Local Liberal Democrats have slammed Haringey Council for encouraging fly-tipping by failing to provide suitable arrangements for disposing of bulk rubbish. The comments come after a local resident discovered the public waste disposal (‘civic amenity’) site in Park Road, Tottenham Hale was closed and was told that the nearest open site was a full five miles away in the London Borough of Waltham Forest.

Lib Dem Councillor Lynne Featherstone contacted the Council to find out why the site was closed and why there were no alternative arrangements for residents to dispose of their bulky rubbish locally. She was informed that the site had been closed for redevelopment and although a facility has now been set up at the Technopark, Ashley Road (N17), it is only open at weekends between 7.45am and 4pm.

Cllr Featherstone believes that the Council’s response to the tip closure is unsatisfactory and that this episode is another example of the Council’s failure to manage waste issues effectively in the borough – despite the size of the waste management budget. She is deeply concerned that this latest problem is yet another excuse for people to fly-tip rather than dispose of bulky waste responsibly.

Cllr Featherstone comments:

“The Council has once again shown how incompetent they are at managing waste in the borough. They have spent £5 million on Better Haringey but they are throwing their money away if they cannot plan for a temporary closure of a tip in the Borough.”

Lib Dem Environment Spokesperson Cllr Bob Hare added:

“Charging £15 to collect bulky rubbish has increased fly-tipping. Having a temporary tip that even council employees don’t know about and is only open at weekends is only going to compound the problem.”

A new analysis of the latest teenage pregnancy figures from the Teenage Pregnancy Unit released by London Mayoral candidate Simon Hughes shows that the number of under-eighteen pregnancies in Haringey has jumped by 13.5% in the last two years. With an even higher increase in Enfield, Wayne Hoban, GLA candidate for Enfield & Haringey has expressed concern about the huge increases across both boroughs.

The figures confirm that Haringey has the second highest increase of the Inner London boroughs.In neighbouring Enfield, the massive 40% rise is the highest in the whole of London.This compares to just a 1.2% increase across England and Wales. Twenty London Boroughs, including Haringey, have experienced increases higher than the country average.

Cllr Wayne Hoban said:

“It is a cause of deep concern that in the last two years both Enfield and Haringey have seen an increase well above the national average. It would appear that the teenage pregnancy strategy is failing to get through to young people.

“The Government and local health authorities must accept that this increase in the teenage pregnancy rate is not just a ‘blip’. Ministers must think more carefully about its approach on this issue and make sure that young people have all the facts to hand and the support they need.”

Highgate councillors have expressed disappointment at the decision by the planning inspector (part of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister) to allow the building of a house on the pocket park at the junction of Archway Road and Southwood Avenue N6. They have blamed years of mismanagement of the controversial site by Haringey Council, which has inevitably led to the partial loss of a green space on the busy road which was once an attractive ‘pocket park’.

The application will allow for one house on the site, with the retention of a small open green space. Local Lib Dem councillors and Group Leader Neil Williams has pledged to ensure that the remainder of the site is maintained sympathetically to ensure a green area for local residents.

Cllr Williams comments:

“I am disappointed that at the end of the day there has been a victory for a developer over a site that was once a small and well maintained public green space. While many residents will understandably be pleased to see the back of the problems caused since the property developer acquired the site, there has been a long history of failures by Haringey Council. It missed the opportunity to re-acquire the site from the Department of Transport when the Archway road-widening scheme was dropped, and it had never registered the land as an official open space.

“Haringey Council never acted firmly to protect trees on the site, or to prosecute the owner and secure replacements within the four-year period allowed when trees were felled, even though the Council’s own tree officer was a witness to the felling. Of greatest distress to local residents, the Council had never regularly used their powers to make the owner clear up the inevitable dumping. This all adds up to a sorry saga of failures going back many years.”

Cllr Bob Hare comments:

“Now the future of the site has at last been resolved, I will be pressing to ensure that the part of the site that has been designated a green space is maintained in a sympathetic way that will maximize benefit to local residents.

“In a very built up and busy route like the Archway Road, all the green spaces are a vital asset, and if managed properly would make the area more attractive for residents and businesses alike.”

Highgate councillors have stressed the need for tight controls on the granting of a late night license for a pub on the Archway Road, and have cautiously welcomed conditions introduced by Haringey Council’s Licensing Committee.

Local councillors had expressed concerns that about possible noise resulting from a licence extension to the Boogaloo pub at 312 Archway Road. They have welcomed the extensive conditions the Council has now imposed on the premises to ensure the minimum possible disturbance for local people in what is a highly residential area.

At the Licensing Committee last week, it was pointed out that the existing ventilation system in the building needed upgrading and that in summer the doors and windows were often left open, resulting in noise in the area.The Licensing Committee agreed that a better ventilation system should be installed and should be approved by the Council to minimise noise disturbance to local residents.For the same reason, a condition was also imposed for the installation of double glazing in the front windows of the building.

On hours, the following closing hours were agreed: Monday to Wednesday, 11 pm, Thursday, 12 midnight; Friday and Saturday: 1.30 am. Sunday 10.30.

Cllr Bob Hare (Highgate) comments:

“I am relieved to see that Haringey’s licensing committee has imposed a number of conditions on this license. I was also pleased that the owners have tried to meet the concerns of residents by agreeing some compromises prior to the meeting. It must be borne in mind that this is a very residential area and I will be watching closely to ensure that all the conditions are met. I will also be keeping a close eye to ensure that the double glazing is installed in a way that is sympathetic to the architecture of the building.”

