After the intervention of Highgate’s Lib Dem councillors, the Haringey Council has ordered works on a council block to be redone after repeated complains from residents.

Residents had complained that the double glazing being installed in Grimshaw Close, off North Hill, was not up to standard, and the new windows being put in by the council did not fit.Work has now stopped and the council has ordered it to be redone.

Lib Dem councillor Neil Williams has also expressed concerns at the length of time the scaffolding has been on the building, with residents reporting that the work is only progressing ‘every now and then’. Where the new windows have not fitted, residents have complained of filler foam being used, which is oozing in large quantities from the gaps in the masonry.

Highgate Lib Dem councillor Neil Williams comments:

“I am very unhappy about the works that have been done so far in Grimshaw Close, and I am pleased the council has agreed to instruct the window repairs to be done again. However, this is only part of the problem, as residents are unhappy with several other aspects of the current programme.

“Firm action must now be taken by Haringey to get this repair programme under control. I will be watching the situation closely over coming weeks.”

A local Lib Dem councillor has accused Haringey of meanness and double standards after discovering that Labour-run Haringey Council is earning almost £50,000 from rooftop aerials installed in a Highgate council estate – while at the same time taking years to install a disabled ramp in one of the blocks on the famous Hillcrest Estate, Highgate.

The revelations on the income the council is receiving from the masts erected on the roofs of the seven storey buildings came in a written answer to local Lib Dem councillor, Neil Williams, at last week’s full council meeting.

Residents say that Haringey Council has not acted to improve access to Dowding House, on the Hillcrest estate, despite years of pleas from locals.The Lib Dems also say that if plans by telecoms firm o2 for another mast on Mountbatten House go ahead, the council windfall could increase to a massive £56,000 per year. To add insult to injury, not one penny is retained for estate improvements, or the much needed disabled access ramps.

Highgate Lib Dem councillor Neil Williams comments:

“There are huge sums of money pouring in to the council coffers from these masts. The residents have to live with them, and they make the tops of the blocks make them look like a miniature airfield.

“Haringey wants to have it both ways. It wants to cream off this money, taking advantage of the height of the buildings – but when it comes to much needed improvements, often needed as a result of their design, then the money is gone and residents have to wait for years. It is very unfair. At least some of the money should be ring-fenced for Hillcrest, as it is the residents who have to live with this equipment.”

Local GLA member Nicky Gavron is tipped to come a humiliating fourth in the election for London Mayor, according to the latest opinion poll published in today’s London Evening Standard. The news is certain to come as a blow to the local Labour party, say the Liberal Democrats.

Ms Gavron was a Haringey councillor until May this year when she stepped down from the Council. In May election’s she suffered the embarrassment of seeing her former Labour heartland in Archway fall to the Liberal Democrats, who won all six seats in the two wards covering Archway. The Evening Standard / YouGov poll show that Ms Gavron is trailing possible Lib Dem and Tory Mayor candidates, as well as Mayor Ken Livingstone, if she were to be chosen as the Labour candidate.

Ross Laird, Lib Dem Deputy Leader on Haringey Council, comments: “This news spells very big trouble for Labour. If the candidate favoured by so many Labour’s party bosses and MPs is struggling in fourth place, it shows how little faith Londoners have in Labour to deliver for the capital.”

Note:

Evening Standard poll results: if the following were the candidates, voting intentions would be:

Ken Livingstone(Ind) – 40%
Steven Norris (Con) – 27%
Susan Kramer (Lib Dem) – 13%
Nicky Gavron (Lab) – 12%

Lib Dem councillors for the Alexandra ward are calling for Haringey Council to reopen a crucial part of London’s cycle network that Haringey Council has deliberately left blocked for months. The local cycle route connecting Wood Green to the Ally Pally has been closed off by the Council, cutting off the cycle link between the two locations.

Local Lib Dem councillor, Wayne Hoban, says that in a classic Haringey cock-up – the route was barred some months ago by the council’s Property Services Department, without the knowledge and cooperation of the Environment department. The Council has stuck a ‘no entry’ notice stuck on the huge blue gate that now barricades the route [see photo].

Local cyclists say that the route should be reopened and are demanding that Haringey Council takes action. Local cyclist and user of the route, Michael Poteliakhoff, says: “The blocked route forms part of the London Cycle Network – route 54 as the network maps clearly show.Even thought the Council has admitted the route should not be closed, nothing has been done. Anybody using the official maps would find the route is blocked.”

Local Lib Dem councillor Wayne Hoban, comments: “I have asked the Council to take urgent steps to remove the gate. What is the point of a local cycle network, if the routes can be blocked by the Council in this way?”

Cllr Ross Laird, Muswell Hill Lib Dem Councillor, has welcomed Haringey Council’s announcement that work on repairing the railings outside Muswell Hill Primary School will go ahead this week, starting Monday 9th September.

Haringey Council confirmed work would be starting this week following urgent calls from Cllr Laird for the heavily used railings to be repaired.

Cllr Laird commented: “This is welcome news. The railings were an eyesore and dangerous for people sitting on them waiting for their buses. I am glad the Council has finally acted in response to our urgent calls.”

