CAMPAIGN HALTS NOEL PARK ALLOTMENT SALE

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The allotments in Noel Park have this week been saved from developers by a successful campaign by local residents and Liberal Democrat councillors. Haringey Council had been planning to sell the plot of land behind Salisbury Road in order to make way for six houses to be built, but Labour Council leader George Meehan bowed to pressure from Noel Park ward councillors and the Noel Park Residents Association and cancelled the sale at the eleventh hour.

The allotments are one of the very few remaining green spaces in Noel Park.Residents and councillors Catherine Harris and Fiyaz Mughal are angry that the decision was going to be taken without any consultation with local people.

Councillor Harris comments:

“Local residents have come to me astounded that Labour-run Haringey Council could have the cheek to sell off the local allotments without consulting them. This is a fantastic victory for local people who are concerned about preserving the few remaining green spaces close to where they live.”

Councillor Mughal comments:

“The proposal to build six houses on these allotments is totally against the wishes of residents and raises huge questions as to which other green field sites are being sold off by Labour under residents’ noses. Our victory here in getting the sale stopped shows that, when exposed to public scrutiny, Labour can be forced to act properly.”

LORDSHIP LANE CAMERAS BRING IN £3.2 MILLION A YEAR

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Lordship Lane is the most lucrative road for any council in Britain, bringing in £3.2 million a year through parking and bus lane fines and other penalties. A freedom of information request by Channel 4 News online revealed that nearly 32,000 Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) were issued on the road in a year, bringing in a large proportion of the £18 million raised annually for Haringey through fines across the borough.

Councillor Martin Newton, Lib Dem Spokesperson for the Environment, comments:

“Traffic calming measures are very important when they are being used to increase road safety, but when a single road is bringing in this much cash for the Council, questions need to be asked. The figures show that almost 90 penalties a day are being issued, making Lordship Lane drivers the most penalised in the entire country.

“The Labour-run council’s reliance on penalty fines to balance its books is concerning. There is a feeling amongst motorists in the borough that they are not being treated fairly by the Council, and that there is a spirit of trying to catch them out. If rules are broken, then people should have to pay, but the Council should not be treating this as a cash cow to be exploited – it should be hoping to change people’s behaviour on the road.”

Councillor Wayne Hoban, Tottenham Lib Dem spokesperson, states:

“Obviously there is a need to curb irresponsible parking and driving for the greater good, but this is yet another hidden tax introduced by a Labour council not only bankrupt of ideas, but also incapable of balancing its books. It is nothing short of scandalous that Labour Haringey should hit Tottenham motorists with such heavy-handed penalties designed to plug gaping holes in their budgets rather than improve traffic management.”

Note: for more information, see www.channel4.com/news/foi/2006/parking/parking_fines_by_london_borough.html

LABOUR PLANNED TO HAVE CPZS IN PLACE BY JANUARY

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Labour-run Haringey Council’s budget shows that they planned to have at least two CPZs in place by January, and the two ‘Stop-and-Shop schemes up and running by September this year.

They are being criticised for having budgeted before ensuring that local people wanted the schemes to go ahead, a decision which has led to the service responsible predicting an overspend of half a million pounds by the end of the financial year.

A report to the Council’s executive shows a projected overspend by the Environment Services of £500,000, and explains “This projected shortfall is in parking income and is the estimated impact of the recent changes in the CPZ plan.” Through enquiries to the Council, Lib Dem councillor Robert Gorrie has been able to confirm that the Haringey Council budget had been drawn up with an assumption that the parking schemes would bring in at least £265,000 in this financial year.

The remaining quarter of a million pounds’ difference is likely to be due to the Council being forced to carry out further stages of consultation following the overwhelming opposition to the schemes.

The Council’s response shows that Labour had planned to have the Stop-and-Shop schemes in place by September, and the CPZs up and running by January 1st 2007. The Liberal Democrats are criticising Labour for having made financial assumptions before knowing the outcomes of the consultations with residents.

Councillor Gorrie comments:

“It is incredibly disappointing, but not surprising, to discover that Labour are counting their chickens before they’ve hatched. To have actually made financial assumptions that the CPZs were going to be in place shows a worrying lack of financial prudence, and it is arrogant to have assumed that local opposition to the schemes would not be an issue. This is just one more stain on the record of a Labour administration that simply cannot run the finances of the borough effectively.”

