Lynne's Parliament and Haringey diary

Quick update on this story - we've now got the full details of the improvements that are set to be made - hurrah!

Two hours with Treehouse - our wonderful autistic facility here in Hornsey & Wood Green. Them having won the 'People's Million' to landscape their grounds to go with a new building, I went to see the plans (fantastic).

Also met with two parents and various staff to discuss how to keep the spotlight on this agenda and ask the questions that need asking of Government. Treehouse's new building is on target to be finished end of May - that will be some celebration!

Labels: treehouse trust

Interesting discussion over on StroudGreen.org about the future of Ferme Park Road Post Office, where a couple of people asked why people should want to save their local Post Office.

Well, here's my answer:

1. Even on purely narrow financial terms, it's not as simple as saying "Post Office making a loss so it should close" - because many of those currently under threat of closure are actually making a profit.
2. Losing a key local service such as a Post Office can have a serious knock-on effect on other local businesses - which in turn, even purely on a financial basis, means a short term apparent saving can turn out to be a long term cost.
3. Anyway, is life really all just about money? I think there are more important values in life than the bottom of a balance sheet. For many people the local Post Office is a key part of the local community, and I think that sense of neighbourliness and belonging is something that matters and is something to be cherished. Put it like this - would you judge who your friends are purely on how much money they've got? There are other things that matter than money.
4. That said, we shouldn't be naive about costs. But one thing we are lacking is any real drive to help make Post Offices more financially vibrant, such as by using them as the delivery point for more public services in future. With drive and imagination, there's much that could be done to strengthen their role in the community, rather than to gut it.

And if I've persuaded you ... there's a petition at ourcampaign.org.uk/haringeypostoffices

Labels: post offices

Back in January I blogged about the Government's record at losing data (they lose lots of it, year after year). So this blog posting caught my eye - which lists a whole set of other instances of the Government losing our data in the last few weeks.

There's one common conclusion from all the cases - the more data the Government has about us, the more that ends up getting lost with all the risks to privacy and identity theft that follow. Which is another good reason to be opposed to their plans for a mandatory national ID cards scheme (in addition to the many other reasons - such as its huge cost; the money could be far better spent on other, more effective crime-fighting measures).

Labels: id cards

I did a filmed interview for True Tube today - a sort of version of You Tube but with the emphasis on interactive debating. Today's interview was targeted at 15 - 25 year olds and was about women in politics and women in the work place. Did feminism still need to exist? (In brief: yes).

Followed by a visit to the London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard. With my portfolio of Youth and Equalities I wanted to meet this voluntary (mainly) organisation that provides such a life line to the gay and lesbian population. They get something like 100,000 calls a year to their volunteers who are there for those in doubt, need or confusion - to listen and to help. With 160 trained (very carefully trained) volunteers their phone lines are open from 10am to 11pm and everyone gets as much time as they need.

Tim Gutteridge is the Chief Executive and he showed me around. The volunteer room has a bank of ten phone lines - with the peak time for calls being between 5 and 11pm. The largest group of callers are those who are coming out - but they also have people with all sorts of issues from health and HIV to the discrimination faced by older gay people in care homes and those with mental health challenges. All are listened to and advised with warmth and commitment.

It is clear that there is a huge need for this service - and yet their funding is hand to mouth. There is a portion (not large) funded by London HIV Protection which comes through the Health Trusts - but it is not enough and they have to go to each trust separately outside London if they want funding from around the country. One third of their calls come from London but two thirds from outside. This is nuts!

Another stark issue appears to be that the trend is to move people who are HIV positive away from the very good specialist care they have had out to local GPs - but it is clear that the reception that HIV positive people get from GPs is variable.

One instance was cited of a nurse taking details from a patient and when she came to the part of the form where HIV positive had been filled in - she couldn't even say the words! Many barriers to comfort and variable knowledge or lack of is not inviting to those who may be sensitive about their condition and/or their sexuality.

Anyway - I was greatly impressed with the work they are doing and will be taking forward a number of issues including homophobic bullying, treatment of the elderly, funding and NHS health services for gay people.

Just walked out from Commons alongside the other Liberal Democrat MPs. Follows disgraceful blocking by the Parliamentary authorities of our amendment calling for an in/out referendum on Europe.

