Myddleton Road

Posted on by

First appointment of the day fails to show up – so left twiddling thumbs until Hansard Society Interview. Extensive interview on how I find various aspects of being an MP after the grand total of around 9 weeks. Hansard are doing an in depth study of a number of MPs and will follow us through our first term. As I say – ask me in a year what I think – as right now I don’t even know what I don’t know or what I need to know. However, always a useful exercise talking to a stranger – helps consolidate own thoughts – even ones I didn’t know I had.

In the afternoon I visit Arbours Crisis Centre in Crouch End. This is an establishment working in the mental health sphere that doesn’t fit – doesn’t fit into categories that would encourage the Government or
Haringey Council or any specific body to fund it. And yet it does invaluable work and has a world-wide reputation.

It’s a small site – one house – where the clients and therapists live together. A novel approach to mental health issues. Of course – being outside the box – funding is a struggle. And perhaps of even more concern is the Government being unable to treat them as a one-off. No says the Government – they must be an institution that comes within the care homes standards. I can see the point, but surely there must be a way which allows different sorts of therapeutic environments to survive – and perhaps have standards that would apply more to a normal house than an institution.

In the evening went to a meeting with the Bowes Park Residents’ Association and officers. It’s about Myddleton Road. This is a road that’s as a microcosm of every problem in the borough. It has numerous small shops, many of which fail and are only open for a short time. Amongst the shops is a trading timber yard that started small, has grown (hurray) as a business, but now through loading and unloading, huge lorries and huge loads on a narrow residential street, no longer really fits being in that location. Add to this – lots of property owners converting every spare inch of space into properties for rental as temporary accommodation and tales of illegal immigrants, twenty to a dwelling creeping in and out. And even more – no apparent enforcement of planning laws, parking laws, health and safety laws and trading laws – and you have – voila – Myddleton Road.

Now the good news is that the residents’ association seems good and strong. They have got together an action plan of which some of the easy stuff has been done – e.g. a couple of raised levels on the road corners. But the tough stuff is untouched. To be fair to the council, some of this stuff – particularly the housing for immigrants – is a hard nut to crack. However, if the council would put someone in charge of pushing forward the Myddleton Road scheme, it could happen – or at least most of it could happen.

All the council officers in attendance at the meeting seemed really committed and full of good intentions – but you could see that without a driving force it would just drift along not happening. We agreed to meet every three months with a list of things to be sorted in the meantime and a report back on the action plan.

LIB DEM EXPRESS DEEP CONCERN OVER COUNCIL'S IT DEBACLE

Posted on by

Lib Dem councillors have expressed concern at figures produced by Haringey Council which show the refresh project of the Council’s desktop infrastructure is running late and massively over budget.

It has already exceeded the original budget by £10 million and implementation is now scheduled a year later than planned.

Cllr Hoban will be writing to Haringey Council to ask them to explain how this huge overspend was allowed to happen. He will also seek guarantees that this revised figure will be the final budget for the project and costs will not continue to be allowed to spiral.

Cllr Hoban comments:

“It is of great concern that Haringey Council has gone so hugely over-budget and over-deadline on this and other IT projects. The losers here are the local taxpayers who have to foot the bill for this failure.”

Twin Towers development in Wood Green

Posted on by

Hurrah! A day of paperwork to catch up and tidy up loose ends before I go on my hols at the weekend. One of the issues to catch up on is the “Twin Towers” site – where an awful development is proposed.

I write a stinker to Livingstone for condoning the original tower plan. He is so keen on his (huge) housing targets that all his fine words and ideas about sustainable development and good design are forgotten and steamrollered out of existence. I will send the letter either at the weekend – or save it for beginning of September, as August is not a great month for getting action. I tell him to get Richard Rogers and the Urban Design Unit’s backsides down here to Wood Green to understand just how much crap local residents are having to put up with in his name. We will see if he acts.

The area needs the best of design to raise aspirations and hope – not to have dumped on it dreadful designs with poor materials.

