Lib Dem GLA member Lynne Featherstone has joined forces with Fortis Green election candidate Martin Newton and local party leader and Highgate councillor Neil Williams to put renewed pressure on Labour Mayor Ken Livingstone to give the go-ahead for a trial full service on the 603 bus route.Ms Featherstone says Ken Livingstone can – if he wishes – instruct Transport for London’s to agree to a trial of a full service after the successful partial trial at school run hours earlier in the year.

Ms Featherstone, accompanied to City Hall by Cllr WIlliams and Martin Newton, has also tabled a question to the Mayor asking for an immediate, third, bus on the route as a short-term measure, due to the large numbers using the 603 on its limited school run timetable (see photo).

Lynne Featherstone comments: “I hope that Ken Livingstone will listen and see sense over the need for a full timetable on the route. After the success of the early morning trial, a full trial is the only sensible way forward.

Lib Dem candidate Martin Newton adds: “People in Fortis Green are following the fortunes of the 603 very keenly as the bus comes through the heart of the area. As a simple and urgent measure, there is a pressing need for an extra bus on themorning service, which is proving very popular.”

Councillor Neil Williams adds: “This is a crunch test for Labour. Are they really in favour of the bus route or not?”

In the battle to secure a primary school on the site of the TUC building in Crouch End, Lib Dem Parliamentary Spokesperson Lynne Featherstone has written to TUC boss Brendan Barber urging him to back up his words with deeds on the issue.

In her letter, Ms Featherstone points out that Mr Barber should stand by remarks he made recently about the European Social Forum conference in Haringey, which attracted over 20 000 delegates from all parts of the world. In the Londoner newspaper, Mr Barber wrote that one aspiration of the Forum and the trade union movement in particular, was to”… create a Europe for people not profit.”

Ms Featherstone urges that the TUC should put that aspiration into practice when considering the views of local people in Crouch End as it disposes of its lease on the Crouch End site.

Lynne Featherstone comments:

“The future of the TUC site is a wonderful opportunity for the trade unions to demonstrate that it values and supports efforts to extend school provision.I hope that the TUC will understand the importance of this site as a school for local children and work with Haringey Council to ensure that its future as such is secured.”

In the Fortis Green by-election, Lib Dem candidate and local resident Martin Newton has written to voters with five key positive pledges for their approval on polling day, 11th November. Martin’s pledges are:

• FIGHTING CRIME: Work with police to extend Muswell Hill police station’s opening hours for the public.

• IMPROVING TRANSPORT: Get trial all-day service on 603 and get an extra bus in the timetable at school-run times.

• LOCAL SCHOOLS: Secure more local primary school places for local children.

• HARINGEY SOCIAL SERVICES: Hold to account those who employed a convicted sex offender as driver of a children’s bus.

• COUNCIL HOUSING: Give council tenants a vote to decide whether Haringey should transfer their homes to another organisation.

Lib Dem candidate Martin Newton comments:

“The Liberal Democrats have shown how things can be better. We successfully worked with residents and overcame Labour’s opposition to the 603 bus. We got door-to-door recycling extended across the borough. I am looking forward to receiving people’s views on how we can secure further positive changes for the area.”

Haringey’s Lib Dem councillors have expressed their anger at Haringey Council’s decision to suspend external decorating projects in the borough because it is ‘not one of the criteria for meeting the Decent Homes Standard’.

The news was broken to council tenants in a newsletter sent out in August and cites the Labour Government’s ‘15% reduction in the money available for housing maintenance’ as the reason behind the suspension of external works which will affect over 150 locations from Tottenham to Highgate.

Haringey Council said that the Governments Decent Homes Standard has to be met by 2010 and means that every home must:

• be fit for human habitation
• be in good state of repair
• have certain standard of facilities
• have effective heating and insulation

The Lib Dems are angered that the Labour-run Council has ditched plans for external decorations because the Labour Government is starving them to starve them of money needed to carry out the long overdue decoration of properties.

Lib Dem Leader Cllr Neil Williams comments:

“A combination of successive Conservative and Labour Governments has under-funded council housing and as a result it has been in a poor state of repair for over 20 years. It is disgraceful that planned and necessary external work is being suspended because the Government has cut back funding for housing maintenance.

“The Labour-run Council must stand up for local tenants and lobby the Government for unconditional extra money to bring the borough’s dilapidated housing stock up to standard without cancelling necessary external work.”

Haringey’s Lib Dems councillors have requested Haringey Council investigate its use of the ‘urgent business’ rule in deciding controversial decisions by the Labour Executive. The request come after Lib Dem councillors expressed concern that almost £1.5 million of local tax-payers money had allocated through two ’emergency’ decisions made in recent days- both of which were made behind closed doors.

The two decisions were the payment of almost £400,000 to travellers to leave the site on the Heartlands and the decision made to allow the Ally Pally Board an extra £1m to pay contractors handling the Alexandra Palace sell-off.

Under Haringey Council’s constitution (Section I.3, page 3) urgent business cannot be called-in for scrutiny. As a consequence the decision of both these issues were discussed and decided behind closed doors, excluding the Lib Dem opposition and local residents, and will not face a scrutiny panel.

This was no more clearly demonstrated than this week (13th October) when an attempt to call-in the decision on Alexandra Palace by Cllr Bob Hare was accepted by the Haringey as his reasons were legitimate and justified.However, hours later it was thrown out due to the constitution’s stance on ‘urgent business’ call-ins.

The Leader of the Council’s official opposition, Cllr Neil Williams, says that efforts by the Lib Dems to hold Haringey Council to account are being scuppered by the Labour administration’s manipulation of the rules. He says that action needs to be taken so that the residents in Haringey can see open and accountable democracy taking place.

Cllr Williams (Highgate ward) comments:

“The Council’s worrying trend of forcing through policy as ‘urgent business’ must be addressed quickly.

“This months ‘urgent business’ regarding Ally Pally was urgent because of a failure by the Board to account for this large cost. If the Labour council is allowed to used this loophole in this way then the Council couldto leave many decisions until the last minute to avoid being held to account.

“We are calling for the Council to investigate this over-use of urgency powers by the Labour leadership.”

Liberal Democrat councillors are warning of a bogus charity operating in the Hornsey area, after one of their leaflets was spotted by a Lib Dem deliverer while out leafleting last week (4th October).

The organisation, Kosta Ltd, is a London registered company known by trading standards in Haringey and other parts of the country from Gloucestershire to Rotherham , all of whom warn of the ‘bogus charity’ and its request to:

“PLEASE HELP THOSE WHO REALLY NEED YOUR SUPPORT! CLOTHING COLLECTION. We will be grateful if you could kindly donate your unwanted clothes, paired footwear and household linen … Many thanks from KOSTA LTD”. (Quote taken from Lewisham Trading Standards website)

Lib Dems say that Kosta Ltd is believed to operate from abroad and to not be a registered charity. No area trading standards team has been able to verify whether it donates the clothes to a registered charity. As a result all complaints about the company have been upheld.

Cllr Gail Engert says that residents need to be aware of who they are donating clothes or money to. She says that by following advice from trading standards, residents should be able to ensure that their donations go to the right people.

Cllr Gail Engert comments:

“Leaflets for clothing collections from genuine registered charities will always include the organisation’s full name, address and a charity registration number, which can be checked on the charity commission website.

“I hope that this does not discourage generous residents in Haringey from donating to charity.It is more a reminder to ensure that the profits from the goods you are donating are going to those who really need help and not into someone’s pocket.”

Anyone who wants to check if a charity is genuine can ring the Charity Commission Contact Centre on 0870 333 0123 or visit their website at www.charity-commission.gov.uk.