Councillor Martin Newton, Lib Dem Spokesperson for the Environment, comments:

“Labour have budgeted for these schemes before finding out whether local people want them or not. In many cases, as we have seen in Muswell Hill and Crouch End, local people are deeply unimpressed with Labour’s proposals. They should have taken the trouble to properly consult the residents before going ahead and making assumptions about how much money these schemes were going to bring in.”

STROUD GREEN COUNCILLORS URGE ACTION ON STROUD GREEN FLOODS

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The Lib Dem councillors for Stroud Green have demanded urgent action from Haringey Council to fix the blocked drains in and around Stroud Green Road which have been flooding for several months.

There are several sites where the drains are severely blocked, causing flooding every time it rains. The problem is particularly bad on Marquis and Perth Road, perpendicular to Stroud Green Road.

Councillor Ed Butcher says:

“After a heavy rainfall, I regularly see people getting soaked by passing cars as they wait to cross. Recently I saw one poor old lady who had to dodge the traffic on Stroud Green Road trying to circumnavigate the puddle on Perth Road.”

“Action needs to be taken now before these floods become Biblical in proportion or someone gets hurt.”

Councillor Wilson adds:

“There is obviously a serious drainage problem that needs urgent investigation and repair by the Council. The puddles are surprisingly large and deep:when I investigated the water in Perth Road it went several inches up my wellies.But Stroud Green residents shouldn’t need to wear wellies just to use the local shops!

“Stroud Green residents often feel a bit neglected by Haringey Council as we’re at the end of the borough, and the Council not taking any action for months on end only adds to their suspicions.”

Birthplace of TV at Alexandra Palace to be lost?

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Another The future of the birthplace of regular TV at Alexandra Palace is under threatlocal issue that has blown up is the danger that the Ally Pally TV studios are in as the Ally Pally Board, headed by Haringey Labour councillor Charles Adje, has now confirmed that there is no long-term protection for the studios (the birth place of television) in the proposed sale of the Palace to the Firoka Group on a 125 year lease.

The television studios at Alexandra Palace were occupied in 1935 by the BBC, and in 1936 the first television broadcasts were made from the site. The lease that could be signed with the Firoka group only requires that the group provide a space for a museum somewhere within the building, not the maintenance of the original studios.

My Lib Dem councillor colleague, Bob Hare, who is Lib Dem Alexandra Palace spokesperson put it very well I thought – “This is the equivalent of losing Stonehenge and replacing it with a fibreglass replica. The television studios are of vast historical importance not just locally but nationally and internationally. It is a crying shame that in their rush to complete the deal with Firoka, there has been no thought given to their long-term survival. We must do everything we can to ensure that our children do not regret the hasty decisions that are being made about the future of Ally Pally.”

The Charity Commission will soon start a short, one-month public consultation on the proposals to sell the Palace – so here’s your chance to have a save and help save the TV studios by emailing the Charity Commission at enquiries@charitycommission.gsi.gov.uk

As always the emails that work best with this sort of lobbying are short, temperate but clear messages that include your full name and postal address. It would be handy if you could also copy your email to me at lynne@lynnefeatherstone.org

(It would also help the campaign if you can mention this lobbying campaign, such as by linking to this blog posting, on any appropriate website or blog you have).

I am also tabling an Early Day Motion in Parliament – so if you don’t live in my constituency you can contact your MP asking them to sign this EDM when it comes up for signature.

UPDATE: You can read about the latest state of play here.

Highgate police station to reopen?

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Last outing of the day on is a much happier one. I meet up with Sergeant Leon Christodoulou (Highgate Safer Neighbourhood Police Team) and two local community support officers and Paul McLean Thorne (a local shop owner on Archway Road) to visit potential new premises for the Highgate Safer Neighbourhood Team. We looked at several vacant properties between the station and the old police station – and although they were in good locations, there didn’t appear to be enough room and they would need a tremendous amount of work. Then the last visit was to the old Highgate Police Station.