We’ve bended over backwards to try to deal with every request from them on this issue – and in the end, enough is enough – if you’re debating Europe, you should be able to vote on the central big issues on Europe.

The idea from the Deputy Speaker that we should take this up "through the usual channels" is, well.... let's just say that's exactly what we've been doing endlessly and in the end the verdict has been, "No, we the powers that be are going to veto your choice on what to put to debate and vote."

What sort of charade of a Parliament is that?

UPDATE: The party news release from Nick Clegg and Ed Davey is here.

Labels: ed davey, nick clegg

Clive Carter has written some comprehensive postings recently on his blog about the current state of affairs over Alexandra Palace - well worth a read.

Labels: alexandra palace

The indefatigable Dan Hardie has an update on his blog on the shameful way our government has failed to stand by Iraqis who worked with our armed forces. For all Gordon Brown's fine words in October last year - Dan hasn't been able to find any Iraqis who have actually been evacuated from Iraq since then.

As to why this matters - here's what one of the people fearing for their lives says:

They (the militia) keep asking my relatives and my family’s neighbors about me and they keep moving in my family’s street and keep their eyes on our home… they told them: anyone know anything about A__ he should tell us immediately and also they said: we will never give up until we catch A__ .

So - do go read Dan's post - and then lobby your MP (and, yes, it's worth doing the lobbying even if your MP is someone like myself who is already supporting the cause - because the more contacts MPs get in total, the more pressure Government Ministers will feel under).

Labels: dan hardie, iraq

A friend has told me about their experience buying stamps in a newsagent in Crouch End - the newsagent added a mark-up and was selling first class stamps for 40p each.

Generally I'd be happy for shops to choose what to charge, but I think stamps are something a little different. In particular, because people expect them to be the same everywhere - and because you don't pick them up off a shelf where you can see the price they are being sold at in that outlet - it's too easy for people to be fooled into paying more without realising it. All the more so when you often go to the till with various items, ask for some stamps too - and then are charged a total where (unless you've kept a running total of your purchases as you go) you normally won't notice any mark-up on the stamps.

Anyway - the Royal Mail doesn't condone charging over the odds for stamps. So - (1) do watch out for what you're being charged, and (2) if you are charged too much, you can ring them on 08457 640 640. I'd also be interested to hear from you, so I can gauge how widespread (or not) this issue is.

Regular readers of this blog will not be surprised by the news that - as this blog has been shortlisted for another award - I'm now expecting to be runner-up yet again!

However, you can help break this tradition - by voting here (where the excellent Alix - one of my constituents - is also shortlisted, so you can make it a Haringey 1,2!).

Labels: alix mortimer

Looks like someone else isn't that keen on behaviour at PMQs either...

Labels: pmqs

Well - went to the ex-Haringey Council housing office in Crouch End - again - to do some media stuff over the discovery of piles of files containing personal data on 20,000 people. The files had been abandoned by Haringey Council when they stopped using the building - just left behind, unsecured.

Now, after the news broke - the Council said they had then secured the files. But what happened when I turned up to meet the media?

One of the squatters came out and invited us in to see where the stash of private information in the files had been. Just round from the door in a sort of cupboard was where four-foot stacks of peoples' private information had been just abandoned.

I then went outside to wait - and a few minutes latter the squatter Steve and the media came out carrying a box of 14 files that had just been left on the floor. So much for Haringey Council having secured the files after the news broke!

Anyway - the Liberal Democrat council group tabled the motion about the dumped data - and Labour (obviously very hang dog) supported us. The council Chief Executive promised that all the individuals would be contacted - and we have asked for an independent investigation.

I want to be able to reassure local residents that their private and sensitive information that is given to Haringey Council will be properly looked after in future - whether archived or current.

The casual approach to people's data is a real concern as we move further and further into an age where our details are kept technologically. And as for finding another 14 files even after Haringey said they'd secured the abandoned files...!

Labels: haringey council

If you're Haringey Council - the answer is, "leave the dumped in a squatted building".

Yes - really! That's what The Sun has discovered. The building in question is in Crouch End, and used to be used by a council Housing Benefit office. But when they stopped using the building, they failed to secure or clear out the files. Instead, we have a building open to anyone to walk in - and stuffed full of personal files, containing details of 20,000 people, including in many cases all the details needed for identity theft.

