A local councillor has welcomed the imminent end of a long campaign to reverse the controversial ‘no left turn’ from the Archway Road into the Muswell Hill Road. Ross Laird, Lib Dem councillor for Muswell Hill, made the issue a key issue of the by-election campaign that brought him on to Haringey Council in May 2000.And two and a half years later, he says it is about time the saga was brought to an end.

The works, undertaken by Transport for London, have been progressing over the summer and should be completed by the end of August.

Cllr Ross Laird comments:

“After all this time, it’s good to see that common sense is prevailing, and that left turning into Muswell Hill Road is being restored. The change was a nonsense, and it will be a relief to see the back of it.”

Lib Dem councillors in Muswell Hill are consulting residents over limited measures to curb speeding in a notorious danger spot in the area. While Haringey Council has consistently refused to introduce a comprehensive scheme of traffic calming in Cranley Gardens, local councillor Jonathan Bloch and his colleagues are asking local residents for their views on a number of low-cost initiatives that the Council has finally agreed to support.

These include painting a “Give Way” sign on the road at the corner of Cranley Gardens and Muswell Hill Road. This will hopefully stop cars before they take the corner, making crossing the road safer. More warning markings urging traffic to slow to a safe speed will also be placed in the area.

The Lib Dems are also asking the council to look at some further steps, including the possibilities of a new pedestrian crossing half way up the road, a zebra crossing on the corner of Woodside Avenue and Muswell Hill Road, which could help slow speeding traffic carrying on into Cranley Gardens, and a zebra crossing on Cranley Gardens at the Park Road end.

Local Lib Dem councillor Jonathan Bloch comments:

“Speeding traffic is one of the most common issues raised by residents of the street with myself and fellow councillors Ross Laird and Lynne Featherstone. We are very interested to hear the views of local people on these possible measures, and would urge residents to reply to our door-to-door survey, or contact us at speeding@lynnefeatherstone.org.”

Local Lib Dems have called for urgent action to increase the number of patients at dentists, following new figures revealed by the Liberal Democrat Health team in Parliament showing that the number of children registered by the local health authority has fallen from 59% to 53% since Labour came to power.The percentage of adults registered in the area has also fallen, from 43% to just 36% over the same period.

On top of these poor figures, research released by the Lib Dems nationally shows that value for money is worse under the Government’s scheme of dental treatment centres compared to the existing system. The average cost for every course of treatment provided by the new scheme is over three times as much as that provided by dentists working in the traditional system. Lib Dems criticised the scheme as being a waste of money, often requiring patients to travel further and meaning that illnesses are not picked up early or prevented.

Ross Laird, Lib Dem Deputy Leader, comments:

“These are very disappointing figures. In reality, Labour’s pledge that all patients would have access to dentistry just isn’t there, and the local figures are worse than average.Instead of reversing the crisis created by the Tories, things have just got worse under Labour.”

Haringey’s Liberal Democrats have again formally complained to the Labour-run Council after a Labour Lead Member failed to give an answer to a question put by the Lib Dems in the council chamber.The Lib Dems are accusing Labour of contempt for the rules and of deliberately keeping local people in the dark about important questions of local policy.

The question (oral question 15 from the last council meeting) came from Lib Dem leader Lynne Featherstone, who had requested in part an explanation as to why Haringey Council had not bid for any money from Transport for London for a particular project. The answer provided did not provide any answer or even reference to this part of the question.

Councillor Featherstone has in the past had to raise with the Council’s monitoring officer the failure of Labour Lead Members to answer questions. The Council has admitted that it is not within the power of councillors to pick and chose which questions or parts of questions they wish to answer – yet Haringey Labour members persist in flouting these clear rules.The Lib Dems want firmer action to ensure that councillors meet their legal obligations.

Lib Dem Deputy Leader Ross Laird, comments:

“Time and again, Labour members are showing a total disregard for their obligations to answer questions put to them. It is not good enough. If it goes on, we will be pressing for action, as this is in our view a breach of the standards that councillors are expected to uphold. And local people are entitled to have Labour councillors held properly to account. Labour can’t just pick and choose as it wants.”

Note:

The Lib Dems are specifically asking the Council’s Chief Executive and Borough Solicitor:

a)What action will be taken to rectify the failure to answer Oral Question 15.

b)What measures are proposed to ensure that questions are answered in line with the council’s legal and regulatory obligations in future, particularly bearing in mind the Council’s acknowledgement of its failure to meet these obligations in the past.

c)At what point would the repeated failure of a councillor to discharge their duties to answer questions qualify as a breach of the standards which councillors are expected to uphold, with particular reference to principle 4 of the Members’ Code of Conduct.