Lib Dem Leader Lynne Featherstone this weekend gave the prizes at the Golf Course Allotments and Garden Association Annual Show, at the allotments off Winton Road, near Alexandra Palace. Ms Featherstone handed out awards for the best vegetables, flowers and fruit at the Sunday afternoon event

In a magnificent show, the Association received more entries than ever before, with prize categories that included a members’ vegetable section; a novice section which received a huge showing from first time entrants; a flower and fruit section; a novelty section, a magnificent children’s section and a domestic section for jams and chutneys.

Commenting, Lynne Featherstone said:

“It was a hugely enjoyable day, a magnificent show and a heart-warming display of community spirit, with people from all walks of life joined in their mutual interest. The allotments are a wonderful benefit to people and the local environment. I could certainly do with taking this up myself as the perfect stress buster!”

Local Liberal Democrats fear that five local post offices could close in Hornsey and Wood Green, under dramatic plans to cut services announced by the Post Office. The plans, announced by Chief Executive David Mills, envisage that a third of urban post offices would close. In Hornsey and Wood Green, this would mean the loss of five out of the 16 post offices in the area. Already this year, over 30,000 job losses have already been announced.

The Liberal Democrats blame the Labour government for the planned closures, and have launched a petition against the cuts.

Lib Dem Parliamentary spokesperson, Lynne Featherstone, comments:

“Make no mistake, if this massive closure programme goes ahead, we are certain to lose several post offices in Hornsey and Wood Green, probably as many as five. This must be stopped. We must put as much pressure as possible on Labour and the Post Office to make them change their minds.”

You can sign the Lib Dem petition online here.

A Highgate Lib Dem councillor has welcomed the news that Haringey Council is now willing to discuss urgent road safety measures near a primary school in his Highgate ward.Cllr Neil Williams has been told that discussions on possible new safety measures at Bishopswood Road, outside Highgate Junior School, can now go ahead. The news follows pressure from the local Lib Dem councillor and questions raised in the Council over the possible funding of an improvement scheme.

Cllr Williams says that with the onset of a new school year, safety measures are needed more than ever on the road.If improvements are not made, he says it is only a matter of time before a serious incident occurs.Bishopswood Road, which forms a crescent off Hampstead Lane, has both a junior and an infants school, as well as a heavily used sports centre. During pick up and drop off times, it is often very busy and congested. To alleviate the problem, most parents driving to Highgate Junior School operate a ‘de facto’ one-way system in the road, entering at the western end and exiting at the east.

In an incident on 29th May, a boy’s foot was crushed, breaking a bone and both he and the other children who witnessed the accident were all extremely shaken. The police and ambulance services were called.

Haringey Council has so far been resisting safety measures, saying that the site was not dangerous enough according to its own accident statistics. However, the school had itself offered to make funds available for traffic measures. Initially the Council said it didn’t know if it could proceed on that basis for ‘legal reasons’. However, following pressure and questions in the Council from Cllr Neil Williams, it has now admitted this is not a bar to discussions.

Councillor Neil Williams comments:

“I am pleased that the Council has seen sense. It appears they are willing to enter discussions about safety measures, now that we have resolved the issue over whether contributions can be made over the funding of the scheme. This gives a good basis for improving safety in an area with so many children.”

Highgate Lib Dem councillor Neil Williams has received assurances from Transport for London that it will step in to resolve teething problems with the 234 bus service, which has just been extended to run to Highgate after a long campaign.

Following an inspection of the route this weekend, Councillor Williams wants all the timetables on the bus stops brought up to date to show clearly that the destination of the route has now been changed to the new stop of “Highgate Wood – Sussex Gardens.”

The route used to terminate at East Finchley station. However, with the extension, Highgate residents now have much better access to East Finchley and, for the first time, a direct route to the shops and services of Muswell Hill. But, initial problems meant that buses on the new service was still showing the ‘old’ headboard reading East Finchley Station, and only some of the drivers seemed aware of the new destination last weekend.

Councillor Williams comments:

“After all he hard work of the local residents, Buswatch and Lynne Featherstone in bringing about this route extension, we must get everything right.It really is a blessing for residents in this part of Highgate to be able to get such better bus access to Muswell Hill.

“TfL has assured me it will pursue the bus company, Metroline, to iron out these problems. I want to see all the new details on the timetables brought up to date at the Highgate end.”

Opposition Liberal Democrats are today revealing that Labour’s bombshell plans to increase council tax could see a dramatic increase of over 40% over the next four years in Haringey council tax bills.

Under Labour plans revealed in a paper to last week’s Overview & Security Committee of Haringey Council, the total bill for local taxpayers, including money collected by Mayor Ken Livingstone, could mean that a band D council tax, currently £983, rises to over £1,400 in 2006/2007.

Lib Dems have accused the Labour of hypocrisy following the recent council elections, when Labour boasted about freezing council tax levels while at the same time made preparations to reveal their plans for massive increases.

In its recent election manifesto, just four months ago, Haringey Labour told local voters that: “the Council’s finances are now in a sound state, with council tax having been frozen for the past three years.”

Lib Dem budget spokesman, Cllr Jonathan Bloch, says: “This is an incredible U-turn from the council, which has spent the last three years telling us they had sorted out years and years of financial mismanagement and brought the borough’s finances to heel. These huge potential increases, announced just months after the local elections, would be a crippling blow to local council tax payers. Work needs to start now to get these planned rises under control.”

How Labour’s council tax plans add up:

Note: Band D figures include the GLA precept, whose figures have been projected based on past performance.