Concern at secret housing decision

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A decision on whether local leaseholders will have to pay up to £800 towards the costs of digital aerials will now be taken in secret rather than in public, it has emerged.

In a move that will enrage leaseholders further, Haringey Council and Homes for Haringey bosses chose, last week, to hold a ‘behind closed doors’ meeting of the newly created Decent Homes Board to discuss the digital aerial issue rather than holding it in public.

Local Liberal Democrats, who were told recently that the decision would be taken at Haringey Council’s cabinet meeting tomorrow (21st July 2009), are concerned that Haringey’s 4,500 leaseholders may not be able to show their opposition to the current scheme if the decision is taken in secret.

Liberal Democrats have renewed their calls for a leaseholder opt-out , a better value scheme and have now demanded that Haringey Council holds a special public meeting with leaseholders to discuss plans.

Cllr Matt Davies, Liberal Democrat Housing spokesperson, comments:

“Leaseholders have already had a rotten deal out of this scheme. Yet, Haringey Council have now decided to ignore them entirely in discussions.

“Haringey Council and Homes for Haringey should give leaseholders an opt out scheme now.

“During a recession Haringey Council should not be asking leaseholders to fork out for diamond encrusted digital aerials that many don’t need and even more do not want.”

Lynne Featherstone MP adds:

“Haringey Council is truly treating leaseholders in a disdainful way – firstly forcing them to fork out excessive sums to watch TV, and now taking away their opportunity to have a say in the matter.

“This is unacceptable, and Haringey Council needs to arrange a public meeting as soon as possible to make sure residents get a fair say.”

Dumped rubbish in Woodside ward

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A dumped fridge in Arcadian Gardens (Woodside ward) shows the extent of the continuing problem of fly-tipping in the area, local Liberal Democrats have said. The fridge, ironically left next to a Haringey Council ‘Strictly No Dumping’ sign, was found last week by Cllr Ed Butcher.

Cllr Ed Butcher comments:

“The dumped fridge is a prime example of the ongoing problem that local residents face every time they walk down their street – dumped rubbish, dangerous pavements, litter and broken signs.

“Our regular campaigning in Woodside found many instances of fly-tipping that Haringey Council seems to have turned a blind eye to.”

What I've been doing this week…

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Just to catch up with some of the events I have attended this week.

One was the consultation / exhibition of the proposals for the new Hornsey Depot. The land is owned by Network Rail and they can and will build this new depot where lots of the new longer trains will come for cleaning etc.

Prime concerns are obviously what this huge depot will look like and its impact on the new, still to be built, Haringey Heartlands housing development; noise, environmental impact; traffic etc.

So the task is to minimise the impact on the community – and ask for as much mitigation as we can get. That includes trying to get residents and businesses that might be affected coming to the exhibition and talking to the agencies involved. Mind you, someone told me that the Haringey failed to mention the proposed depot to the Heartlands developer – even though they have known about it for two years. Really awful behaviour!

It will on the plus side create about 250 jobs – and since the economic development side of Heartlands appears to be on the back burner – that might be welcome – so long as they are local jobs!

This week also saw the latest Stroud Green and Crouch End Area Assembly. Couldn’t stay for all of it but did catch a conservation officer from Haringey Council giving the low down on the change to conservation rules and areas. Strange that a conservation officer should be so cavalier and seem not to wish to protect our local backland sites from crass over-development.

So here we go again – Haringey fails to protect and allows developers to cram awful and non-social housing into the tiny spaces that exist behind rows of houses – often lock-up garages. Lord knows we have fought against this type of rubbish development for ever – but the buggers keep coming back – and of course Haringey just changes the rules to make it even easier for them.

Highgate Horticultural Society had its 150th anniversary – and as ever the blooms were lovely. I gave out the prizes and had a nice cup of tea and a chat. So much work goes into organising these events and they are delightful – but more exhibits are needed and more young new people to challenge the Gary Sycamores of this world who win all the prizes!

