Richard Wilson

Council officers have revealed the results of the consultation to extend the Stroud Green Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) into the vale roads north of Ridge Road.   54% of respondents were in favour of the expansion with 42% against (and 4% unsure).  There were 186 responses.

The parking officials have now recommended to Cllr Canver, the Labour Councillor in charge of parking in Haringey, that the Stroud Green CPZ is extended to cover the entire consultation zone (Nelson, Inderwick, Mayfeild, Denton and Uplands Road and Weston Park).  Although there were strong pockets of objections in some streets, the officers believe they have ‘broad support’ to implement the CPZ expansion.  The decision is now with Cllr Canver.

As local councillors we worked hard to make sure this consultation took place, and then to try to make sure everyone could have their say – whether for or against parking controls.  We have pressed the Council to listen to residents and go for the decision backed by the most people.  I’ve also said that if they decide to expand the CPZ they should implement the extension as quickly as possible to help residents being effected by displacement parking.

Stroud Green councillor Katherine Reece has joined local MP Lynne Featherstone on a last minute push to get local parents to back the campaign for fair funding for our schools.   The Government are holding a consultation on school funding formulas which ends on Tuesday 11th October – and this is an opportunity to end the long-standing unfairness of Stroud Green schools receiving less funding than those in nearby boroughs.

Schools in Haringey receive as much as £1,500 less per pupil than schools over the border in Hackney and Islington, because Haringey is counted as Outer London by the Department for Education – even though Haringey teachers get paid inner London salaries.   This anomaly has existed for decades – but thanks to Lynne’s campaigning it may be coming to an end as the Government consultation proposes a better ‘combined approach’ formula that would remedy the situation.

You can respond to the consultation and demand fair funding for Stroud Green’s schools on the Department for Education’s website.  It’s outrageous that children who live on the north side of Stroud Green Road receive thousands of pounds less school funding than those who live on the south side.  Lets hope Katherine and Lynne’s hard work pays off.

I’ve been contacted by a number of residents concerned about new proposals to change the parliamentary constituency boundaries in our area. The Boundary Commission has suggested moving Stroud Green ward from the Hornsey and Wood Green constituency to the the Tottenham constituency.

This would mean that in the next General Election residents in Stroud Green ward would not have a say in who is MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, but would instead vote for who represents Tottenham. Local elections would remain the same, with Stroud Green remaining in the London Borough of Haringey.

The proposals in the Commission’s report would divide our area from Crouch End and Hornsey.  Streets such as Weston Park, Nelson Road, Inderwick Road, Ferme Park Road and Mount View Road would be spilt, with one half in Hornsey Constituency and the other in Tottenham. However, this proposal is not set in stone, and could change if residents in Stroud Green argue against moving to Tottenham constituency.  The Commission’s proposals are supposed to protect local community ties, and not divide areas where communities are strongly connected.

We want know what residents think of this proposal and have therefore set up a survey to find out your views.  Please fill out this survey to help us put residents’ views to the Boundary Commission.

At Monday night’s Area Committee meeting in the Hornsey Library, I and the other local Lib Dem councillors agreed which community groups would benefit from small ‘Making the Difference’ grants to improve the local area.  This year we had some great bids in from Stroud Green residents – all of which got funded.

Projects that got the go-ahead in Stroud Green were:

• £3,500 for Mind to recruit and train volunteers to help out at their centre on Stappleton Hall Road (see cafe in picture).
• £500 for the Friends of the Parkland Walk to help clean up embankments and cuttings on the Walk.
• £2,500 for Farnefields Court Residents’ Association to create a community garden (with another £2,500 of match funding levered out of Homes for Haringey).
• £3,000 for Stroud Green Residents Association for new seats for people waiting for the W5, tree planting and other improvements.
• £3,000 for Friends of Stationers Park for new community picnic benches.
• £750 for the Friends of Stroud Green Library for a new noticeboard and signs.

Well done to all these organisations for putting in bids and working so hard to improve our area.

Ed, Katherine and I have launched a survey in Stroud Green to find out what residents views are on the Labour Council’s plans to introduce fortnightly collections of non-recyclable rubbish next year Collection of recyclable rubbish would remain weekly. However, very few people are aware of the plan, because the Council are remaining silent on the subject, and have held no consultation with residents.

Council flats and flats above shops will be unaffected, but all street properties will be covered – including the many houses that have been broken up into flats. My understanding is that this is the first time fortnightly collections have been attempted in a dense urban area like Haringey.  I’m very sceptical that it will work in a place like Stroud Greens where gardens are so small and there is such little space – and the population is so dense. And some really smelly things such as bones, pet litter and nappies can’t be recycled – and will therefore be sitting in wheelie bins for up to two weeks.

So please do tell us what you think of this plan so we can present the results to the Council and hopefully get them to listen to residents.  The survey is here.

Over the summer I’ve had a number of complaints from residents about long queues at Haringey Council’s ‘customer services’ centre in Wood Green, where Stroud Green residents go to get parking permits and deal with the Council over benefits and council tax issues.  So last week I made an unannounced visit to the centre to survey residents about their experiences.

I was joined by local Stroud Green resident Diana Buckley, who contacted me after she queued for three hours for parking permits, and fellow councillor Jim Jenks.

Whilst conducting the survey we met lots of other people with experiences of long waits or being turned away at the door because the queue was too long.  On the day we were there people had to queue for 45 minutes just to get to the reception desk to be given a ticket to join the proper queue!   We also discovered that the centre closes an hour early most days and saw people being turned away at 4pm when the advertised closing time is 5pm.

I’ve now written to Haringey’s Chief Executive to say this is completely unacceptable, and to demand that action is taken to improve the centre, reduce waits and make it more efficient.  The Council have recently closed other customer services centres and changed the system – and this has clearly had a disastrous result.  Many people said how helpful staff were when they eventually got to the front of the queue – and its a great shame that busy residents and hardworking frontline staff are being let down by poor decision-making at a senior level and bureaucratic and inflexible systems.

Parkland Walk safety will be discussed at a public meeting, with police invited, after a spate of attacks on and around the local park.  Ed, Katherine and I have made sure park safety is discussed at the next Area Forum – to give local residents an opportunity to ask questions about what is being done following the attacks, and what steps users can take to make sure they are safe on the park.

The overwhelming majority of people who use the Parkland Walk know how safe it is – but the recent spate of attacks has been a worry (see press reports here and here).  This is a chance for local residents and users to seek reassurance and to share their views

We have asked the Council and police to make sure it is doing all it can to protect the hundreds of people who use the park every day.  The Parkland Walk is a local treasure and we want to keep it that way.

The Area Forum will be held at 19:00 on Monday 26th September, at Hornsey Library, Haringey Park N8 9JA.  Other issues on the agenda include parking, Hornsey Town Hall and update on the Tottenham disturbances.  All residents are welcome to attend.  If you cannot make it, please contact us directly to get your get questions answered.