LIB DEMS CALL FOR AUDITED ACCOUNTS FOR NEW DEAL PROJECT

Posted on by

Cllr Wayne Hoban, Deputy Leader of the Lib Dem group in the London Borough of Haringey, has written to Haringey Council’s new Chief Executive demanding an urgent response to his request, under the Freedom of Information guidelines, for a full copy of the The Bridge New Deal for Communities project’s last audited accounts, including auditor’s notes.

Cllr Hoban had originally requested this information from the NDC Programme Director at the beginning of June in response to receipt of a copy of a letter sent by local residents to the Office of The Deputy Prime Minister in November 2004, in which they had requested an independent forensic accountant to look into the finances of this community-led, government-funded programme.

Although the NDC Programme Director has responded to Cllr Hoban’s enquiry, the audited accounts have not yet been produced, despite an assurance given on 15 July that we are in the process of pulling together the information.

Cllr Hoban states:

“In view of the serious nature of allegations made concerning the financial management and accountability of this important multi-million pound project, it is vital that the audited accounts be produced immediately. Any delays will fuel the suspicion that there is something to hide. It is essential that the financial management of this project is seen to be transparent and accountable so that it receives the full backing of the local community it is designed to benefit.”

A varied Monday

Posted on by

Open London Region Conference on the Ethiopian Community Centre in the UK’s Regional Development Project – a mouthful I know, but really some much needed support for this community struggling through the maze of health, benefit, housing and other hurdles to life in this country.

I stay for the morning to listen to the distinguished panel of speakers – all deeply involved in immigration and asylum and all of whom know much more than a nine-week old MP! Given that something like 75% of people coming to see me in person have issues to do with asylum and immigration, I am keen to understand as much as I can as soon as I can.

What I do know from nine weeks of holding surgeries is that the Home Office is a mess. Initial decision making is extremely poor quality and vast numbers of appeals succeed because of this. There is a random nature as to who stays and who goes – which leads to upset when what seems like a precedent – isn’t. Far too often it takes years before decisions are made, leaving people living in limbo. The misery caused by the protracted system is appalling to see.

My afternoon is filled with a series of meetings in the pub – as our new office upstairs is not ready and flat pack furniture is being assembled. First in line is Groundwork – a federation of trusts who go into an area and support a range of sustainable projects. I try to persuade them to focus on Hornsey – both the council estates and the High Street which are in need of loving care.

Followed by a woman who is writing a report for Haringey Police on issues such as where road works are, where trouble spots are, where youths have nowhere to go but on the streets – presumably so that the police can then plan their work better.

Then an interview with N8 magazine, after which off to a meeting in N8 (coincidentally) with residents against the concrete factory proposed to be dumped in the middle of a residential area. There is a train track – so theoretically aggregates can come in by rail but they would still go out by HGV lorry – not at all suitable for the area, and would get stuck as they try and do the turn from Church Lane back on themselves into Tottenham Lane. Outside of the increased vehicle movements, the pollution, the noise and the general unsuitability of the location – jamming up the roads is probably the best hope for refusal of the planning application (there are quite strict rules on what issues can or can’t be considered when deciding on a planning application) – as this area comes to a standstill with traffic snarl-ups on a daily basis already. I undertake to write a variety of letters to Mayor Livingstone, Peter Hendy and Haringey Council’s Planning Department.

LIB DEMS WELCOME FUNDING PLANS FOR ALBERT ROAD RECREATION GROUND

Posted on by

Alexandra Councillor Wayne Hoban has welcomed news that Haringey Council will be investing £161,000 in Albert Road Recreation Ground and its children’s playground in 2005/06.

The funding is being provided to improve the quality, presentation and attraction of the site and to meet ‘Green Flag’ standards. It will allow upgrade of play/sports surfaces, roads & paths, etc.

The popular and well-used recreation ground and children’s playground has seen considerable improvements in recent years, largely through the combined efforts of the Friends Group, Haringey Tennis, council officers and local Lib Dem councillors.