Milton Road had its first street party for 30 years. Gosia Shannon who has just moved there is the driving force behind the renewed event. It was really a pleasure to go there and chat to everyone.

Street parties are just the best local community event, getting neighbours together and making it possible for people who may never even have said hello to get to know each other. I met lots of lovely young couples moving into the area or just moved – and one couple who were thinking of moving and who Gosia had insisted come to the party. They thought it was brilliant! So well done Milton Road.

St Ann’s Police Station had its open day – to which I seem to come every year and it was as popular as ever. The young children just love to be able to sit on the police motorbikes and press the sirens – so do I! Most years my favourite thing there is to meet the police dogs – but this year they didn’t have the capacity to send any – so we had police horses instead – see photo. They are just huge!

The Big Lunch at Sue Hessel’s house in Crouch End was fun too. This was happening all over the show – people throwing over their houses and people bringing food round. It was Cllr Lyn Weber’s birthday (I don’t know which one) and Sue had actually baked her a birthday cake!

And last but not least – The Big Canvass! About 40 of us went out in Bounds Green to see what local people wanted to raise with us as issues. Found a lamppost blown over in the wind on Trinity Road! Lots of fun and very good feeling out on the streets there. Lots of issues raised. Lots of doors knocked on.

Arlene bites the dust

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The BBC may well say that getting rid of Arlene from Strictly Come Dancing is nothing to do with her age – but I don’t believe them. To have one of the world’s most successful and knowledgeable choreographers judging the dancers has been a strength of the program – giving a real basis to those judgements. With an eye over their shoulder to competing with the X-Factor, the Beeb seems to think the magic formula of ‘refreshment’ is the answer – refreshment meaning bringing in a young, pretty female with less qualification for the job.

People will watch Strictly because they love it – and Arlene is part of the reason they love it. They’ll watch it with Alesha too – but it will have lost the very special reason it wasn’t just like other other programs – the very fact that it has flown in the face of age discrimination up until now with an older head judge and a very, very old presenter. Why not replace Len? Or Brucie? Oh – they’re older men – it’s only women who aren’t allowed to get old in pubic. So it’s not just age – it’s age and gender! Shame on you BBC!

Perhaps this should be a case for the Equality and Human Rights Commission? Organisations that spend public money have to be subject to the Equality Duty. The BBC were very keen that the new Equality Bill should not interfere with their rights in terms of program content – and we politicians leading on the Bill believed they meant that the law should have nothing to do with how many women, ethnic minorities, disabled people and so on should appear in their dramas and soaps etc. Clearly that would have been a nonsense. However, in view of this latest display of age and gender discrimination – perhaps we will have to reconsider this exemption.

And as the Equality Bill is not yet through its legislative processes – I will be considering bringing an amendment to the Bill which looks at the BBC’s exemption again. They clearly can’t be trusted.

Noel Park: Liberal Democrat survey shows failure of parking consultation

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Haringey Council proposals to expand parking controls in Noel Park have been thrown into doubt after a survey by local Liberal Democrats showed that one in six people failed to receive consultation documents on local streets.

Local residents were supposed to receive documents in April this year asking for their views on the new West Green and Bruce Grove Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ). However, it has emerged that many residents surveyed in Boreham Road and Westbury Avenue by local Noel Park councillor Fiyaz Mughal did not receive consultation documents at all.

Local Liberal Democrats have expressed their concern at Haringey Council’s failure to provide all households covered by the proposed new parking restrictions with an opportunity to respond to the consultation. They have also highlighted that the responses received to their own survey showed that nearly seventy per cent of those people who did not receive information about the consultation were against the new CPZ.

Next Tuesday the Council’s Labour cabinet will decide whether to proceed with the new West Green and Bruce Grove CPZ. Reports for the meeting show that 72% of local residents do not want it.

