Richard Wilson

Yesterday, we presented Haringey Council will the final results of the Stroud Green Parking Survey.  We got a huge response with over 300 surveys completed either on the doorstep or online.

We started the survey because so many residents in the roads outside the existing Finsbury Park and Crouch End CPZs were contacting us to complain about parking (see post on launching the survey).  The key results were:

• 79% of residents believe that parking has got worse this year
• 61% of residents say they are now in favour of a CPZ , 32% are against a CPZ, and 7% stated no preference.
• 38% of residents say they used to be against having a CPZ but are now in favour.
• 58% of residents believe any CPZ should only operate for 2 hours .

These results demonstrate the urgent need for a proper Council consultation looking at the options for tackling parking problems.  We’ve written to the Haringey cabinet member in charge of parking demanding that he now holds this consultation - and a full review of the existing Finsbury Park CPZ.

As well as setting out residents’ views on CPZs, our letter also sets out other suggestions residents have made to reduce parking pressures, such as:

• Allowing residents who live just outside the CPZ boundary to buy permits to park inside.
• Allowing free parking on stretches of road where there are no houses, such as the Oakfield Road bridge or the covered reservoir.
• Providing dedicated van and truck parking (in appropriate places) for local residents who run vital ‘man and a van’ businesses.

The Council must listen to local residents on parking.

A number of residents have expressed their concern to me about the recent late night stabbing by the junction of Stapleton Hall Road and Lancaster Road.  The victim was attacked at around 4am on Friday 13th according to reports in local papers, and was seriously injured.  No wonder people are concerned when you see the stark headlines outside the Ferme Park Road newsagent - which is facing the scene of the attack (pictured).

I’ve asked the police and the Council’s community safety department to provide an urgent briefing.  Residents want to know whether this incident was gang, drugs or robbery related, so they can get some understanding of why this happened and what the risks are of it re-occuring.  For instance, a resident of Stapleton Hall Road told me she was worried about whether her teenage sons might be at risk – if the stabbing was related to young gangs.

I’ll try to reassure people on nearby streets when I get further information.

Over the summer Ed, Laura and I launched a survey of parking issues in the roads just outside the new Crouch End Controlled Parking Zone – as we were being inundated with complaints from residents.  We felt we had to do our own survey as the Council had broken their pledge to hold a consultation after the new CPZ was implemented.

We’ve now had several hundred responses from the roads bordering the Crouch End and Finsbury Park CPZs.  The results so far show:

• Three quarters of respondents say parking has got worse in the last 6 months
• 62% say they are now in favour of a CPZ – with many residents saying they have been forced to change their anti-CPZ views
• The vast majority of residents would want a CPZ to be operational for only 2 hours

These figures show that local people in roads such as Mount View, Ferme Park, Stapleton Hall, Granville and Quernmore, think the parking problem is getting even worse and want the Council to take action.  We are using the results to demand that the Council conduct a proper consultation with residents as soon as possible.  But we are also pledging to scrutinise any Council proposals for new parking restrictions, to ensure they are focused on solving the problem – not boosting Council coffers.

We will be closing the survey very soon to present the full results to the Council, so if you haven’t yet had your say please fill it out online as soon as possible (link here).  This parking mess is largely of the Council’s own making – and they need to listen to residents views on how to sort it out.

I’ve recently been reporting a number of telephone exchange cupboards with missing doors (see picture).   Not only are they pretty ugly without the doors but it leaves all the wires exposed and presumably vulnerable to damage.

This prompts the question as to why do the doors go missing in the first place?  One suggestion is that people could be stealing the doors to sell as scrap metal.  This seems ridiculous – but you do read about high metal prices causing these kinds of thefts.

This box on Ossian Road near Ferme Park Road was fixed a few days ago after I reported it to Haringey Council.  I’ve also reported another one in Denton Road.  If you spot any please contact me and I’ll try to get them sorted.  Also- please contact me if you have a better explanation as to why they go missing.

You may remember from my previous post Displacement fears over new resident parking zone that the Council said it would hold consultations on extending the new Crouch End Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) to nearby roads if there was clear demand.  This pledge gave some hope to residents of roads like Mount View Road, Granville Road and Ferme Park Road, who are now finding it very difficult to park.

However, the Council have now said that they will not be funding any consultations to extend the CPZ during the 2009/10 financial year.  This means that roads that now have severe parking problems cannot even have a say on whether resident-only parking is needed until April 2010 at the very earliest.  And the earliest any road could get a CPZ introduced would be the very end of 2010 – about 20 months after the problem started.

This is a ridiculous way to go about dealing with residents, and making decisions that effect people’s daily lives!  I am very angry that promises about ‘fast-tracking’ consultations have turned out to be meaningless – only Haringey Council think that that taking 20 months is ‘fast-tracking’!  I have written to the director in charge of parking and highways at Haringey making my anger very clear, and asking him why they are ignoring the problems in these roads.

However, my view is that budget decisions aren’t written in stone and if residents make enough fuss, it could be possible to get the Council to change its mind.

My Stroud Green colleague Ed Butcher is celebrating news that a proposal to demolish a well-loved local restaurant building has been withdrawn.  Ed had sent in a formal objection in response to planning application to demolish the Triangle Restaurant on the corner of Ferme Park Road and Stapleton Hall Road.  He objected as the building is in a very prominent location in a conservation area – and he was concerned about the site being left derelict if there was any delay to redevelopment (quite likely during a recession).
 
However, the Council’s Planning Department have now revealed that the plan to demolish the building has been withdrawn and the owners instead plan to keep the frontage of the building.
 
As a member of the Planning Committee, I’m not allowed to have opinions on planning issues unless and until they come to committee.  But this is what Ed is saying to the local press:

 ”The Triangle Restaurant is a prominent and well loved building, which really improves the look of the area with all the greenery on its front.  I was very worried that its demolition would damage the appearance of the whole area.”
 
“This restaurant is an important part of our community.  I hope any new plans for the site are more sensitive and preserve the green feel of the area, which is right next to the Parkland Walk.”

I am being contacted by increasing number of residents from streets like Ferme Park Road and Mount View Road about the worsening parking situation.  On 9 March, the Council will begin enforcing a new Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) on roads in the centre of Crouch End to the west of Ferme Park Road - more details here.   The expansion of the Finsbury Park CPZ to the south has already displaced vehicles onto these streets, and residents fear that this new CPZ will make the problem even worse.

Therefore, I’ve contacted the council to find out how local residents can trigger a CPZ consultation on their road, if they wish.  The Council have told me that they will not take any action until at least 3 months after the CPZ has been implemented, so that a proper judgement about the level of displacement can be taken.  After then, a consultation can be triggered by enough people requesting one – for instance through a petition.

Parking is not an issue of political ideology and its my job as local councillor to ensure all people (the pros, antis and undecideds) get their voice heard in the debate.  Residents of Stroud Green ‘voted’ against a CPZ a few years ago – and may well do again.   But I’m sure the CPZ debate is going to be re-ignite soon.