Lib Dem councillor Ross Laird is calling on Labour-run Haringey Council to take urgent action to clean up a local lane in his Muswell Hill ward. Farrer Mews is at the back of the shops on Priory and Park Road.Cllr Laird has written to the Council, branding the state of the local lane as ‘ a disgrace’.

Cllr Laird says that Farrer Mews is often in an awful state. He wants the Council to act by declaring a one-day rubbish amnesty for getting rid of bulky items that have been dumped in the area and for the lane to be given a ‘deep clean.’

Cllr Laird comments:

“I don’t mind shop-keepers going about their business and there will always be an element of waste as a result, but the whole of Farrer Mews is now littered with rubbish. I am urging shopkeepers and residents alike not to dump any rubbish onto the street. The present situation is dreadful and I have written to the Council to ask them to give the area a thorough clean.”

Highgate’s Lib Dem councillors have welcomed the news that Haringey is to consult local residents on the introduction of recycling facilities at the top of the Archway Road. The move follows pressure from Lib Dem councillors Neil Williams, Melanie Simpson and Bob Hare to improve Highgate’s recycling facilities.However, the Liberal Democrats are calling for further action to increase Haringey’s very low recycling levels.

The Lib Dems had asked for the site, as local residents in the area currently have to travel to East Finchley to dispose of glass bottles and other recyclables. The new site may not be suitable for waste paper recycling, however, due to the proximity of the local petrol station. The Lib Dems therefore are asking the Council to investigate installing a special steel paper container which would carry a much lower fire risk.

Highgate Lib Dem councillor Bob Hare comments:

“I welcome this news as first step in improving recycling facilities in this part of Highgate. We have submitted a detailed summary of our own concerns and will be asking local residents what they think of the current proposals.”

Liberal Democrat leader Lynne Featherstone comments:

“We will also be keeping up the pressure to ensure that there is door-to-door collection, as this is the only way to significantly boost Haringey’s recycling rate in the long term.”

A Lib Dem councillor has won the backing of residents to hold a meeting to discuss severe problems in a Haringey housing development. Cllr Ross Laird, who represents Muswell Hill, has been working with residents of Connaught House, N10, over the severe problems of dumped rubbish, potholes, abandoned cars and crime in the area.

Cllr Ross Laird, Lib Dem Councillor for Muswell Hill, has now won backing from local residents in Connaught House, Connaught Gardens, to set up an initial meeting to discuss their concerns with Housing 21, the Metropolitan Police and Haringey Council. Cllr Laird has already received warm backing for the meeting from Housing 21 officials who said they would support the creation of a residents’ association. Cllr Laird has also written a letter to the Metropolitan Police calling for their involvement and support, and says the estate has been starved of necessary attention and funds for too long.

Cllr Laird said: “I welcome the enthusiasm that some residents in Connaught Gardens, and Connaught House in particular, have shown for the idea of a residents’ meeting to sort out the problems in the area. I will hopefully be holding a meeting some time in September with residents to discuss where we go from here and will continue to work with my colleague Lynne Featherstone to improve the area. I warmly welcome the active engagement of Housing 21 and Haringey Council officers in the process so far, particularly Housing 21’s emphatic support for the creation of a residents’ association.”

Lib Dem councillors have triggered Haringey Council’s new ‘call in procedure’ in an attempt to halt Haringey Labour’s controversial attempt to sell-off Coldfall Lodge in Muswell Hill. Lib Dem Councillor Stephen Gilbert says the Labour-run council has taken the decision to dispose of the Lodge to the highest bidder – without the necessary safeguards to protect the area and residents from intrusive development.

The Lodge, situated on the edge of an historic woodland, is now a run-down building in Creighton Avenue, N10, which has been poorly looked after by Haringey. The Lib Dems say the Council’s behaviour raises many questions over the future of the site. They will be demanding answers at next week’s emergency meeting of the Council’s new ‘Overview and Scrutiny’ Committee, which has been called to consider the issue on Tuesday, 20 August.The Lib Dems want to know who was consulted on the sell-off plans and how much of the land is affected.