Cllr Fiyaz Mughal (Noel Park) comments:

“It is very worrying that Haringey Council can go ahead with new parking restrictions when local residents have not had an opportunity to take part in the consultations.

“We decided to run our own survey and this clearly shows that Haringey Council’s consultation failed to provide a true reflection of public opinion in Boreham Road and Westbury Avenue.

“I have written to parking bosses at Haringey Council for them to reconsider any decision taken to implement a CPZ in these roads until they take into consideration the results of our survey.”

Lynne Featherstone MP adds:

“This shows that Haringey Council is failing to engage fully with local people. If residents have not been provided with information and an opportunity to voice their opinions, then Haringey Council should not go ahead with plans.”

Rokesly Junior School: Local MP helps launch kids safety scheme

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To help local children learn how to stay safe on the streets, at school and on the internet, Lynne Featherstone MP joined the police and cartoon characters Curzon, Wizard and Miss Dorothy at a special assembly to launch missdorothy.com at Rokesly Junior School.

Missdorothy.com aims to teach children about safety and wellbeing in a fun and accessible way. Children are invited to use a special website in class and to email Miss Dorothy with questions and concerns. Members of the local police, fire brigade and the Tottenham Hotspur foundation will also hold special classes to provide the children with information about their roles.

Lynne Featherstone MP comments:

“This is just a brilliant initiative. Kids get to learn about safety and wellbeing in a fun, imaginative and incredibly accessible way. If they are worried or have questions about any safety issue they can talk to a teacher or email Dot directly.

“It’s great the way the school is working, not only with fun cartoon characters like Curzon and Wizard – but also the local police, fire brigade and Spurs coaches. They’re all fantastic role models and will hopefully help kids think about their wellbeing in a fun and positive way.”

Notes:

1. The missdorothy.com programme has been funded by the Metropolitan Police for 100,000 primary school children across every London borough.The programme is supported by the UK’s fire and police chiefs and the Professional Footballers’ Association, who are working together to get important safety messages to every child in the country.

2. The programme has been endorsed by the DCSF and has been piloted in South Yorkshire, where all 60,000 primary school children have been taking part for the past three years, funded by the local police and fire service.

3. Rokesly Primary School in Haringey will be using the programme across all four year groups from September.

Bloody ridiculous!

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So children’s authors have decided that they may boycott going into schools because some jobsworth has decided they may be a risk to children and will henceforth have to register.

The authors believe (and so do I) that those who would harm little children are hardly likely to do it in front of 30-100 children with numerous teachers in the hall or room when they have gone into the school to read from their latest book for an hour.

There have been many mad politically over-correct requirements in recent years – but this takes the biscuit. For goodness sake let the good guys carry on – target the bad guys!

You know all doctors have to jump through endless beaurocratic hoops – because Harold Shipman was a murderer. He was a bad guy -now the good guys have to spend zillions of hours in pointless box ticking.

All the good guys who arive a minute late back to a car parked lawfully on a meter – get a ticket and pay it. it’s the bad guys on a zigzag with no insurance who get away with it!

If you want to volunteer for an hour to help out some local group – it will take months to get approval. The good guys are giving up – but the paedophiles will jump through the necessary hoops.

If we had to have ID cards (hopefully not – bloody useless) the good guys would carry them and the criminals would get fakes – no prob.

So let our lovely children’s authors go into schools! Freedom from state tyranny I say!

Kevin McCloud and Lynne Featherstone build case for greener homes

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Lynne Featherstone MP for Hornsey and Wood Green joined Grand Designs host Kevin McCloud outside Parliament to build a compelling case for a nationwide green refurbishment programme.

The Grand Designs Great British Refurb Campaign, led by Kevin McCloud, has gained the support of thousands of homeowners across the country who are asking for Government support to make their homes more energy efficient.

Tackling our poorly insulated, inefficient housing stock, has the potential to reduce homeowners energy bills, create thousands of ‘green collar’ jobs, and help the UK meet its climate change targets.

