating a council should find it acceptable for people working for that council to interfere with the collection of evidence by the inquiry. It is time we had some satisfactory answers.”

A Lib Dem councillor has slammed the Labour-run Haringey Council for failing to turn up at a vital meeting with neighbouring boroughs to discuss the controversial plans for the A406 North Circular Road.

The criticism comes from Councillor Susan Oatway of Alexandra ward, after Haringey council staff failed to attend a vital Monday night meeting on 23rd September, which included the local GLA member and MPs, along with officers and councillors from both Barnet and Enfield councils.

Susan Oatway says the issue strongly affects residents in the Bounds Green area. The Transport for London proposals for the road, which involve changes to several junctions between Bounds Green Road and Green Lanes, are certain to affect Haringey traffic flows. A dedicated cycle network is also being mooted, along with restricted access to several side roads.

The Liberal Democrats have been leading the campaign in Haringey to ensure that residents are properly consulted and involved. It was only after pressure from the Lib Dems, that Haringey Council arranged a meeting to consult local residents.

Susan Oatway comments:

“This meeting was a useful step in getting key players together on the North Circular Road. I have written to Haringey Council expressing my dismay that there was no one to represent the council’s view on such an important issue. Haringey much show a bigger interest in these plans.”