Lib Dem Councillor Lynne Featherstone has welcomed the installation of the new pedestrian crossing at the top of Muswell Hill, N10.

The zebra crossing was installed last month following a long campaign by Cllr Featherstone and local residents who were concerned for the safety of pedestrians crossing the busy road.

Cllr Featherstone (Muswell Hill) comments:

“I am absolutely delighted that local residents have got what they worked so hard for – a safe place to cross on Muswell Hill.”

In response to a question raised by Lib Dem Deputy Leader Wayne Hoban at the Haringey Council meeting held last night (19th July), the Labour Executive Member for Community Involvement confirmed that she “had no idea” why an envelope delivered by hand to a council office by a local residents’ action group with a request that the contents be distributed to all councillors was not delivered.

She also confirmed that no trace could be found of a faxed request from the same action group seeking permission to send a delegation to the next council meeting, despite the fact that the resident had a fax receipt indicating that the message had indeed reached the correct destination.

Cllr Hoban had previously received written confirmation from the Chief Executive that all post delivered by hand to council offices which is intended for other council buildings is collected on a daily basis by couriers from the Civic Centre and brought back for onward transmission. He also confirmed that “there is no reason why mail left for councillors by a local resident should not have been delivered to councillors in the normal way.”

Despite this assurance, the Labour Member for Community Involvement advised in her response that local residents should not use the internal mail system as it was unreliable and that they would be better off sending their communications by post.

The Lib Dems claim it is unacceptable that local residents who hand deliver communications destined for councillors or council officers to council offices in good faith cannot be offered the assurance of guaranteed delivery.

Cllr Hoban comments:

“This Labour council’s claim to be open, accessible and responsive to the needs of local residents sounds a little hollow today.”

Liberal Democrat Environment spokesperson Bob Hare is calling for Haringey Council to get tough with erectors of illegal hoardings, while warning local residents to kick up a fuss or face them becoming permanent.

The advice comes following information received on request regarding planning laws that state that hoardings erected illegally become legal if they are not removed within four years of erection.

Although four years seems like a long time, Cllr Hare is well aware of how long the process can take to remove illegal hoardings in Haringey. He successfully campaigned for the removal of unsightly advertising hoardings by Hornsey Waterworks last year.

Cllr Hare says it still took many months of campaigning before action was taken by the Council to enforce the removal of the illegal advertising boards. He is concerned that the number of illegal hoardings in the borough which have become legal because 4 years has passed is on the increase and wants the Council to get tough and act swiftly to deter others from exploiting Haringey.

He says local residents should report illegal hoardings as soon as they are erected and that the Lib Dems will continue to press the Council to increase its efficiency in enforcing the removal of them.

Cllr Hare (Highgate) comments:

“Labour run Haringey is viewed as a soft touch by hoarding companies who seem to erect adverts wherever they want, knowing full well they are unlikely to face the kind of swift action they would in some of the neighbouring boroughs.

“I would urge residents to contact the Council when new hoardings are erected and we will continue to lobby the Council to get tough on these companies and ensure they are removed well before they threaten to become permanent eyesores.”

Liberal Democrat Councillor Lynne Featherstone has successfully lobbied the Royal Mail to reintroduce collection discs on pillar boxes in Haringey after complaints from residents that they did not know if they had missed the last collection of the day when posting a letter.

Cllr Featherstone wrote to the Royal Mail in June requesting that they reintroduce collection discs. Last week Royal Mail responded positively, acknowledging that the current situation ‘…did not give the public a defined indication if a pillar box has been cleared or not.’

The Royal Mail has promised to reinstall all discs and disc holders in the North London postcode area by October 2004. However the new discs will have a day indicator on them rather than a number as before.

Cllr Featherstone has welcomed the decision by the Post Office to reintroduce the disc for the pillar boxes in the area. She says that although the new discs are not ideal they do serve a very useful purpose for users.

Cllr Featherstone (Muswell Hill) comments:

“I am delighted that Royal Mail has responded positively to my lobbying.

“Although the new discs do not give users an indication of whether they have missed a specific collection during the day, it does essentially let them know if they have caught the last collection of the day and that is certainly an improvement.”

Haringey’s opposition Lib Dem group has reacted with sadness to the sudden news of the closure of the Tottenham – based recycling business “Create Tottenham”.

Leader Neil Williams said that he was concerned about the future of the 13 full time and 23 trainees who have had notice served on them and consequently have a very uncertain future:

“I hope that Haringey will make every effort to find work for these people. Tottenham has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country and the closure of Create Tottenham is a real blow for the community.”

Cllr Williams also expressed concern over the many people who have bought refurbished goods from the company but now find that the guarantees are worthless:

“For some low-income families the breakdown of a fridge or freezer can cause serious problems; I hope that if this happens then support will be forthcoming.”

Cllr David Winskill, LibDem regeneration spokesperson was critical how the news was broken:

“Haringey’s briefing note seems to pose more questions than it tries to answer. Just when did the Council become aware of the company’s trading difficulties and how did it respond? We have also only had an oral assurance that Haringey won’t be hit with a large bill as a result of its own financial involvement.”