Cllr Hoban comments:

“The Recreation Ground and playground are much valued and well used. I am very pleased that significant funding is at last going into the site, and will continue to work closely with the Friends Group, Haringey Tennis and all other interested parties to ensure that all sections of the local community benefit from this funding.”

LYNNE FEATHERSTONE MP GETS BREATHLESS FOR THE BRITISH LUNG FOUNDATION

Posted on by

Hornsey and Wood Green MP, Lynne Featherstone, is supporting the British Lung Foundation’s 20th birthday campaign by getting breathless on an exercise bike at the House of Commons during a lung health awareness day.

The Get Breathless! campaign encourages everyone of all ages and abilities to get breathless in aid of the British Lung Foundation, while thinking about their own lung health.

The British Lung Foundation is the only UK charity working to help people with all 43 lung diseases. It provides information and support to patients and their families, funds world class medical research to find solutions to lung disease and campaigns for improved treatments and services.

Lynne Featherstone, MP for Hornsey & Wood Green said:

“I am delighted to support the getting breathless campaign with the British Lung Foundation in its 20th birthday year.

“Even I was surprised that as many as one person in every seven in the UK is affected by a lung disease and has to live with breathlessness all the time. Tt is vital that people look after their lungs and taking part in this campaign is a great way to start!”

Dame Helena Shovelton, Chief Executive of the British Lung Foundation said:

“We are thrilled that Lynne Featherstone MP is taking part in the Get Breathless! campaign.The 8 million plus people in the UK living with a lung condition will know how hard it is to do day to day tasks when you are fighting for breath. By supporting our campaign Ms Featherstone was able to find out just what that is like.”

LIB DEM SECURES END TO BEATTOCK RISE PARKING PROBLEM

Posted on by

Muswell Hill and Lib Dem Councillor Gail Engert has secured a controlled parking zone (CPZ) for the small estate of Beattock Rise, off St. James Lane N10. This week the Council started preparing for the implementation of the CPZ which is to prevent cars from outside the estate parking on the small entrance road and blocking access to an estate which contains some sheltered housing.

The installation of parking restrictions comes after Haringey Council last month confirmed that it had consulted residents and had received eight responses, all in favour of a CPZ, with one parking permit per household being issued.

This is welcome news to both local residents and Cllr Engert who was worked hard since her election last year to ensure that the residents, some of whom are elderly and disabled, are able to park their vehicles close to their homes.

Cllr Engert hopes that this will end years of parking misery for residents in the small road and will press the Council until the work is completed.

Cllr Engert (Muswell Hill) comments:

“Since I became a councillor last year I have campaigned for controlled parking for these residents. As some of the residents are elderly and disabled it is essential that they have easy access to their vehicles so they can live independent lives, and also any emergency vehicles like ambulances can gain entrance to the estate. I am delighted that the Council have finally acted and I will be eagerly awaiting the completion of the work.”

Shooting on the Underground

Posted on by

News dominated all day by revelation that man shot dead by police was nothing to do with the bombings.

This is the ultimate nightmare for the police. Cool heads are what we need. And no rush to judgement – as knife edge decisions that may save us citizens from being blown up are clearly difficult for the security forces to make.

This tragedy should not have happened. We are used to the idea that if someone is down – there shouldn’t be a need to shoot them in the head. But elsewhere it’s much more common – how else can you be sure to stop a suicide bomber? We would not want it the other way round – that they didn’t kill through hesitation a bomber – giving him long enough to detonate a deadly device. And the person detonating does not need to be the same person carrying the bomb either.

Tough choices. Clearly this appalling error needs to be investigated so that police (if it was the police) can reduce the potential for such a mistake in future. But let us not fool ourselves – in the circumstances we face at present – these tough choices won’t go away.

Muslims and extremism

Posted on by

Surgery all morning and then home to find office moving out – finally! After eight years of having a Lib Dem office in my home, including the general Lib Dem phone and email address, things are now moving to my new office. For the time being, it is above the Three Compasses Pub in Hornsey – which was our HQ during the election. We will be hopefully moving across the road to a proper office within a few months after that. Hurray!

