Richard Wilson

As part of our campaign to slow down traffic on Upper Tollington Park, my colleague Cllr Katherine Reece has joined a local police patrol in the area.   After being alerted to the problem by councillors and local residents, the neighbourhood police team have been taking action to catch people speeding near the pedestrian crossing at the junction with Florence Road.

In this patrol a few weeks ago, four cars were stopped for speeding, a penalty notice was issued for failing to stop at a crossing, and a ticket was given out for using a mobile phone whilst driving. The action is necessary because so many residents have raised concerns about cars driving too fast and failing to stop at the busy crossing, which is a route to a local primary school.

Another partial success from the campaign has been getting electronic speed signs installed, which flash a warning when vehicles break the speed limit.  However, the locations they have been installed don’t seem ideal – as one of them is after the crossing and partially obscured by vegetation.  I’ve contacted the Council asking them to re-assess whether the signs are in the optimum positions!

However, our real aim is to get traffic lights at the crossing – and we are collecting signatures for a petition to make the Council take action.   Please sign up.

I’ve been demanding action after a second derelict council house in Stroud Green has been taken over by squatters.   Residents of Stapleton Hall Road have contacted me to complain about anti-social behaviour from some of the squatters, with concerns about aggressive dogs and damage to cars and gardens.

The house, which is at the top of Stapleton Hall Road by the junction with Mount View Road, is owned by the Council and was left derelict awaiting conversion to a hostel.  This is the second derelict Council home to be taken over by squatters – a similarly large council home in Nelson Road has also been occupied, after being left derelict for a year (see previous post).

I’ve been pressing the Council and the Police to take urgent action to deal with residents concerns about anti-social behaviour, and to get this large house back in use by those who need it most.   I’m told that the police are now being very active and the Council are trying to get a Court date to evict the squatters.

However, the key issue is why are Haringey leaving valuable homes empty (and vulnerable to squatters), when there is such a shortage of family housing.  I have set up meetings in July with both the CEO of Homes for Haringey and the Director in charge of Housing at the Council, and I will be pressing them to make sure empty homes are swiftly refurbished, not left as derelict eyesores.

Lynne Featherstone has joined the Stroud Green Lib Dem team in launching a campaign to make the pedestrian crossing on Upper Tollington Park (by the junction with Florence Road) safer.  The campaign was launched after local residents raised concerns about the speed of traffic on the road and a recent accident near the zebra crossing.

This is a key route for children going to Stroud Green Primary School and many years ago the Council employed a ‘lollipop lady’ to patrol the crossing. However, I’m told that when she retired she was never replaced. So as a first step to make the crossing safer, we are calling for the Council to employ a new crossing patrol person.

Thanks to pressure from Lynne, Ed Butcher and myself, the Council have now agreed to put up more warning signs on the road, and the local police are doing extra speed patrols on the road.  However, the real long-term answer is to get the crossing upgraded with traffic lights and measures to slow down the traffic.

To get the Council to take action, we have launched an online petition to demonstrate how strongly local people feel about this issue. Please sign up here.

Everyone I’ve spoken to so far has been extremely supportive of the campaign. In fact, when we took this photo of us launching the campaign, several residents came out of their houses to offer us their backing and tell us their concerns about the traffic.  I hope with such strong support we are able to make a difference.

Yesterday, I met up with Katherine Reece at the Holy Trinity Church Fair outside the vicarage on the corner of Stapleton Hall Road and Granville Road. When I arrived Katherine was already get stuck in, helping out on the burger stand.  The Fair was very busy and seemed like a great success.

The local Safer Neighbourhood police team were there, and Katherine and I took the opportunity to lobby them over a couple of crime related problems.   For instance, I quizzed Sgt Bob Stevenson about the problem with squatters taking over empty homes in Stroud Green.  As a new councillor, Katherine (pictured chatting to Bob) is meeting up with the police team very soon to get a proper briefing from them on local issues.

Stalls, games, displays, an ecology tour and a chance to quiz  Katherine, Ed and me ahead of the Election – all form part of the third annual Neighbourhood Day which takes place in Stroud Green this Saturday (April 24) from 2-4.30pm.
 
The idea behind the day is for people to get out and about in their local streets, meet their neighbours, have some fun and find out what is happening locally.
 
Neighbourhood Day is organised by the Stroud Green Residents Association (SGRA) and covers Mountview Road, Stapleton Hall Road, Granville Road and all the roads inbetween (Quernmore Road, Albany Road, Elyne Road, Addington Road and part of Oakfield Road).
 
