Lynne Featherstone

Haringey Lib Dems have today called for a Labour councillor to resign from a vital body set up to secure much-needed regeneration in the Finsbury Park area – because of her failure to attend a single board meeting in over 18 months. Local Lib Dems, who have offered to serve on the body, say that local residents are being short-changed from not having local councillors actively involved – and Haringey Labour are showing contempt for the wishes of local residents.

FinFuture is a publicly funded regeneration project for the area around Finsbury Park station, with a £1.5m budget. The revelation that Labour councillor Gina Adamou has failed to attend even one single meeting of the FinFuture Board comes only weeks after Labour’s refusal to appoint a Lib Dem local councillor to the body (local Stroud Green councillor Ed Butcher), even though local residents in the area have elected five out of six Liberal Democrat councillors.

Commenting, Councillor Richard Wilson (Stroud Green ward) says:

“Clearly, Labour just doesn’t care about the Finsbury Park area. People from all across Haringey use Finsbury Park station and everyone knows how much the area needs a facelift. It is so disappointing to realise how low a priority Finsbury Park regeneration is for our local Labour councillors. FinFuture is a fantastic opportunity to bring together people from all the nearby boroughs to improve the area, and councillors have a vital role to play in making this happen.”

Councillor Ed Butcher (Stroud Green) adds:

“It makes me angry that Labour has put petty party politics before the interests of local residents. They are desperate to cling on to power, but they seem to have forgotten what the power is for. Whatever the excuse, local Labour councillors who have never even turned up for a meeting should not be pretending to carry out this important role on behalf of local residents.”