Crouch End Liberal Democrat councillor David Winskill has condemned this week’s theft of plants and flowerpots from Middle Lane Mews in the heart of Crouch End, and has appealed to the public for any information regarding the incident.

Two large plants were stolen from planters on Tuesday night (14th July 2008) – just three weeks after thieves stole ornamental, glazed pots from the area.

The planters and plants had been paid for from a successful Making the Difference bid by residents working with Cllr Winskill in an effort to “green” the Mews. This was part of a long-term project to clean up the whole area to deter fly tipping, poor waste management and anti-social behaviour.

Cllr Winskill commented:

“This is incredibly disappointing. Residents have really thrown themselves into this project and now feel dreadfully let down by the anti-social theft of the pots and plants.I have informed Crouch End Safer Neighbourhood Team and I would appeal for anyone who saw the theft or has any information to contact me in confidence.”

Promised plans to refurbish Muswell Hill Library and provide vital disabled access that were due to take place this year have been postponed yet again by Haringey Council. Muswell Hill Library has been waiting for years to be refurbished but at Tuesday night’s (15 July 2008) Council Cabinet meeting the all Labour membership voted to delay refurbishment till 2009/10, dashing the hopes of local residents.

Cllr Gail Engert (Muswell Hill ward) commented:

“Muswell Hill Library is in a lamentable state with wallpaper hanging off the walls, toilets in an unacceptable condition and the top floor not accessible to disabled residents. Residents and local Liberal Democrat councillors have been campaigning for years to have this listed building returned to a fit state and accessible to all.

“Yet again the Labour Council have reneged on their promises and let residents down.”

Lynne Featherstone MP added:

“I worry about how long it can be left in such an awful state before Muswell Hill Library becomes beyond repair.Local people are being let down by Labour while another of our community treasures is left to rot.”

Kick-starting the Proud of Pubs week at the Three Compasses on the Hornsey High Street, Lynne Featherstone on Friday popped down from her office for a visit. The Liberal Democrat MP, who has offices above the award-winning pub, joined in the nation-wide campaign to mark the importance of pubs for the local community.

Lynne Featherstone comments:

“The Three Compasses is an excellent example of a pub that helps create that sense of community- a friendly meeting place where people in the area get a chance to get to know each other.

“With local services being cut right left and centre, local meeting places like these are becoming a rarity – that’s why I’m glad to say that I’m proud of the role pubs play in bringing the local community together, and particularly proud of the Three Compasses.”

Haringey’s Labour councillors were forced to admit this week that they had made little impact to alter the disastrous decision to close five Post Offices in the borough. The admission of defeat came at a meeting of Full Council on Monday (14th July 2008) after local Liberal Democrats used their ‘opposition time’ to examine Haringey Council’s actions to save Post Offices for residents.

Labour members described their actions to help the beleaguered service but it contained little more than meetings and phone calls. Liberal Democrats called for original thinking to solve the crisis. Cllr Susan Oatway (Alexandra ward) showed the real impact of the closures by presenting the effects on her residents.

Cllr Robert Gorrie, Liberal Democrat leader, commented:

“Haringey Council has hidden behind the refusal of Post Office Ltd to provide financial information. The disdain with which the Post Office has brushed-off local government in their search to save local Post Offices is a disgrace but not helped by a Labour Council who do not seem to have the ideas, will, nor ability to come up with a plan to help.

“It’s not good enough for Labour councillors to blame the Post Office. The Post Office is publicly owned and is only implementing the Labour government’s national closure strategy.”

Susan Oatway added:

“I think that Labour have failed their residents. Many people with disabilities or elderly residents relied on their local Post Office for a lifeline. Now this support has been cut with little real effort by the Council to stop it.”

Lynne Featherstone, MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, added:

“This Labour Council’s failure to come up with a solution to stop our local post offices from closing is just as bad as their Labour MP’s [David Lammy] repeated votes to shut down these essential lifelines – the proof of the pudding is in the voting.”

Joining in a procession that transformed the Archway Road into a sea of colour, local MP and Highgate resident Lynne Featherstone on Sunday celebrated the Highgate Hill Hindu Murugan Temple’s Chariot festival with hundreds of followers from across London.

The procession, where a replica of the Hindu God Shiva was carried on a mini-shrine along the Archway Road and side streets around the Temple, marked the culmination of a two week long religious festival.

Lynne Featherstone comments:

“I’m honoured to be invited to take part in this important religious event which also shows the fantastic cultural diversity we have here in the heart of Highgate. It’s easy to lose yourself in all the colour and music and forget that you’re actually on the Archway Road.”

Local Liberal Democrats threw down the gauntlet to Labour-run Haringey Council last night to set a target of an 80% reduction in Haringey’s C02 emissions by 2050. Labour councillors baulked at the Liberal Democrat challenge to beef-up their toothless Greenest Borough Strategy, which was criticised for failing to provide any firm targets or benchmarks for Haringey Council to stick to.

The strategy follows previous documents, including Agenda 21 in 2000 and the Nottingham Declaration in 2006, making this the third strategy paper on sustainability in eight years. Liberal Democrats highlighted at the Full Council meeting that commitments in previous policy documents have failed to be implemented.

Cllr Ed Butcher, Liberal Democrat Environment Spokesperson, commented:

“The greenest thing that the last two strategies ever accomplished was when they were recycled by Haringey Labour after the photo opportunity.

“The Haringey Greenest Borough strategy is full of warm sentiment, but thin on real commitment.A clear target is now needed at the heart of this strategy so we can actually judge whether we are the greenest borough.

“A reduction by 80% by 2050 is what is needed to avert climate catastrophe so we give a cast-iron commitment to doing our part to reduce our proportion of this.

“It is a toothless and meaningless tick box exercise that shows Haringey Labour’s real green credentials – no real commitment and no real action.”

Lynne Featherstone MP added:

“From my postbag and regular meetings with residents I know how worried people are. The last thing the planet needs is another meaningless piece of paper that gives no real commitment to action. I very much hope that Haringey Council wakes up to the threats climate change poses and sets clear targets.”

The woeful lack of youth facilities in the London Borough of Haringey is partly to blame for the high levels of youth crime say Liberal Democrats.

New information uncovered by local councillor Ron Aitken reveals that Haringey Council has failed to reduce youth crime in the borough over the past four years. Youth Offending Service figures show that consistently one in twenty young people in Haringey aged 10-17 commit offences per year.

Local Liberal Democrats have criticised Haringey Council for its lack of progress in tackling youth crime saying that Labour-run Haringey Council has not focussed enough on facilities for young people.

Cllr Ron Aitken, Liberal Democrat Crime Spokesperson, commented:

“Haringey Council has let down the young people in our borough for failing to tackle this problem. Week after week we hear that young people are involved in violent attacks and sadly nineteen under-eighteen year old have been murdered this year alone. The Council has spent £12million since 2004 on tackling youth crime yet what have they to show for it?”

Cllr Jonathan Bloch, Liberal Democrat Deputy Crime Spokesperson, added:

“It is quite clear that all Labour party efforts with their spin and punitive methods have failed. Young people need good, well managed facilities and support to tackle the causes of these offences – something sadly lacking in Haringey at present.”