Richard Wilson

As well as being the deadline for views on the W3 Bus (see previous post), this Friday is also the deadline for submitting ideas to our local neighbourhood improvement fund for 2010/11.  The way it usually works is that all the feasible ideas go to an Area Assembly meeting for residents to comment on and then local councillors make the final decision based on these views.

In previous years we’ve managed to get a few good little projects approved, such as the children’ s mural on Quernmore Road by Harringay Station and improvements opposite Tesco on Stroud Green Road (see picture of me planting a tree outside Charter Court a few years ago with local residents and representatives of the Council).

But despite the Council’s whopping £3 million ‘communications’ budget there is not enough promotion of the fund, and we don’t get enough bids in from Stroud Green residents.  So I’m trying to drum up interest by contacting individuals and by posting here.  The leaflet and application form for the “making the difference” programme 2010/11 is here.  And if you’re interested in finding out more then please attend the next local Area Assembly meeting which is tonight at 7.30pm in St Mary’s Junior School in Rectoiry Gardens – details here.

And this really could be the last chance for Making the Difference, because if the Liberal Democrats take control of Haringey in May we’re determined to replace it with a bigger and better system of devolving spending down to local neighbourhoods.  We want to give people real power over their local area and to encourage greater participation in local decisions.

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.

Haringey Council have received a planning application to convert and extend the building on the corner of Quernmore and Stapleton Hall Roads opposite the Library (see picture).  The owners propose to convert the shop and residence above into 5 flats.  The building (38 Quermore Road) would be extended out sideways into the paved vacant area in the picture.

The site is a complete eyesore at present, so its brilliant that someone wants to invest some money in improving the building.   However, at the recent Stroud Green Residents Association (SGRA) meeting people were keen to ensure the development fits in with the nearby Victorian buildings (this is a conservation area).  And concerns were also expressed about the possibility of 5 new flats generating 5 new cars in an area with an extreme shortage of parking space.

The application can be viewed on the Council’s website (link here).  The official deadline for sending in comments was earlier this month, however not many people seemed aware of the application, so after the SGRA meeting I contacted the planning officers and they have assured me they will continue to consider any comments they receive before the decision is made.  Apparently, the deadline for the Council to decide the application is the 2nd December – so if you want comment, support or object to the proposal please do so ASAP.

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.

Well there is space for quite a lot  more it seems.  On Tuesday night I attended a meeting to decide which of the bids made to this year’s local neighbourhood budget could be progressed.  Two local residents had put in bids for trees in their street – Upper Tollington Park and Quernmore Road.

The Council’s arboriculturalist has found there is space for at least a dozen extra trees on both those roads.  This highlighted to me how badly our area has been neglected since its Victorian heyday.  Many of our local streets have empty tree pits (see picture left from Stapleton Hall Road) and many more tree pits have been tarmaced over.  Apparently, some of these tree pits can never be refilled because wires and pipes have now been placed under them.  The empty pit outside the ‘Instanbul Supermarket’ on Quernmore is an example of this.

So I am really pleased that we were able to approve a small budget for tree planting on these roads.   And our Area Assembly chair Cllr Lyn Weber (Crouch End Ward) was successful in badgering the Council to put in some central funding to plant trees in these roads as well.   With a bit of time we may be able to turn our streets back to the tree-lined avenues they once were.

First Capital Connect are planning to cut the hours the ticket office is open at Harringay Station by more than half.  They plan to close the office completely on Saturday and almost 4 hours earlier on weekdays.  The detailed proposals are on the London Travelwatch website.  They plan similar cuts to most other local stations as well - including Hornsey Station.

Our local MP Lynne Featherstone has already launched a campaign against the cuts with a video at nearby Alexandra Palace Station.  I agree with her that reducing the hours that stations are staffed will make them feel less safe, and of course it make it harder to get tickets.  Crime has been a concern at Harringay Station and my colleague Cllr Laura Edge has succesfully pushed for CCTV at the Quernmore Road entrance.

My colleague Cllr Laura Edge at Harringay Station when she was campaigning succesfully for CCTV at the Qurenmore Road entrance

I think we should be trying to increase staffing at stations to encourage more people to use public transport (though that doesn’t necessarily mean staff stuck behind glass screens in offices – but out on the platforms helping passengers!).  I believe this is what is happening at stations that have been taken over by ’London Overground’, so this First Capital Connect proposal seems very retrograde.

I’ve contacted Passenger Focus and London Travelwatch whose job it is to listen to and act on passengers’ complaints – urging them to stop these cuts.  The consultation ends on 3rd February so if you want to have your say then send your email to enquiries {at} londontravelwatch.org(.)uk as soon as possible.  Please also copy your email to Lynne at lynne {at} lynnefeatherstone(.)org so she is aware of how many people are supporting the campaign.

Apparently, Passenger Focus and London Travelwatch have recently been successful in stopping similar ticket office cuts by South West Trains - so this is definitely a battle worth fighting!