Lib Dem leader and fellow local councillor Neil Williams adds:

“With late licences spreading, I am concerned that the Archway Road should not head towards becoming a strip of late-night venues. Population density is high along the road and this is not the West End, where there are comparatively few local residents.

“With other applications in the pipeline, this needs a sympathetic approach from the Council which takes into full account the needs and character of the Archway Road and the surrounding streets.”

Lib Dem councillors have welcomed moves by Haringey Council to improve its poor recycling rates by introducing a green waste collection service. The service will be provided to some 16,000 households including several Lib Dem wards in the west of the borough from today: Highgate, Muswell Hill, Alexandra and Fortis Green.

The collection of green and organic waste will be piloted for a period of six months, taking place weekly on the same day as the green box kerbside collection service.Initially the scheme will collect green waste only, but will be extended to collect organic waste in the summer.

Lib Dem Environment spokesperson and Alexandra ward councillor Susan Oatway comments:

“This is welcome news, and I am pleased to see Haringey responding yet again to Lib Dem pressure on recycling. I hope that residents will get behind the scheme, as Haringey must improve its very poor performance on recycling in the recent past.”

Cllr Lynne Featherstone (Muswell Hill) adds:

“There will be many residents in Crouch End and Stroud Green who are keen to recycle green waste and are not included at this stage. We will be pushing to ensure that the scheme is extended further after the trial. I know from my postbag that Haringey residents are keen to recycle as much as possible, so the pressure is on the Council to improve its service.”

Liberal Democrat councillors in Crouch End and Muswell Hill have welcomed moves by Haringey Council to install interactive speed signs on a speeding hot spot – but have said they will continue to push the council to introduce such measures at other much needed locations in the west of the borough.

Haringey Council is to install the first such interactive signs as part of traffic claming measures in Wolseley Road and Shepherds Hill. The Lib Dems have welcomed the move, but are also calling on the Council to look at a pedestrian crossing at the busy junction with Park Road.

The issue of speeding and pedestrian safety became a key issue during the recent Muswell Hill by-election, which was won by the Lib Dems. The party wants to ensure that the measure, if a success, is applied elsewhere.

Lib Dem councillor Ron Aitken (Crouch End) comments:

“I am pleased that we are going to see interactive signs as part of the Shepherds Hill scheme. However, there are other locations, such as Muswell Hill itself, where such signs are sorely needed before a serious accident occurs.”

Lib Dem councillor for Muswell Hill, Lynne Featherstone, adds:

“We will be looking at the Shepherds Hill scheme closely, and will be pressing for action elsewhere if it proves a success, as I believe it will.We will also be keeping up the pressure on the need of a safe pedestrian crossing on Wolesley Road.”

A demonstration this Saturday to protest at the possible siting of a mobile phone mast attracted large numbers of local residents. Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Wayne Hoban, who helped to organise the protest, says that Vodafone must think again about its proposal to install a 12-metre high mobile phone mast on the public open land sited at the junction of Albert Road and Durnsford Road, in his Alexandra ward.

The application has been submitted only a few short months after local residents mounted a vigorous campaign opposing the installation of an O2 mobile phone mast on a nearby factory site in Albert Road. The campaign was ultimately unsuccessful because O2 did not require planning permission under current legislation.

Lib Dems say that many legitimate concerns remain over health risks associated with mobile phone masts.

Local councillor Wayne Hoban comments:

“The strength of the protest this weekend means that Vodafone must surely think again.We will be keeping up the pressure on the company to reconsider this proposal, as local residents do not want this mast on open land.”

Lib Dem candidate Gail Engert stormed to victory last night in a landslide win in the Muswell Hill ward by-election. The Muswell Hill resident scored a massive 70% of the votes, leaving Labour far behind on just 13%. In another night of disaster for Haringey Labour following their Stroud Green defeat in January, the Labour candidate recorded the lowest Labour share of the vote since the creation of the borough that the party has ruled for over thirty years.

Despite the Lib Dems winning the ward convincingly in 2002, Muswell Hill voters swung even more heavily behind the Lib Dems than in the 2002 local elections, with the party securing a further 7% swing from Labour.

The scale of the win places further huge doubts on Labour’s ability to hold the Hornsey and Wood Green Parliamentary seat, where the Lib Dems are now the majority party, with 16 councillors to Labour’s 14.

Newly elected Lib Dem councillor Gail Engert, comments:

“This was an amazing win, and I am grateful that the voters in Muswell Hill have given such a huge vote of confidence for the work of the Liberal Democrats in the area. I am looking forward to working with local people and all my colleagues on the many issues that have been raised during the past four weeks, not least the need to reopen the police station front counter, and making a success of the new bus route to Hampstead.”

Lib Dem Group leader and Highgate councillor Neil Williams adds:

“I want to congratulate Gail on such a brilliant win. With our two wins in Stroud Green and Muswell Hill, I am delighted that we have two such excellent new councillors in Laura Edge and Gail Engert.

“Last night’s result was a further warning to Labour that they can no longer expect to represent Haringey at any level. They are out of touch with the concerns of local people, and the voters are deserting them in ever increasing numbers.We will continue working hard to achieve further successes in future.”