Cllr Stephen Gilbert comments: “The decision to sell the lodge was taken without proper consultation with community groups or an exploration of other ways to bring the site back into use. I am very concerned about the lack of safeguards from the Council to ensure the any development on the site is appropriate. I will be asking the Scrutiny Committee to force the Council to start again on this one. Along with my colleague Lynne Featherstone I am also consulting residents to see what future they would like for the site.”

Haringey’s embattled Labour party has been dealt another severe blow today, as a prominent local member has announced he is leaving the party and joining the opposition Liberal Democrats. Francis Oparaji, a senior and long standing Labour member and a prominent community campaigner in the Finsbury Park area, has been welcomed into the party by Ross Laird, the Lib Dems’ Deputy Leader.

Dr Oparaji says he has “no regrets” about putting the local Labour party behind him, and is looking forward to working with Lynne Featherstone and the local Lib Dems. His loss will be a huge blow to Haringey Labour.He has been a long-standing member of the local Labour party, and has sat on the General Committee for the Hornsey and Wood Green Parliamentary Constituency. In the local community, he is Vice Chair of the Finsbury Park Partnership, and also sits on the Finsbury Park Community Forum, where he has a close involvement with black and ethnic minority issues.

Commenting on his decision to join the Lib Dems, Francis Oparaji says:”I am delighted and relieved that I have now put Haringey Labour behind me and joined the Liberal Democrats. Lynne Featherstone and her local team have been doing an excellent job exposing the failings of the local Labour council. I will continue my work in the community in Stroud Green and look forward to working with the Lib Dems in the future.”

Lib Dem Deputy Leader Ross Laird, says: “I warmly welcome Francis to the Lib Dems. I have been impressed with his local work and commitment to the community. He is undoubtedly fed up with Labour’s failures and infighting, and he will find a welcome home with us.”

Leader of the Opposition on Haringey Council, Lynne Featherstone, has today set out a three point plan for Government action to tackle the pensions injustice that many women face.

She is calling for:

• A substantial increase in the basic state pension, particularly for older pensioners; this is the only way to guarantee that help gets through to the poorest pensioners, many of whom do not claim the Government’s complex means-tested benefits;
• For the Government to write to all women in their 40s and 50s who have ever paid the married woman’s “stamp” to warn them that their pension rights may be in jeopardy;
• A major Government inquiry into the future pension prospects of today’s working women, with a promise of action to guarantee that the next generation of women pensioners do not miss out.

There are 7,800 female pensioners in Hornsey and Wood Green and 6,800 in Tottenham.

Lynne Featherstone comments,

“Pensioners are still treated by this Government as second class citizens.They have not forgotten the 75p insult.But many pensioners who happen to be women are treated differently – as third class citizens.

“If the 75p was an insult, then what of the women who acted on Government advice and now find themselves with as little as seven pence a week pension?

“Liberal Democrats believe that everyone has the right to expect dignity and security in old age.Our three point plan would help to relieve poverty among today’s pensioners and would help to ensure that future generations of women pensioners do not have to live in poverty.”

Note:
The campaign highlights the facts that:

• Among today’s pensioners, poverty rates are highest among women; almost ¾ of pensioners on Income Support are women, and elderly widows are especially poor.
• The gap between male and female pensioners’ incomes has increased since 1979.For a single male pensioner, his average income has increased by 80%.For a single female, her income has increased by 73%.Between 1997 and 2000 a single male pensioner’s income increased by 20%.Over the same period a single female pensioner’s income rose by only 12%.
• More than 1 in 3 women who are entitled to the Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG) fail to receive it. Up to 34%, or 460,000 entitled women do not receive their money.Numbers not claiming are getting bigger.In previous year, figure was 32%, or 430,000.
• Among women in their 40s and 50s, many are set to receive poor state pensions because they paid National Insurance at the special rate for married women.
• Many women who paid the reduced rate were not made aware of the consequences. Some have been promised pensions as low as 7p per week.
• This could affect up to 1.5 million in total.Up to 75,000 women are still paying the special rate.
• Women in their 20s and 30s, could face similar patterns of poverty in old age as their mothers and grandmothers; Government plans to increase the role of private provision and cut back on universal state pensions could leave many women vulnerable.
• 69% of stakeholder pensions bought by men & 31% bought by women.
• Employers moving towards ‘defined contribution’ pensions.The pension ‘pot’ must be converted into an annuity – a product that guarantees a regular income for life.Annuities pay 10-20% less to women than men.