Local Liberal Democrats have welcomed the announcement that two beleaguered council blocks are to have their lifts replaced – something the Lib Dem have long been campaigning for.

Haringey Council’s procurement committee has agreed that the lifts in council blocks on the Sandlings estate, Wood Green, and the lift at Birkbeck Road, Hornsey are to be replaced. The Council accepted a tender of £348,212 as part of the Lift Improvement Scheme Budget for 2002/3.

Commenting on the move, Lib Dem housing spokesperson, Dave Beacham, said:

“This is very welcome news for the residents of the blocks. The Lib Dems have campaigned hard for improvements to these and other blocks in Hornsey and in Wood Green.”

Haringey Council’s Key Stage 2 results remain among the worst in the country, according to results published today in the Times Educational Supplement.

Provisional aggregate scores show that Haringey has the sixth worst results in England for Key Stage 2.

Commenting on the results, Lib Dem Education Spokesman, Cllr Ross Laird said:

“Haringey’s education service is still struggling to meet the basic needs of local pupils. While the authority and schools are to be congratulated on their GCSE results, these figures demonstrate that the Labour-run council still has a mountain to climb to get grades up to an acceptable level.”

Haringey’s Liberal Democrat leader, Lynne Featherstone, has announced that she is to step down from the role next month. Ms Featherstone gave the news to her fellow councillors at the regular meeting of Lib Dem councillors on Thursday night. Ms Featherstone is also a member of the Greater London Authority and was chosen as her party’s Parliamentary spokesman for Hornsey and Wood Green last month.She wants to concentrate more on her Greater London Authority role and as a local ward councillor for Muswell Hill.

Lynne Featherstone has led the Lib Dems in Haringey from success to success, and has been a tireless campaigner on local issues.Under her leadership, the party crushed Labour in the west of the borough in this year’s local elections, wiping out the Tories in the process.At last year’s general election, Ms Featherstone scored the party’s third highest vote increase in the country, pushing the Tories into a distant third.

Lynne Featherstone will step down in November, when the council group will choose a new leader. In a vote of thanks, Wayne Hoban, Chair of the Lib Dems’ 15-strong council group, said:

“We owe a great deal to Lynne, who has put Haringey Lib Dems in pole position to challenge Labour in the borough – and we have wiped out the Tories in the process. She is a great friend, has been a superb leader, and will continue to be a key part of our local team.”

Lynne Featherstone comments: “It has been hugely enjoyable and exciting to lead the Lib Dems in Haringey. I will continue to play a prominent a role in the coming period, and look forward to even more campaigning on local issues.

“My decision is really a recognition that the council group is in good shape and I can step aside with complete confidence that the work of the council group will be in good hands. And I will continue to play my part as a councillor for Muswell Hill and with all my local campaigns such as securing the reopening of Muswell Hill police station front counter.”

Councillor Ross Laird, Lib Dem councillor for Muswell Hill, has expressed his dismay that one month on from his call for Haringey Council to help clean up piles of rubbish in Farrer Mews, Muswell Hill, the situation has not improved.

Cllr Laird commented:

“Farrer Mews is verging on being an utter disgrace. There are piles of rubbish and abandoned household appliances. The fact that it is not in full glare of the public is no reason for ignoring the state of the area. I have written to the director of Haringey Accord, the council’s cleansing contractor to urge an immediate clean-up operation.”

Lib Dem Leader Lynne Featherstone has written to the head of the Government’s Social Services Inspectorate (SSI) demanding an explanation over Haringey’s controversial attempts to interfere with an investigation carried out by the SSI into Haringey’s children’s services.

The move follows the uncovering of the issue by the local Lib Dems and The Guardian newspaper. In a letter to Denise Platt, Chief Inspector of the SSI, Lynne Featherstone has accused the Labour-run council of:

1.Making direct contact with the recipients of SSI questionnaires, despite the fact that the information accompanying the questionnaires assured users that they were ‘anonymous’.

2.Offering home visits in order to “help” recipients to fill in the forms. One person, for example, was rung by Council staff who endeavoured to make an appointment for someone to call round to help her fill in the form.

3.Asking at least one recipient of the survey form if they had brought it along to a case conference The council had apparently planned to collect the forms rather than have them sent directly to the SSI.

Lynne Featherstone comments:

“In defending this behaviour, Haringey Council has argued that the SSI’s inspector is happy with this procedure and has no concerns over Haringey Council’s behaviour in this respect. I find it very surprising that an organisation investigating a council should find it acceptable for people working for that council to interfere with the collection of evidence by the inquiry. It is time we had some satisfactory answers.”

