Richard Wilson

Local residents have set up a public meeting at 7pm tomorrow (Friday 20th) night in the Hornsey Vale Community Centre on Mayfield Road to demand action on local parking problems.  Ever since the Crouch End Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) was extended east to Ferme Park Road residents have been complaining that parking has become very difficult in streets just outside the extended Zone.

The proposed extension of the Finsbury Park CPZ up to Ridge Road in September could make the situation much worse, which is why since at least October 2010, I have been calling for the Council to hold a parking consultation in the ‘Hornsey Vale’ roads (Nelson, Inderwick, Mayfield, Denton and Uplands Roads and the eastern section of Weston Park).  The consultation should find out if residents now want a CPZ or not.  I get the sense that although many people are not natural supporters of CPZs they are now reluctantly coming to the view they are unavoidable.

The Council did initially give the impression that they would prioritise a consultation in these roads in this financial year.  But they are now saying that they will only take action if enough residents complain.  Therefore Ed, Katherine and I are writing to everyone in the area to encourage them to complain to the Council if they want action on parking.  We have also encouraged residents to get together petitions if they are in favour of a parking consultation.  This public meeting is another excellent way of mobilising action.

Ed, Katherine and I have also formally written to the Labour Cabinet Member in charge of parking saying we are in favour of an urgent consultation in these roads.  We have asked the Council to explain if the area can be ‘fast tracked’ into either of the nearby CPZs or not.  Along with councillors from the nearby Hornsey Ward, I’ll be attending this public meeting to find out what the Council’s response is.

I popped over to Stationer Park today to see the work to replace the ageing play fort with an imaginative new play area.  This project is the result of a huge amount of work by local residents and the Friends of Stationers Park over many years.

Obviously, for many local families it will be sad to see the old fort go.  Lots of young people have happy memories of playing on this well-loved feature. However, small bits of the fort are being kept in the new structures as a happy reminder.

The new designs are really imaginative and have been strongly influenced by local kids.  I’m told that the work to make the new play area rise from the ruins of the old fort will start properly next month.

Great news for the many local residents who want action on parking: the consultation on whether the Finsbury Park Controlled Parking Zone should be extended north is due to to start on 19 November.  The consultation will extend as far north as Ridge Road, and including all the roads inbetween that are not already in the CPZ such as Mount View, Granville, Quernmore, Ferme Park, Stapleton Hall and Oakfield Roads.

This consultation is something Katherine, Ed and I have been pushing hard for – after we did a survey of residents which indicated many people in this area were now in favour of a CPZ.  I’ve helped the Council to recruit volunteers for focus group of local residents to help design the consultation questions, which was a very successful event.  There will be two separate consultation documents – one for people outside the CPZ asking if they would like it extended, and what hours they would like.  The other will go to everyone inside the existing CPZ asking if they would like the rules and hours of the zone changed.  Many residents are pushing for the CPZ to be divided into a smaller inner zone with long hours, and outer zones, with minimal hours.

This consultation will follow hot on the heels of the Crouch End CPZ consultation, which has been very high profile.  This consultation extended east from the centre of Crouch End as far as Ferme Park Road.  The results of this consultation will be available soon.

Roads that are north of Ridge Road and east of Ferme Park Road (Nelson, Inderwick, Mayfield, Denton, Uplands) are left out of both these consultations.  Understandably some residents here are concerned about the risk that parking pressures will soar if the CPZ boundary moves closer.  I’ve asked the Council how quickly a new consultation could be organised in these roads if residents demand it – and have been told that it could be possible in the 2011/12 financial year.

A further complication is that the Council are about to start a review of the costs of resident and visitor parking permits.  I’ve been told that proposals will go to the November cabinet.  I’ve written to the Labour cabinet member in charge of parking saying that a hike in charges will only heighten cynicism about the councils motives in extending CPZs, and should be avoided.  Parking controls should be there to help residents, not as backhand source of revenue for the Council – and we will scrutinise any proposals on charges to make sure they are fair.