You know there are moments when you really just have to laugh. As we walked in, the ground floor has disabled access, it is in the right location, the old front counter is still there in relatively good nick should they want to put in a volunteer service. There is space and there could not be a better or more suitable premises. Well, it did use to be a police station … !

Our local Commander, Simon O’Brien, had just emailed me to say that this was a possibility for premises and I will be writing back to say that he would be completely mad if he and the Met Police Estates did not use these premises. They are absolutely ideal. Highgate residents would be over the moon.

What tickles me about all this is that the Commander before the Commander before Simon, Stephen James, said – when I had begged him to re-open the station – ‘over my dead body’. Perhaps I ought to give him a call…

Can Royal Mail deliver?

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I Meeting with Pat Patel, who runs the post office in Hornsey High Street, to discuss the problems Labour's policies are causing for the post office networkhad a meeting with Pat Patel who owns the sub-post office in Hornsey High Street to see what on earth else I can do to try and drum it through the Government’s head about the damage their post offices policies are causing not only the service itself but also the very social fabric of many local communities. (This is also the topic of my latest newspaper column – so I won’t repeat the points made in much more detail there).

We agree on Parliamentary questions and lobbying – but I am grim with doubt that the Labour juggernaut will continue to destroy all before it.

Stop and shop in Haringey

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Busy day at surgery – and harrowing as usual. Followed by rushing up to Muswell Hill Broadway to receive a huge petition (3,450) against the Stop & Shop proposals from Labour-run Haringey Council. The petition was started by Andrew Rowan of 225 Jewellery Exchange with signatures that were collected during the summer by traders along Muswell Hill Broadway, between the roundabout and Colney Hatch Lane.

The People have overwhelming rejected Labour's Stop and Shop plans for both Muswell Hill and Crouch Endpetition calling for ‘FAIR PARKING’, and requested a few free short-term parking bays to match those provided along the other stretches of the Broadway. It also requested warning signs to be provided notifying people that parking enforcement by CCTV camera takes place in the area. I might add – a CCTV camera that was earning a fortune for Haringey Council – trained on a safe place to stop by a cash point. A nice little earner!

There have never been any calls by these traders for Pay and Display to be provided and they have been very angry that Pay and Display has been the only option that the Council seems to be prepared to consider. Good to see though that they are also proposing positive plans as well as opposing Labour’s unwanted ideas.

I say unwanted because the first stage of consultation on the Labour Council’s ‘Stop and Shop’ parking scheme in Muswell Hill shows that an overwhelming 98.8% (really!) of responses were for the scheme to be scrapped. Liberal Democrat councillors felt it was necessary to scrutinise the responses to the Council’s consultation, and found that of 724 responses to the consultation, just 9 were in favour of the proposals. Crouch End has also responded with a resounding ‘No’ – with 90% opposition to its pay and display scheme (out of 143 responses, 128 were against the plans).

Local councillor Martin Newton, Lib Dem spokesperson for Environment, Traffic and Highways has written to Cllr Brian Haley, Labour Executive Member for Environment, to ask for these schemes to be abandoned, as virtually no one wanted these pay and display schemes in Muswell Hill or Crouch End. Cllr Haley has often been quoted saying that the Council do not impose parking schemes on unwilling residents, so he has been asked to honour this, and to not go ahead with imposing these schemes against the wishes of the local community.

I am now going to wade in with a letter to the Council Leader George Meehan to honour the Council’s pledge that it listens to local people and doesn’t impose unwanted schemes on them.

Post it!

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I managed to attract Mr Speaker’s eye during Questions last week, coming in on a question from another MP on lost and stolen post.Having done a survey in Hornsey & Wood Green and received well over a thousand responses, it is clear to me that the Royal Mail has major problems dealing with the issues that people raise.

Whilst some respondents praised their local postman with affection – there were many more who complained of not only lost and stolen post – but late post, no post and wrongly delivered post.

I raised the result of my survey with the Minister (Alistair Darling) who said he would see that the Royal Mail addressed any specific issues that my constituents had raised and that 99% of the mail is delivered just fine and dandy. Gee thanks Alistair – but I have already passed all the individual complaints to the Royal Mail having already got their agreement that they would deal with them. And 99% still means a huge mountain of mail going wrong on a daily basis.

