Parking at the Highgate Group Practice

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Lynne Featherstone MP at Highgate Group PracticeVisited Highgate Group Practice to look at the appalling situation they are in thanks to Haringey Council.

With the introduction of a CPZ by Haringey Council, this fantastic local practice worked to try and help Haringey Council get it right. Transport and parking is important for a GP service – because, by its very nature, many of the people coming to use the service have difficulty getting about because they are old, ill or both. To make the situation even more pressing – the site is badly served by public transport. So – there is a need for people to be able to visit by car.

Now, there is a two-hour slot in the day when there are no surgeries – and the CPZ being introduced was due to be for two hours a day. Ah – problem solved! Well you or I might think that – but whilst the surgery down time is 12:00-2:00pm, Haringey insisted that the CPZ had to be in force at 10:00-12:00 rather than 12:00-2:00pm. Aaaaargh!

Ok, said the practice – why not then introduce 12 pay and display slots in View Road, which has empty residents’ parking bays virtually all the way? Yes said the council. Ah – problem solved! Oh but no. Because Haringey Council said it would introduce the bays back in September – but still hasn’t. Now they’re promising they’ll do it in February. Let’s hope the 700 signature petition helps keep them to this promise!

Adding insult to injury – the welcome idea of introducing a bus stop opposite the practice has been a farce. They’ve sloped the road in order to bring pavement level down to where buses would load – but they have not actually introduced a bus stop. And if they did introduce the stop at the site where the pavement work has been done – it would obstruct all the traffic on this relatively heavy flow road. Nil out of ten to Transport for London. I will be raising this with Peter Hendy on Wednesday.

Ho hum!

Brian Paddick comes calling

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Brian PaddickBrian Paddick came to my house for a fundraising dinner this weekend. What a star! The (would-be) donors were all won over by him. I think it is actually his genuine sincerity and absolute determination to deliver to London. As he says – that is his track record. In the Met he delivered. In both his commands crime dropped more than anywhere else in London.

If he can translate that sort of record of delivering results in a key public service – the police – to transport and so on in London, it would be phenomenal.

That’s really the key to this job: a vision of a safer, greener, happier London – and the track record to deliver and inspire. He is not all talk. He is not prone to political spin. He is doing this because he believes he can really change London for the better. And you know what – I reckon he can too!

P.S. You can sign up for news from Brian’s campaign here.

Just how powerful is George W Bush?

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After Dome of the Rock, Jerusalemtheir escapades in Iraq, George W Bush and Tony Blair don’t make the most likely duo to bring peace to the Middle East. But as they say – truth is stranger than fiction, so who knows what they will achieve!

It’ll be interesting to see just how much power Bush and American can really wield in the Middle East – because it is Bush’s desire for a peace deal by the end of the year, and consequential political legacy for him as he leaves office, that is driving this latest attempt.

There’s been no big change in office in the key countries in the Middle East, nor a major change in policy by any of the players there, nor even some cunning new plan to save age old problems.

Rather this new peace attempt is really all being driven by Bush deciding he wants to give it a go – which means, hopefully, we will see just how much influence the US can exert when it really wants to.

And whilst I certainly don’t always wish President Bush and his attempts to wield power around the globe luck – let’s hope this time US power is truly mighty and opens up the door to peace where so many other attempts have failed.

Victory in parking signs battle

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At last! Last year my colleague Martin Newton (Fortis Green ward) took up with the Department of Transport the case of some badly designed and confusing parking signs in Haringey. The Department confirmed our view – and said they were unsatisfactory. Haringey Council has now agreed to take proper action on the signs.

I hope this will finally put an end to the parking roulette residents often have to play on streets of Haringey. Parking restrictions should be about sensibly managing limited spaces rather than frankly confusing signs that can lead to people being unfairly caught out. We’ll see!

Monarchy revisited: why should sexism in the choice of monarch be acceptable?

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Buckingham PalaceWell, well. My raising of the issue of how women get bumped for men when it comes to succession to our throne has caused a bit of a fuss!

And my old sparring partner at the GLA, Tory Brian Coleman, does in particular seem to have got really quite excited! (He also distorts our monarchy’s actual history. He says we shouldn’t touch something that has been in place for hundreds of years, but in fact the monarchy has been repeatedly reinventing itself and much of what we now think of as traditional was actually started in the twentieth century. Why should attitudes towards women from several hundred years ago be one area left untouched and preserved?)

For me the basic point is quite simple: the monarchy is meant to be a symbol for our country, so what does it say that we enshrine sexism right at its heart – in the rules for who gets to be monarch? Banishing sexism from the monarchy would be a powerful symbol for the rest of society – where there is still so much to do.

Anyway – the New Statesman has now published a further piece from me on the topic, and there was also coverage in the Evening Standard. Fingers crossed for Women’s Hour next week too, unless some other story comes along to bump it off the schedule.

UPDATE: Also hit The Observer too.

Good news on the 210 bus

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Excellent Photograhp of a bus lanenews has just come through about the 210 bus route – it’s going double-decker. That means more space on the buses, hurrah!

This will kick off on 16th February. It’s a shame that it has taken Transport for London so long to respond to the issue – but credit where credit is due, they have now.

Action on school exercise urged by local MP

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One in ten children in Haringey schools is not getting enough physical exercise figures uncovered this week by Lynne Featherstone MP have shown.

Official statistics show 11% of pupils are not receiving the minimum two hours of high quality physical education or sport a week.

Lynne Featherstone MP has called on Haringey Council to do more to achieve this basic target.

Commenting Ms. Featherstone says:

“Child obesity is quite literally a growing problem. Two hours a week is a bare minimum and it is extremely worrying that such a high proportion of local children are not even getting this.

“It is clear that Haringey Council needs to be upping its game on PE in school and I have requested an urgent report on what it is doing to ensure all our pupils are getting this basic requirement.”

Liberal Democrats welcome bigger 210 bus service

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Residents in Haringey will soon benefit from extra capacity on a popular local bus service. Haringey Liberal Democrats have welcomed news that the number 210 bus service, which carries passengers and shoppers from Finsbury Park to Brent Cross shopping centre will be extended next month. Double deck buses will be introduced by Transport for London (TfL) from 16th February 2008 serving Stroud Green, Archway and Highgate.

Cllr Neil Williams (Highgate) comments:

“This is very good news for bus users in Highgate and beyond. The 210 is an important interconnecting route for local residents and for far too long their journey has been a misery due to overcrowding.”

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

“It is shame it has taken so long for TfL to respond to what is such a obvious local transport need – so this is an welcome upgrade. Hopefully they will now turn their attention to the long running campaign for extending the 603 finally giving Highgate the full bus service is needs.”

Note: the route will also run with slightly revised frequencies; buses will run every 7-8 minutes instead of every 6-7 minutes Monday to Saturdays.