How bad is your road surface?

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Have you noticed an increase in the number of potholes in your road recently? Or are the ones that have been there for years getting worse?

Every month, I receive emails from constituents who are concerned about the state of their roads.

And it really is no wonder. Labour-run Haringey Council have neglected our roads for years and years, preferring to pay out compensation for terrible accidents, than actually investing in our road surfaces.

Just now, after years of pressure from the Local Lib Dems, the Council have said that they will take action on our roads.

I thought this was good news. But then, I saw this map. It highlights the roads which the Council think are in good or bad condition. Here is a picture of a road that they think is in good condition (Cecile Park)

Cecile Park

This doesn’t fill me with confidence in the Labour-run Council’s road repair blitz. The Haringey Lib Dems and I have been collecting information separately, directly from residents, about the condition of our local roads.

Step by step, we are presenting the results to the Council and asking that they make the necessary repairs.

Residents of Haringey – take a look at the map and see what you think about the Council’s assessment of your road. If you don’t agree, or if you know of a dangerous pothole / stretch of road in Haringey that needs repair, just let me know, and I will add it to our list.

£53 million unclaimed Oyster refunds – are you missing out?

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Last month, Lib Dem London Assembly member Caroline Pidgeon revealed shocking figures regarding unclaimed Oyster refunds. A whopping £53 million currently lies dormant in the system – waiting to be reclaimed.

TfL are not very good at letting people know about this. But, like Caroline, I think TfL service users should easily be able to reclaim money owed to them.

You can read the full story on Lib Dem Voice here: http://www.libdemvoice.org/caroline-pidgeon-reveals-53-million-unclaimed-refunds-on-oyster-cards-34128.html

If you have an old or unused Oyster card lying around, you should be able to claim the money back at ticket offices across the Capital.

There have, however, been problems with getting refunds at ticket offices.  Transport for London have now given a phone number for people to call if they are having problems getting a refund. It is 0343 222 1234.

Lynne Featherstone MP issues public plea to missing Banksy ‘owners’

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The Banksy piece on Turnpike Lane, before its removal

Local MP Lynne Featherstone has today issued a public statement to the current owners of the missing Banksy piece, which was removed from a wall in Turnpike Lane in February.

The Liberal Democrat MP has ‘called on the consciences’ of the current owners, and urged them to ‘do the right thing’ and return the piece to Turnpike Lane, before it is too late.

The owners have allowed the Sincura Group to auction the piece on the 2nd of June, at an exhibition in Covent Garden, London. If it is not sold at the exhibition, the owners will sell the piece directly to an American collector.

The Sincura Group claim to have ‘no doubt’ that people who currently possess the piece are indeed the legal owners.

Lynne Featherstone MP issued the following statement:

“On June 2nd, the Sincura Group plan to put the infamous Banksy piece up for auction at an exhibition in Covent Garden, London. The piece was removed without warning from Turnpike Lane in February – to the dismay of local residents.

“Sincura do not own the piece.  The Sincura Director says that he is ‘the good guy’ – that he has put a lot of work into finding the piece and its owners. He is exhibiting it in the hope that it will be sold to someone who will either return it, or keep it somewhere with public access. This is admirable, perhaps, but also incredibly optimistic.

“If the piece isn’t sold on the night, Sincura say the ‘owners’ will sell it directly to an American collector. The piece will then be lost for good.

“This has left us campaigners in a catch 22. We don’t want the piece to be up for auction and bought by a random private buyer. We don’t want the piece sold to a collector who will keep it in a warehouse. We want our Banksy back in its rightful place – the streets and community of Turnpike Lane.

“So now I make this direct plea to the owners of the Banksy piece: You have this one last chance to do the right thing. You have deprived a community of an asset that was given to us for free and greatly enhanced an area that needed it. I call on you, and your consciences, to pull the piece from both potential sales, and return it to its rightful place.”

Lynne Featherstone MP launches constituency wide Annual Survey

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a pile of the MP’s annual surveysLynne Featherstone MP has launched her 2013 Annual Survey. Liberal Democrat volunteers are currently delivering the surveys to people across the constituency of Hornsey and Wood Green.

The survey asks residents for their views on local and national issues, and whether they have any problems they would like the local MP’s assistance with.

In addition, the survey offers residents the chance to sign the Liberal Democrat petition to protect our local health services.

Last year, the survey drew several thousand responses. Hundreds of issues raised by residents were followed up on by the MP and her casework team.