This year, the events and activities include:

• Residents’ stalls and games around the area offering  secondhand and new books, plants, cakes, pottery, household items, children’s clothes and toys, bric-a-brac and lots more!
• Meet your local politicians (Oakfield Road) and ask their views on local and national issues
• Visit the Safer Neighbourhoods Police Team (at the library) – with fingerprinting for children
• A fascinating history and ecology tour of Granville Road Spinney.
• Fairtrade stall at Holy Trinity Church and ‘The Story of Fairtrade Cotton’ display at St Aidan’s School
• A chance to see inside Holy Trinity Church
• Craft Fair in the library
• Talk and Q&A by local photographer and librarian Don Holtum
• ‘Map your Neighbourhood’ activity with the Greenwood Elfins – the local Woodcraft Group
• A ‘Dr Bike’ session to help repair bikes and offer cycling advice

Helen Riley from SGRA said: ‘This is the third year we have held the event and it promises to be the best yet. People enjoy the chance to chat to their friends and neighbours and let their children play in the local streets. Everyone is welcome to come along and see what it is on offer.’

This week we launched our manifesto for the local elections with six key borough-wide pledges.  The document is called ‘A Fresh Start for Haringey’, and after 40 years run by Labour – our borough really does need a fresh start!

The six key pledges are:

1. More police on the beat – We will put more police on the beat when and where they are needed most with new 24 hour local police teams.

2. Fairer funding for our schools – We will fight to end Labour’s unfair school funding system, which gives every Haringey child £1,000 a year less than children in neighbouring boroughs.

3. Secure future for Children’s Services – We will end the culture of cover-up and secrecy on child protection, and protect funding for vital children’s services.

4. Freeze Council Tax – We will freeze Council Tax until at least April 2012, by cutting waste – such as Labour’s £3m PR budget.

5. Cleaner Streets – We will clean up Haringey’s streets with 200 more litter bins and a ‘Clean Streets Warden’ from every neighbourhood.

6. Real Action on the Environment – We will take real action on the environment by boosting recycling and investing £5 million in a fund for green projects.

I’ve been part of the team that has been working on the manifesto and key pledges for the last 18 months – and I can safely say they based on the concerns and aspirations of the local residents I speak to in Stroud Green.  Very many Stroud Green residents are concerned about safety and crime after it gets dark.  Our positive plans for more late-night policing will really make a difference.

In Stroud Green people really do care about the environment and climate change, and so I’m really pleased we’ve been able to commit £5 million to a green investment fund.  In Islington, a similar fund has been used to boost the use of renewable energy in local community organisations – cutting energy costs and pollution.  Haringey could be leading the way on environmental issues like Islington, Camden, Richmond and other Lib Dem boroughs – rather than dragging its feet and missing targets, as it does at present.

I really hope that we are given the opportunity to put these plans into action.  This week we will also be announcing our three key pledges just for Stroud Green.  Look out for these on a leaflet through your door soon!

Yesterday I had to take a late night trip Hornsey Police Station after narrowly avoiding my bank account being emptied by cashpoint criminals.  On the way home from a night out at the theatre, I decided to get some money out from the cashpoint at the Post Office in Crouch End (on Topsfield Parade), at about 11pm.  The cashpoint made lots of whirring sounds but didn’t give me my card back.

This made me suspicious and I suddenly realised there was a device attached to the card slot.  A little look around and I also spotted a concealed camera positioned to video the key pad.  With my card and a recording of me typing in my PIN, they would have had everything they needed to empty my bank account.

The hidden camera was only attached to the cashpoint with a magnet so I took it off and stuck it in my pocket and scarpered – slightly worried whether the people who were trying to steal my money were nearby watching me.  Fortunately, I knew Hornsey Police Station was up the road and has a 24 hour front counter so I went in and gave the criminals’ camera to the police.

The officers at Hornsey Station who helped me were great, and it was very reassuring to speak to the police face to face.   Sadly though, I’ve just had a call from CID to say they think its unlikely they will be able to identify the culprits – as there is no CCTV camera facing the cashpoint.

So I’m posting this story to remind people of the need to be vigilant when using cash machines in the area and to look out for devices attached to the card slot.  They are very cleverly concealed and I only noticed at the very last minute just as I was about to walk off thinking it was just a faulty machine.

And I’m also posting this to highlight the importance of police stations remaining open 24 hours.  This has been a big issue in Haringey recently with Lynne Featherstone battling to keep the front counter at Wood Green Police Station open 24 hours (story here).  I think I slept sounder last night because I’d been able to speak to the police and hand over the criminals’ hidden camera.  I’m not sure what I would have done if the police station had been closed.