I am nervous about the changeover. It’s necessary to have staff dealing with much more to cope with the workload, but I have had such a very personal relationship with everyone and want to maintain that as far as possible.

And I get my front room back!

At 3pm I start my journey to Melcham where I am appearing on ‘Any Questions’. Three tube lines to get to Paddington – noticeably empty and we are all staring at each other to check that none of us is a terrorist. At Paddington I get on the train and study the papers – as you have no idea what will come up on the programme. It is my first appearance on this one – although even more terrifying was the appearance on Question Time the first Thursday after the election – and I lived.

Arriving at the station, I am whipped off in a car to a country hotel/restaurant/pub where the panellists and Jonathan Dimbleby have dinner. My tummy is not really up to a big meal before the event – and I can’t decide whether it would be good to have a couple of glasses of wine or bad to have a couple of glasses of wine. I decide in favour of the wine. Pleasant, if somewhat fake, repartee during meal. My co-panellists are Peter Hitchins (Mail on Sunday columnist), Lord Strathclyde (Tory Peer), Shahid Malik (new Labour MP from Dewsbury in the heart of the area where three of the 7/7 bombers come from) and me.

I think Shahid has being a real star during this period. He has said difficult things in a tinderbox situation – and deserves to be supported in what he is doing. In fact during the show Shahid said – in response to a comment about the police starting to do stop and search on the tube – that those who ‘look’ Muslim will be disproportionately stopped and that the Muslim community shouldn’t hate the police for it but should turn that hatred on those who had perpetrated the crime and brought this upon the Muslim community. Absolutely spot on – and tough stuff. Hats off!

I had been briefly watching Sky News at lunchtime and the police had just shot a suspect point black in front of tube passengers at Stockwell. Shocking stiff – and desperately hoping that the person was a terrorist rather than an innocent. Sadly as we now know – he wasn’t. That’s for another discussion. But Sky was running a poll which showed that around 48% of Muslims questioned believed that Imams or Mullahs who preached extremism and violence were not out of line with mainstream Muslim views.

I was shocked – because my own Muslim friends bear no relationship to the extremists and I spend huge amounts of time saying things like ‘the vast majority of Muslims condemn the bombings and condemn extremist views’. So this poll really chilled me and I chose on the program to push at what I consider an area that needs a bit of spotlight.

I am a white, middle-aged, middle-class woman. I don’t know the Muslim community intimately. I am exposed to views of Muslims by the media. I don’t like the idea of people hating me because they regard me as an infidel. I can live with hate – this is a democracy. But when that hatred turns into indiscriminate killing – and that killing is supported by extremist leaders – that’s something else. But it then becomes very easy to fear the whole community.

That is one of the dangers of segregation of communities. And the Muslim community is more segregated than most others. Segregation breeds ignorance of each other. Ignorance of others breeds fear of the unknown. And this is the feeding ground for extremists and a fertile territory for suspicion to grow.

Nothing, in my view, excuses terrorism or suicide bombers. The democratic process is paramount. I don’t care how many people of any culture have different views – they are welcome to argue the case and get elected. But never should a minority – even if they are the majority within one group – believe for one second that they have any right to kill to make their point or their case.

Sorry, getting very heavy – lightening up we moved onto the Tory leadership – always good for a laugh. We now have a long and protracted process ending in a beauty parade at the Tory Conference in the autumn.

I think the important point is the what – not the who. And judging from Cheadle by-election where we Lib Dems comfortably held the seat (a massively safe Tory seat the last time they won a general election) despite the Tories throwing everything at it that they could – not a whisper of a recovery. Blair appears to have left them nowhere to go – and if they go to the right – to their core vote – there aren’t enough votes there. They just don’t wash as liberal in any sense – and so hard to see them as anything but on a continuing downward slope.

The show passes very quickly – and then it is home by car to London.