Residents can also fill in this year’s survey online (see below)

Commenting, Lynne Featherstone MP said:

“The annual survey is a great way for residents to have their voices heard on matters ranging from national Lib Dem policy to our local Lib Dem campaigns.

“We all know that the Labour-run Council are not very good at keeping our roads and pavements safe, or keeping our area tidy. That’s why we ask residents whether they have any issues with litter, damaged pavements or potholes on their road.

“All completed surveys are looked at and we will attempt to resolve any issues raised. I hope as many residents as possible take the opportunity to fill it in!”

 

NB Surveys are broken down by wards. check which ward you live in here: http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/ and click on the relevant link here:

Wood Green (Noel Park & Woodside) Residents: http://bit.ly/WoodGreenAnnualSurvey

Hornsey Residents: http://bit.ly/HOannualsurvey

Stroud Green Residents: http://bit.ly/SGAnnualsurvey

Highgate Residents: http://bit.ly/HGannualsurvey

Fortis Green Residents: http://bit.ly/FGwardannualsurvey

Muswell Hill Residents: http://bit.ly/MHannualsurvey

Crouch End Residents: http://bit.ly/CEannualsurvey

Bounds Green Residents: http://bit.ly/BGannualsurvey

Alexandra Residents: http://bit.ly/LFannualsurvey

 

Haringey Labour criticise the consequences of their own housing policies…

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Last week, the Labour leader of Haringey Council, Claire Kober, took to the local newspapers to complain about the shortage of housing for Council tenants.

She has a point. Here in Haringey there are well over 10,000 individuals and families on the waiting list for a council property – and most will have to wait for years before they are even considered.  This poses a terrible problem for vulnerable individuals and overcrowded families, who are in desperate need of social housing.

It is all well and good to sit and complain about this – what we really need from our Council leader is action. The blunt fact of the matter is that Labour-run Haringey Council hasn’t built any new Council homes for almost 25 years!

Yes, that’s right. In 1989 the Council built six new flats – and nothing thereafter. It is no wonder that 10,000 individuals and families are now languishing on the waiting list.

And it’s not like the funding hasn’t been available. The Government have rewritten rules to allow Councils to build more homes, and borrow the money to do so. Leicester Council, for instance, were awarded £7 million in Government funding for new housing. They will now build 146 new homes.

In February, the Leader of the Lib Dems put down an amendment to the budget and suggested Haringey did the same as Leicester. The ruling Labour group – led by Claire Kober – rejected this amendment, turning down the opportunity to build more houses.

The Council also have a terrible record on bringing empty homes back into use. Late last year I exposed figures revealing that over 1,700 homes were left empty in Haringey, while the Labour group again spurned a Government grant, which was offered to Councils to help do up empty homes.

So there you have it. The Haringey Labour leader is perfectly happy to complain about the lack of housing, but won’t take action to make a difference – even when the funds are available.

Unfortunately, this is what we have come to expect from the Labour-run Council – all talk and no action. Haringey residents – particularly all those vulnerable and overcrowded people on the waiting list – deserve better.

Equal Marriage 2 – we need to know

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I posted yesterday on having to beware of the amendment on opposite sex Civil Partnerships – because the proposers are no friends of Equal Marriage – which makes me uber suspicious.
However, I have always wanted both same sex marriage and opposite sex civil partnerships.

So my task this morning is to try and get some facts. The Conservatives are not champions of ‘living together’ – they believe in marriage – and that has been their rationale for their support on same sex marriage. I am concerned as to whether there is any truth in their assertion that this will delay same sex marriage implementation.

That is the key fact to understand – what would be the actual harm (if any) that this amendment could cause?

Equal Marriage – beware opponents bearing gifts

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Often when I am giving a speech or attending an event, a young man or woman will sidle up to me and thank me shyly for having got equal marriage legislation put before Parliament, telling me just how much it means to him or her. The stories of how much it matters to them, their loved ones and their families often makes me cry.

The symbolism of marriage for them is so important – and changing the rules to let people of the same gender who love each other get married is also an important way of showing that as a society we wish to treat people equally, regardless of their sexuality.

That is why this is so important. Equal marriage is totemic in its meaning and in its reality. It’s no wonder that the polls this weekend show people backing same-sex marriage by nearly 2-to-1.

With the legislation coming back to Parliament this coming week, I’ve been reading through some of the many amendments which will be debated. Many of them are fundamentally from those who disagree with same sex marriage and I trust and hope they will fail.