I am shocked and extremely concerned for the people affected. They urgently need to know the risk they have been exposed to by Haringey Council's incompetence. They must be contacted immediately by Haringey Council so they can check whether or not they have been a victim of identify theft or fraud. Then, the council leaders need to sit down and seriously review their archiving system. With benefit claims, child protection documents and Council Tax records, Haringey Council holds some extremely sensitive information on virtually every person in the borough - and it must be properly looked after.

Neil Williams, leader of the Liberal Democrat group on Haringey Council, is tabling an emergency council motion today calling for a thorough investigation and review.

Labels: haringey council, neil williams

I'm quoted in the Sunday Times today:

Children from ethnic minorities are to be sent on adventure holidays with white youngsters in a scheme to break down racial and religious barriers.

Ministers want children from different backgrounds to mix at summer camps where they can enjoy extreme sports together. The Youth Hostel Association (YHA) centres also offer workshops in skills such as circus tricks and producing pop videos...

Lynne Featherstone, the Liberal Democrat youth and equality spokeswoman, said: “Breaking down barriers is a good idea. [But] we need to look at the long-term effects of these schemes: they have to be more than a holiday.”

From my latest column for the Ham & High:

The risk with keeping a public diary (as I do with my blog) is that it means your words are out there, in full public view – and (thanks to search engines, caching and all that malarkey) even still there to be found if I hit delete on my own site.

So – when Brian Paddick, a former Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service, put his name forward to be the Liberal Democrat candidate for London Mayor, I went through two immediate emotions.

Firstly – pleasure, because my experiences of dealing with him whilst he was serving in the police and I was serving on the Metropolitan Policy Authority were very positive.

But secondly – anxiety, because I did wonder whether I’d ever written something critical about him – and if so whether therefore my words would get quoted back at me or Brian for evermore – or at least, until polling day.

Read on to see what I found when I went back to look...

Labels: brian paddick

The latest terrorism news is a timely reminder as to why it's foolish to think that the answer to fighting terrorism is simply to give the authorities a blank slate to do whatever they want when it comes to locking up people, bugging them, and so on:

Six years of fighting for justice left Lotfi Raissi an emotional and physical wreck and his marriage close to ruin. But yesterday, the Algerian pilot falsely accused of training the September 11 terrorists heard, finally, that he was “completely exonerated” of any part in the attacks on the twin towers...

Three of Britain’s most senior judges condemned the Metropolitan Police and the Crown Prosecution Service for abusing the court process, presenting false allegations and not disclosing evidence. (The Times)

That second paragraph of this quote is the key. To be fair - from what I've seen of the case, it may well be that the mistakes were made in good faith, by people working hard under great pressure, rather than anything worse - but abusing processes, false allegations and failing to disclose evidence are all serious mistakes - and the more power people making those mistakes have, the worse the impact is.

Power needs to exercised with caution, control and moderation - something that, as I wrote about before, seems to be lacking far too often.

Following on from the news about Highgate Village Post Office (sign the petition here), six more also face the axe. As the Hornsey Journal reports:

THE proposed closure of seven Haringey post offices is set to be announced next week, the Journal has learned. Councillors and anxious residents have thrown their weight behind a lobby to stop the cutbacks which could see trade and the community suffer.

The leaked list, revealed by a reliable source, includes Weston Park, Ferme Park Road, Alexandra Park Road, Salisbury Road, West Green Road, Page Green Road and Highgate High Street...

Lib Dem MP for Hornsey and Wood Green Lynne Featherstone, who lives in Highgate, said: "These are disgraceful plans. We have just seen off a threat to our local community centre at Jacksons Lane and now we have this."

Labels: post offices

Bastards! So the Government is planning on closing Highgate Village Post Office. The whole closure program is daft - and the closure of this sub-post office has all over it the hallmarks of out-of-touch bureaucrats who don't understand the local situation running amok and out of control.

The near-by Archway Road Post Office is over subscribed and you have to queue for half an hour just to get to the counter - and that's at the moment, let alone after any closure in Highgate.

Our Highgate Post Office is needed. It serves the community. We love it. How dare they?