I was out and about in the ward at the weekend and was really pleased to see that the grit bins that I had complained about (see previous post) had been filled, and that some residents had made use of the grit on their pavements and front paths.  I’ve also sent people who live near the grit bins on Mayfield and Inderwick Road a letter with the number to call to get the Council to refill the bin next time its empty.

However, it struck me how few of the hill roads in Stroud Green have a grit bin at all.  I couldn’t see one at all on Uplands, Denton, Albany or Oakfield Roads, and these are all quite steep and difficult when its icy.   So please contact me if you think your road needs a grit bin, and you and your neighbours would make use of it.  The Council’s website says that “suggestions for new sites are welcome”, so in theory this shouldn’t be difficult to sort out.

I also think the Council should do more to make residents aware of grit bins.  I suspect many people don’t know what the yellow boxes are for or are not sure if the public are supposed to make use of them (which they are).  Recently a Stroud Green resident emailed me a link to this website that promotes the use of ‘disused’ grit bins for community recycling.  Most of the ‘disused’ bins are in Haringey – so it seems some enterprising residents are using the bins for other purposes (probably because the Council doesn’t actually put grit in them very often).

After the chaos caused by the snow before Christmas, local activist Katherine Reece and I thought we would check to make sure the grit bins in Stroud Green are full. The bins allow local residents to grit the pavements clear near their home if they wish, and are usually provided in hilly areas.  Our steep streets can be treacherous when icy, and I know many local older people feel trapped in their homes when the pavements aren’t gritted.

Therefore, we were surprised to find the bins at the top of Inderwick Road and Mayfield Road (both at the Ridge Road end) were empty apart from some litter.  We immediately contacted the Council yesterday to ask them to urgently refill it.   I know that the bins at Chettle Court on Ridge Road were empty a few days ago too, and residents were having to keep asking for them to be refilled.

The Council is supposed to check and refill the bins regularly over winter – but it appears this hasn’t been happening.  Obviously main roads have to be a first priority, but the Council can’t ignore entirely the need to keep pavements in residential areas clear and safe.   And it makes sense to give residents the opportunity to do their bit.

Because of Lib Dem conference I’m a bit behind with my posts – but I wanted to report back on last week’s meeting with the police and Haringey Council about security at Stationers Park.  The meeting was called after I met with Parks officers to demand action after the children’s play fort was badly vandalised (see previous post).

The good news is that the Council revealed they have spoken to the private contractors who close all the park gates in the Borough and they are now going to change the order they go round to ensure Stationers is one of the first to be closed – not one of the last as seemed to be happening.  I’m really pleased as this is something I suggested at the end of August.

At the meeting a Mayfield Road resident confirmed that on the first night of the vandalism the gate was still open after 10pm.  Of course, anyone can climb into the park if they really want – but leaving the gate open after dark is an open invitation to bored teenagers during the summer holiday, so this is a real Council blunder.

However, the bad news is that police say they will never be able to prioritise security at the park after dark unless more local people report problems.  Currently they say they get very few calls about late night anti-social behaviour – even though loads of residents are disturbed when it happens.  I would urge residents to help defend the Park.  If its not an emergency you can call the ‘Safer Parks Unit’ via the Met Police on 0300 123 1212.  If its an issue with the gates call the Parks Service on 020 8489 1000. 

I suspect the reason most people don’t complain is because they don’t believe anything will happen as a result.  So the police and the Council will need to make sure action is seen to happen when people take the time to contact them.

Earlier today I went to Stationers Park to meet with the Council’s Head of Parks to discuss what can been done about security following the recent vandalism (see previous post).  As a result its been agreed that the Parks department will convene a meeting between the police, local residents and parks officers to try look at ways of ensuring residents get a better response when there are problems in the park.

I hope this meeting will help local residents on Mayfield Road and Denton Road get action and commitments out of the Council and Police.  However, its clear from talking to the Head of Parks that the new ‘parkforce’ service is not 24 hours – so will not be able to guarantee any response to problems late at night.

I wish the Council’s Labour Cabinet had listened to our warnings that this was going to be a problem when they decided to cut the Parks Police.   The Parks Police weren’t perfect but the concept of a 24 hour service was a good one.