However, there are two that I would normally not hesitate to support. I am in favour of humanist weddings and opposite-sex Civil Partnerships. However, in the case of the opposite sex Civil Partnership proposals it’s a matter of beware opponents bearing gifts – for the people pushing this change are not those with records of supporting equality and marriage rules that accommodate a diversity of couples.

No, instead the proposals are coming from the likes of Tim Loughton and others who are avowed and determined opponents of equal marriage.

Have Tim and his colleagues suddenly become converts to the cause of equality? Given their public statements I fear what is at work here is rather darker and more cynical – a deliberate attempt to wreck the legislation by introducing extra issues to it that will make it easier for opponents of equal marriage in Parliament to then filibuster, delay and block the legislation.

I have just got back from a ministerial trip Nigeria and so will find out more tomorrow. If this is simply a cynical trap by opponents of equal marriage to block it, then we need to be careful not to fall into it – no matter how temptingly attractive the amendments are that are being used to lay the trap.

 

Women in Nigeria

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I’m currently in Nigeria on an international ministerial visit. Below is a blog post about the Women I have met here. 

Throughout my trip in Nigeria so far, I have met several inspiring women leaders. But they have beaten the odds.  It is a disadvantage to be a woman in Nigeria.

I met with around 15 state government commissioners during my time in Kano in Northern Nigeria. All were men. Nationally, only 4% of local commissioners are women.

In a classroom of 50 girls learning the basics of writing, I was told that 80% of women cannot read in eight northern states.

One of DFIDs partners joined me for dinner on Tuesday. Funded by DFID, her organisation is training 7,000 health-workers and midwives in Northern states. Nigeria has 2% of the worlds population but 10% of global maternal deaths.

And one in three of all girls and women between 15-24 has been a victim of violence at some time

It is this final group, Nigerian adolescent women and girls, who are the focus of the DFID project I launched yesterday, the £38m Voices for Change (V4C) programme. Over five years it will support 120,000 girls improve their skills and confidence in Safe Spaces. And importantly, it will work with 12,000 men and boys, 4,000 traditional and religious leaders and their communities to begin to shift attitudes and behaviours to support these girls.

This is important because women’s disadvantage in Nigeria is a problem for all it’s citizens. Economic growth, and any poverty reduction, will never achieve its full potential  unless Nigeria’s women help drive the county forward. Nigeria’s women, and the female leaders I’ve had the pleasure of meeting, will lead. I hope that through V4C and our other programmes, DFID can stand beside them.

Lynne Featherstone MP announces Independent Shops Finale

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Lynne Featherstone MP with nomination forms in an independent shopLocal MP Lynne Featherstone has this week announced a ‘Summer Fete’ style event, to mark the end of her independent shops competition.

Over the past four months, thousands of votes have been cast by local residents across three different categories: Best shop front, best customer service, and best all round shop.

The winners will be announced at the event on Saturday 29th June at Hornsey Town Hall square. It will be open to the public from 11am.

Over 100 local retailers have been invited to attend the event, and a number of them will be exhibiting their products on site. There will also be community group stalls, a bake off, a live band, food stalls, and games.

The Liberal Democrat MP will announce the winners of the competition at around 2pm, and also pick the name of one lucky voter out of a hat. They will receive £100 to spend in a shop of their choice.

Local residents can vote for their favourite shops until the 31st May, when the competition closes.

Commenting, Lynne Featherstone MP said:

“The response to the competition has been overwhelming. It is clear how much residents appreciate their local independent shops and retailers.

“During these tough times, it’s vital that we support and promote our independent shops and retailers. That is what this competition and event is all about.

“Time is running out for local residents to vote for their favourite shops – so please vote as soon as possible if you haven’t already!

“I can’t wait to get everyone together and announce the winners. It looks set to be great event, and I look forward to seeing as many local residents and retailers there as possible.”

A great community street party – caught on camera!

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The Sunday before last I had the great pleasure of going to Hillfield Park’s May Day street party! It was an action and fun packed day – featuring a tug of war, hulahoopathon and maypole dancing!

I was there to present the prizes for the best pet competition. The runners up included dogs and a hamster (who sat on the rosette to pose for the photo!) I had to present the winning rosette to the pet owner – as the winning cat, Boris, had disappeared!

It was great to see the community come together and I can’t give enough praise the residents who organise the event. This year, there is another added bonus – video footage!