Lynne Featherstone MP joined the campaign by helping Kevin McCloud insulate his ‘home’ outside the Houses of Parliament.

Lynne Featherstone MP said: “Tackling the energy efficiency of the UK’s 26 million existing homes must be a priority for the Government. Homeowners can do their bit to reduce their energy consumption, but they need more support and greater financial incentives to green their homes, and unlock the potential energy and cost savings within their four walls.”

It is estimated that by retrofitting our existing housing stock, nine million tonnes of carbon dioxide could be saved – the equivalent to the average CO2 output of over 1.5 million homes per year. The market for green refurbishment and improvement could be worth between £3.5 billion and £6.5 billion per year and thousands of new jobs could be created. Britons could save on average £300 a year on household bills by being more energy efficient and improving heating and insulation in the home

The Great British Refurb Campaign is supported by the Energy Saving Trust, Grand Designs magazine, UK Green Building Council and WWF-UK. Thousands of homeowners have already added their name to a petition calling upon the Prime Minister to make it easier, more affordable, and more attractive to go green at home. This petition will be delivered to No 10 Downing Street later this week and is well timed to coincide with the Government’s latest announcement on reducing the UK’s energy demands.

Kevin McCloud says: “We urgently need a plan of action to deliver on our climate change targets. A nationwide programme of green refurbishment is an ideal solution, creating a major reduction in carbon emissions and providing a boost to the economy through the creation of green collar jobs in our communities. But in order to achieve this, the Government must first remove the cost barrier and make it a tangible solution for the nation’s homeowners.”

The Great British Refurb Campaign is calling upon the Government to:

1. Offer households new ways to pay for green refurbishment, which would significantly reduce upfront costs and instead spread them over a longer period of time.

2. Provide better financial incentives for householders to refurbish their homes to make them greener and more energy efficient, through substantial government grants, subsidies or tax rebates.

3. Ensure installers are qualified and approved to undertake the work.

To find out more about the Great British Refurb Campaign visit www.greatbritishrefurb.co.uk.

Speaker Bercow takes another step!

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Featured on Liberal Democrat VoiceWhen I was on the front bench listening to the Prime Minister’s statement and wanting to get called to ask my ‘helicopter’ question – I thought I would carry out a little experiment to see if Speaker Bercow was going to get rid of silly rules.

Under Speaker Martin – and probably legions before him – LibDem frontbenchers who want to get called to ask a question have to go and sit in the second row – as until now we have only been allowed one speaker from the front bench – and that is obviously the opposite number to the Government minister.

Now – I am the same person – whether I am on the front bench or the row behind – so it has always struck me as a stupid rule – and stupid rules is what I am looking to Speaker Bercow to get rid of.

So – I decided to test him out by standing to get called whilst still on the front bench – and not moving to the row behind.

Nearing the end of the statement period, and the last person Speaker Bercow called before he changed over to the Deputy Speaker – was – yes me!

This may seem one small step for me – but this was huge in terms of political mankind. Well done Speaker Bercow – moderniser and man of your word!

Helicopters again!

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Gordon Brown in his statement to the Commons on the G8 – which was mostly about Afghanistan – re-iterated the same exact statistics on helicopters that Harriet gave at PMQs. He said that we had increased them 60% in the last two years as well as increasing the flying time capability. Many members referred to the need for helicopters – but the Prime Minister just repeated the mantra again.

I managed to get called myself to ask him what percentage of that 60% increase were helicopters that can transport troops. Once again he re-iterated the figures he had now given a number of times. I can understand he didn’t want to give numbers – but percentages should have been alright.

He went further than Harriet in that he did say that both types of helicopter were in that 60%. What is so difficult though without a proper answer – is to know whether the Government is hiding the fact that so few of the helicopters in that additional 60% could actually carry troops or whether it is a military secret.