Commenting on the reports of a train from Finsbury Park overshooting the platform at Hitchin, Lynne Featherstone, local councillor and Chair of the GLA’s Transport Policy Committee, said:

“Following the serious incident at Alexandra Palace, this is further worrying evidence of the disarray in our railway network. It adds to concerns about safety on our local railways, and for local residents travelling across the area.”

In Park and Priory Village, the area’s local Lib Dem councillors have this week reinforced calls for a much needed pedestrian crossing near the junction with Danvers Road N8 and welcomed campaigning by residents on the issue.

Local Lib Dem councillor Lynne Featherstone comments:

“We need this crossing, as elderly people and mothers with buggies cannot run to dodge the speeding traffic as they try and cross Priory Road – nor should they have to. Traffic flow must not endanger lives.

“This location is directly outside the Priory sheltered housing and a nursery – let’s hope that the Labour Council will respond to local residents’ pleas to improve safety for vulnerable pedestrians rather than make their usual excuses for inaction.”

After a cross-party visit to Haringey Council’s Younger Children Assessment team, Cllr Matt Davies (Lib Dem, Fortis Green) has praised the dedication of the staff and the vital work they are doing. The team takes on families for a period of six weeks – families who have been referred by social services teams as needing help but where children are not immediately at risk.

Staff offer support with parenting and general living and aim to find sometimes simple solutions to problems which initially seem insurmountable. Following the six week involvement, cases are either closed as successfully solved, referred on to other agencies for further support or referred back to Social Services if further social work is necessary.

“The dedication of the team was obvious from meeting them – the enthusiasm and commitment were both clear. The benefits of a preventative approach like this cannot be underestimated and are far-reaching,” said Cllr Davies.

“Working with children and parents in the home, the team is able to achieve so much and work out solutions to problem areas before they escalate into anything more serious. This excellent approach is a credit to the staff involved and the only downside is that there is a waiting list for families to be seen, due to a reduction in the number of staff.”

Due to budgetary savings, the Younger Children’s Assessment Team had two posts “frozen” recently when employees left, meaning they cannot recruit replacements and have a reduced capacity.

“With a successful team like this, it seems madness not to enable them to work at full capacity,” said Cllr Davies. “They are empowering families and working hard in the community for the good of us all – not to mention the obvious financial return to the Council in solving these problems early, before more work is needed. When you think that there are five times as many staff at the Council working in the “spin” department as there are in this team helping troubled children, it does make you question the way priorities have been set.”

The Liberal Democrat Opposition on Haringey Council is calling for an immediate pause in the glut of new building developments in Crouch End to allow breathing space for residents to create a planning framework setting out a vision for the future.

Lib Dem spokesman Cllr David Winskill says that around Crouch End planning permission is being sought or has been granted for over 1,000 new dwellings in the past few years. However, there has been no corresponding increase or development in the social infrastructure, leaving Crouch End’s services – such as schools and doctors – groaning under the weight of new residents.

Local businesses are also losing out, changing the nature of the shopping area dramatically. David Winskill, Crouch End resident and Lib Dem Councillor, is urgently demanding a comprehensive approach to a new planning framework for the area.

“Crouch End is undergoing the fastest rate of change of any area in the borough. Residents and small businesses are feeling powerless and neglected,” says Cllr Winskill. “Simply allowing developers and market forces to decide the future of our community is unacceptable. We need an open debate and a Planning Framework to guide our planners.”

Cllr Winskill has written to the Lead Member for the Environment asking for a completely new approach on future planning developments to be put to consultation with local residents. He is requesting that an Overall Planning Framework for Crouch End should include housing provision, education, infrastructure, environment, retail, recreation/leisure/culture and movement.

“Putting all these areas into one document will make effective consultation with local residents easy and show that the Council is serious about both protecting and sensibly developing Crouch End,” said Cllr Winskill. “Crouch End is a great place to live – and as we welcome new residents into the area we must also make sure that we maintain all the aspects which make the town so great.”

Cllr Winskill’s call to the Labour Council is being fully backed by his Lib Dem colleagues across the Borough.

“Crouch End is constantly being hit by new developments including the current Texaco application,” explains Cllr Lynne Featherstone (Lib Dem, Muswell Hill). “There is so much to lose if the Council does not listen to this idea and take a step back before it is too late. New developments are inevitable, but with an Overall Planning Framework we can ensure that the bigger picture is taken into consideration and the overall nature of the area is preserved.”

“There is a lot of talk about listening to local residents and involving them in the community – here is a real chance for the Council to put its money where its mouth is and show they actually mean it for once,” she adds.

Liberal Democrat Social Services Spokesperson Cllr Ron Aitken has revealed further serious concerns about the running of Haringey Council’s Social Services – this time around the care and protection of vulnerable adults in a residential home owned by the Council but run by CSS on the Council’s behalf.

Cllr Aitken, who voted against the original plan to transfer the care of residents in two homes for people with learning disabilities, has demanded that the Council explain why it has sat on a critical report by its own Inspection Unit since February 2001. Cllr Aitken says that the Council should justify the withholding of the full details in the report from the mother of a resident of Linden House, a home in Tottenham for adults with a learning disability.

Only by taking legal action was the mother, who had complained on several occasions that her daughter was showing bruises and was not being properly cared for, able to make public a copy of a summary report. It is estimated that Haringey will have to pay her costs of at least £6,000 as a result of the action which was due to be heard in the Administrative Division of the High Court on 26 September 2003.

Cllr Aitken comments: “It is a disgrace that neither elected councillors nor relatives with an interest in the welfare of these most vulnerable adults have not been given a copy of the full report. One wonders what other secrets Haringey is hiding.

“The Council has sat on the Report since February 2001 and only served notice on CSS for breach of standards in March 2002. It is very disturbing that Haringey has not made these facts public, therefore I will be scrutinising closely any further plans to ensure there is no repetition of these events.”

Notes:

Among the findings contained in the Summary Report of Haringey Council Inspection and Registration Unit on events in the home in the Autumn of 2000 are:

* There was an investigation into alleged physical abuse of another resident in the home.
* This resident was allegedly ordered to run upstairs naked.
* Overwhelming evidence that a staff member produced a piece of wood and entered a bathroom where this resident was present.
* A subsequent search of the home yielded a weathered bamboo stick from behind a sofa.
* A member of staff subsequently resigned.
* Criticism of the practice of making temporary staff permanent without proper training and safeguards.
* 91 staff worked in the home in the period June-November2000.
* It is not clear whether police were involved in an investigation.

The Council has since taken Linden House and several other homes back into Direct Management, but plans to hive them off once again to another organisation.

Following months of pressure from Lib Dem councillor Lynne Featherstone, a new bus shelter on Bounds Green Road has been erected, just in time for the winter weather. The new shelter, which replaces one demolished in a traffic accident several months ago, has been installed by Transport for London after Cllr Featherstone brought it to their attention back in July.

Cllr Featherstone had responded to complaints by local residents who had said they had written to TfL and asked them to replace the shelter, but had never received a response.

Ms Featherstone says that many of the users are elderly residents who had been left exposed to the elements since the shelter’s demolition. TfL have apologised for the delay and said it was due to the fact that they did not have the right bus shelters in stock following the crash.

Cllr Featherstone comments:

“I am delighted that the bus shelter has now been replaced, and local passengers have their shelter back. Transport bosses need to act quickly to keep bus shelters in good shape, as this adds to the appeal of using local bus services and provides much needed shelter in the winter. We had been without one on this site for several months.”