Well - they've got a fight on their hands. Six weeks 'consultation' - so into battle we go!

For starters - you can download and print off this Post Office petition flyer. Just printing off a few copies and delivering them to your neighbours will give the campaign a real boost. Or get in touch if you'd like a larger number to give to your neighbours or hand out at work. Thanks!

UPDATE: There's also an online petition you can sign too along with a Facebook campaign.

Labels: post offices

Good news: as one of our local newspapers reports, some in Haringey Labour are starting to get cold feet over their plans to remove free leisure passes for the over 65s.

The campaign pressure is clearly starting to pay off ... and you can help keep up the pressure and make their feet colder (as it were!) by signing the petition at ourcampaign.org.uk/leisure

Labels: haringey council

Impressed to see in the news today that Steven Spielberg has pulled out from his role in the Beijing Olympics because of the Chinese Government's failure to do enough to influence the Sudanese Government, which is continuing to oversee horrific atrocities in Darfur.

His willingness to speak out stands in stark contrast with Gordon Brown - who, as on so many other issues, seems afraid of taking a clear stance and leading the way - and hence the failure to put serious extra pressure on China in his recent visit there. As it's dear old Gordon, perhaps the best we can hope for is for him to set up yet another of his reviews to go away, ponder for a long time and then come back to tell him what to do!

Labels: darfur, gordon brown, olympics

Congratulations to Adam Jogee (whose campaign I blogged about before) on winning the election to be member of the Youth Parliament for Haringey.

Adam tells me that his two deputies are Farjina Begum from Tottenham and Sam Newton-Fenner from Muswell Hill - which makes for a nice cross-borough balance: one from the west, one from the middle and one from the east.

Adam's stickers clearly worked!

In case you've not seen any reports of this so far - at least one local person has been conned by a group of people pretending to be Haringey Council waste collection staff.

The scam seems to be that they spot properties with rubbish in the front, offer to remove it, charge a small fee and then just dump the rubbish round the corner. Needless to say - they aren't genuine Haringey staff.

If you spot anyone trying out this scam, or are suspicious about someone passing themselves off as a council worker, you can ring Haringey Customer Services on 020 8489 1000.

I'm quoted in The Times today, talking about the Government proposals to cut off the phone lines used in newspaper or phone booth adverts for prostitutes:

Lynne Featherstone, the Liberal Democrat equalities spokeswoman, said: “It is a very good thing that the government is looking at this, but there is a danger that it could drive prostitution underground. Any moves to try to eradicate the client side would have to be incredibly carefully handled. In an ideal world prostitution shouldn’t exist, but we don’t live in an ideal world.”

You can read the full story here.

Back in November I wrote about the importance of allowing protests around the Olympics:

Glad to see that Chris Huhne has made it quite clear in a news release that when the show comes to town in the form of the Olympics, the right to peaceful protest must be upheld:

The Olympics are a chance to put our values in the global showcase which is why the organisers should plan for and allow the right of peaceful protest, which is such an important part of our political tradition. It will not be on display at the Beijing Olympics.

Diversity and freedom of expression is what has always made our society strong, and we should not be afraid to show it.

And I suspect given the number of countries competing whose human rights record may not be quite what we would wish - there will be quite a number of protesters wishing to protest. A good thing too. As a country - we should be proud that peaceful protest is one of our guarantees of freedom of expression.

So - it was good to read that Nick Clegg's taking this line too:

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has accused British Olympic chiefs of a "real abdication of our moral responsibility" over moves to restrict athletes from speaking out about China's human rights record.

A new clause in the contract Olympians must sign before competing in Beijing this year forbids them from making political comments about the host country.

Clegg told BBC1's Politics Show: "It's extremely disappointing. It's part of a pattern of us kow-towing to the Chinese communist authorities.

"We have to be very clear with the Chinese: They now play a significant role in the world economy and international affairs.

"That brings certain domestic responsibilities with it and I think for us to sort of gag ourselves is a real abdication of our moral responsibility to push for human rights wherever they are being abused."

Referring to the prime minister's recent visit to China, Clegg said: "Unlike Tony Blair and certainly unlike President Sarkozy from France, Chancellor Merkel from Germany and even President Bush from the United States, he said nothing publicly on China's appalling human rights record."