It’s not just dealing with the individual complaints – it’s systemic problems of lost, stolen, misdelivered and late post that are driving people mad. Maybe I will send him the 1,000 plus responses I got – and when this tip of the iceberg is plonked on his desk maybe he will stop quoting mantras and start taking action…

Interestingly enough, the Royal Mail refuses to publish local figures on delivery. You can have the national figures – but no local break down. Commercial confidentiality is their defence against publishing them – but it feels like protection against real scrutiny. If I could get the breakdown on mail delivery in Hornsey & Wood Green – I could nag more effectively!

I am in the process of setting up a local pressure group (MailWatch) to get real action locally on the problems. The idea is to work with local sorting offices directly where problems are occurring to resolve any issues. This way there will be a real chance of improving the local service. Dealing with Customer Relations centrally just doesn’t get down to the nitty gritty. I met with the Royal Mail and they have agreed to co-operate in this way. So if you are interested in being involved – just contact me.

Post was clearly the flavour of the week as we Lib Dems had an Opposition Day – which means we got to put a motion for debate in the House of Commons. And as the Government has refused to give the Post Office any debating time – we picked the Post Office network for our debate. The network of sub-post offices has been decimated over recent years – denuding both rural and urban areas of a central function and social fulcrum. Thousands of sub-post offices have given up the ghost as Government has removed function after function from their stock of services making them financially unviable. There are plenty of examples here in our own community.

What the Government seems completely deaf to are the consequences for little local shopping parades all over the country and for the vulnerable who can just about get to a post office. Stony ground during the debate. The Government is not interested in good arguments, logic or reason – only in steam-rollering through ‘modernisation’. Sadly the Government can always out vote us and they did.

That’s why the lobby this week of Parliament by sub-postmasters was so important – and they handed in at Downing Street the biggest petition ever presented – over four million signatures.

Don’t get me wrong – this isn’t about preserving some quaint but failing service that is economically unsustainable – this is about the challenge of true transformation to the sort of services that could and should be provided locally through such sub-post offices serving local people, cutting travel and bringing footfall to those small business that are so vital to our local shopping parades and rural villages.

Knife crime

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Managed to get called during Business Questions – which is a quaint way of bringing constituency issues to the fore and asking the Leader of the House (Labour MP Jack Straw) for a debate. The debate I asked for was on the rate of grant from the government for statutory support for asylum seekers.

In Haringey we happily provide support for a very high level of asylum seekers. But if you take even just one element of Government funding support – the rates for looking after unaccompanied asylum seeker children – the grant doesn’t come anywhere near the actual cost. And even worse – not only does the Government funding not cover the costs, but the costs racked up by the Government’s failure to make asylum decisions quickly – because much of the cost in that maintenance is due during the period whilst the Home Office (that oh so fit for purpose establishment) takes years to process the legality or otherwise of the asylum seeker.

It is completely unfair and unsustainable on those areas where asylum seekers naturally congregate.Jack Straw’s answer – he would pass on my remarks to the Home Office and a slagging off for the LibDems in general. That really raised the tone!

In fact I have just written to Jack Straw over his outburst last week on knives. My Lib Dem colleague, Mark Hunter, raised the issue of lengthening sentences for carrying a knife in a public place and Jack just ranted about Lib Dems opposing longer sentences for knife crime. This is misleading Parliament in the first degree (i.e. untrue! and you can check in Hansard from report stage of Bill in Commons). Not only is this assertion factually incorrect but also completely unwarranted. In response to the recent surge in knife crime, a Liberal Democrat sponsored amendment was laid down in the Violent Crime Reduction Bill (on which I lead for my party) that would increase the sentence for carrying of a knife in a public place to seven years. This amendment was not voted on as a Conservative amendment, take before it ,which would have increased the sentence to five years was defeated by the Government. So the truth is – Labour voted against increasing the penalty for carrying a knife in a public place.

The Bill is coming back to the Commons for Lords Amendments next Monday and Labour will be tabling an amendment to make the sentence four years (which is better than the current tariff), and although it doesn’t extend it far enough in my view it is a step in the right direction. I will go into this further when I write up my blog after the debate next Monday.