Highgate Lib Dem councillors have welcomed the news that Haringey Council has agreed to their demands for better consultation with residents over a possible controlled parking zone (CPZ) in Highgate.

The councillors had demanded a special area assembly meeting for Highgate residents to discuss the plans. Haringey Council is now going organising the meeting for late October or early November.

Lib Dem councillor Neil Williams comments:

“Parking is an important and emotive issue, and it is important that residents are given the chance to meet with council officials to discuss the plans being put together by the council.”

Lib Dem transport spokesperson at the London Assembly, Lynne Featherstone, adds:

“This is welcome news, particularly as the knock-on effects of Camden’s plans for its side of Highgate are likely to be significant if they are implemented. We need better co-operation across the borough boundary in order to ensure that Highgate as a whole doesn’t suffer from different councils taking contradictory steps.”

Crouch End Lib Dem Councillor Ron Aitken has called for Haringey Council’s Environment Department to take action over a green space on Crouch End Hill that has become overgrown and dilapidated. The slope, next to the BT Site and the 91 bus stop, used to provide a welcome respite for travellers on their way up the hill from Crouch End. However in recent years the shrubs have reached out onto the pavement and benches have been vandalized beyond use.

Ron Aitken was contacted by a constituent who wrote:

“This slope is now completely covered in rampant brambles, which have not only covered the open space but are now intruding onto the pavement….another of the benches which used to provide a resting place for the elderly has completely disappeared and the back of the third is broken.”

Cllr Aitken has written to Haringey Environmental Services asking them to act. Ron Aitken comments:

“Haringey must try harder to look after the small green spaces that can make Crouch End such a pleasure to live in. Let’s hope they sort out this site.”

The North Middlesex Hospital is one of the busiest accident and emergency centres in London, and also has to cope with an enormous workload of elective surgery.

Following discussions at Haringey Community Health Council last week, the Lib Dem Health Spokesperson Cllr Wayne Hoban (Alexandra Ward) has questioned the North-Mid’s sums on the deal and raised the issue of affordable housing for nurses and doctors.

“I have written to the Trust asking that affordable homes for healthcare staff should form an essential part of any deal. With things as they stand, this cannot be guaranteed.” said Cllr Hoban.

Lib Dem health spokesperson at the London Assembly, Lynne Featherstone, comments:

“I am concerned about the impact of a £2.7 m per annum shortfall in revenue funding once the deal is up and running. This would have to be funded for a period of five years by the Health Trust, and could result in cuts to other vital services.

“These are important questions which must be answered if this scheme is to serve the interests of the local community.”

At the Lib Dem national party conference, local campaigner Lynne Featherstone has scooped an award for her local party website, http://www.lynnefeatherstone.org.

The website, with hundred of pages of local news and views from Haringey’s Lib Dem team, achieved a ‘highly commended’ award at the party conference for the way in which it is used to keep residents informed about local news and to solicit feedback from them.

Haringey’s Lib Dems have gone from strength to strength with their campaigns, and have wiped the Tories off Haringey council. The party’s 15 councillors have Labour deeply rattled, as they worry about losing both the council and the Hornsey and Wood Green parliamentary seat at the next general election.

Lynne Featherstone comments:

“With the website, we try to keep local people as well informed as possible about what is going on in the borough.

“Even more importantly, they can also let us know what they think on local issues, by filling in on line surveys or surgery forms. We are the only local party that offers such a comprehensive internet service, on top of our more traditional campaigns, and I am delighted that the team has received this award.”

A Lib Dem councillor has slammed the Labour-run Haringey Council for failing to turn up at a vital meeting with neighbouring boroughs to discuss the controversial plans for the A406 North Circular Road.

The criticism comes from Councillor Susan Oatway of Alexandra ward, after Haringey council staff failed to attend a vital Monday night meeting on 23rd September, which included the local GLA member and MPs, along with officers and councillors from both Barnet and Enfield councils.

Susan Oatway says the issue strongly affects residents in the Bounds Green area. The Transport for London proposals for the road, which involve changes to several junctions between Bounds Green Road and Green Lanes, are certain to affect Haringey traffic flows. A dedicated cycle network is also being mooted, along with restricted access to several side roads.

The Liberal Democrats have been leading the campaign in Haringey to ensure that residents are properly consulted and involved. It was only after pressure from the Lib Dems, that Haringey Council arranged a meeting to consult local residents.

Susan Oatway comments:

“This meeting was a useful step in getting key players together on the North Circular Road. I have written to Haringey Council expressing my dismay that there was no one to represent the council’s view on such an important issue. Haringey much show a bigger interest in these plans.”