Labels: chris huhne, nick clegg, olympics

I don't know about Seb Green other than how his case has been reported in the media, so with that caveat - it looks an interesting story of how someone who has committed a crime paying restitution to the community can be better outcome for all concerned than simply locking them up.

This teenager from Weymouth stole a boat in 2003, headed out to sea, ran into trouble, had to be rescued (running up large costs for the emergency services), was prosecuted - and given a supervision referral order. So far, so normal - and you can easily imagine how this case might have seen people jumping on the 'tough on crime' soapbox demanding tougher sentences for people in such cases etc etc.

Except - and to his credit - Seb Green is now carrying out a sponsored walk around Britain to raise funds to give the local coastguard and also another charity in order to pay amends for his earlier behaviour.

All in all, I think his future (not a trivial matter - both because he's a fellow human and also because even if you give someone a tough jail sentence in such circumstances - they still come out of jail again at some point) and also our community are better off for this outcome.

This makes it a good reminder that simply always demanding longer jail sentences isn't the smart answer to tackling crime. Having youth and charity workers help put Seb Green back on the straight and narrow has almost certainly worked much better than sending him to jail would have.

Important report from the Commons Select Committee just published - details courtesy of the BBC. (Select Committees are made up of MPs from all parties - which gives reports like this more weight as you know their conclusions are ones shared across parties).

Went to Park Road Pools to launch a petition to reverse Haringey Labour's ridiculous decision to remove the free passes for leisure for the over 65s.

You can sign the petition online at ourcampaign.org.uk/leisure

I did a photo op with Crouch End councillor David Winskill, and two older ladies who are incandescent (as are the three hundred who attended a meeting at Tottenham Leisure Centre last week) about Haringey Labour's budget cut of £52,000 removing the free passes that our elderly residents currently have.

This is nuts. It's a small sum compared to the huge Labour waste, and yet the activity, social engagement and exercise that these older residents get from using their passes to go to classes or swim or whatever is a wonderfully productive investment - not to mention the enjoyment it brings - as it helps people keep fit and happy and socialised.

My Liberal Democrat colleagues identified £3million waste in the Haringey Council budget last week. Cut that waste - not the leisure passes!

In other local news - I met the minister to put the case for fair funding of Haringey's schools, as reported over on my website.

Labels: dave winskill, haringey council, haringey schools

It's on the Chicken Yoghurt blog and echoes some of my earlier views about PMQs.

Labels: pmqs

The BBC report on Ken Livingstone really says it all:

London's mayor knew there were financial problems with some community projects before he publicly denied it, it has been revealed.

London Development Agency (LDA) chairman Manny Lewis said he told Ken Livingstone there were "discrepancies" in some of the projects' accounts. The mayor subsequently stated publicly that all finances could be accounted for.

If, say, a Conservative MP had been caught out in the same way do you think Labour MPs would just turn their backs and ignore it, or would they be demanding blood, resignation and 1001 other punishments?

Labels: ken livingstone

Following Nick Clegg raising the issue of Labour's love of surveillance (mandatory ID cards, innocent people on DNA database etc etc) at Prime Minister's Questions yesterday, there's one particular statistic that is troubling me.

In the last nine months of 2006, the Home Secretary authorised 1,333 warrants to intercept telephone calls or letters. That's the equivalent of just under five each and every day - with no time off for weekends or holidays and without counting any requests that may have been rejected.

Now - that Home Secretary also has to do the job of running that department (no easy job!) and do all the constituency duties of an MP. So - how much time do you really think goes into those authorisation decisions?

I think this matters for two reasons - first, it raises questions about how well that system might be working (and let's not forget - if you get a decision wrong, it means the state is unnecessarily spying on the personal conversations of an innocent person) and second - the whole "but the Home Secretary would have to authorise it" defence is increasingly used to justify all sorts of infringements of our civil liberties. It's not much of a protection is all it really means is a few seconds scanning a memo before saying 'ok'.

Labels: nick clegg

A few days ago I wrote about the huge financial headache left when tube maintenance company Metronet collapsed. Labour has now had to bail out the mess - a mess caused by their part-privatisation of our tube network in the first place.

It again shines a light on one of the real problems with these sorts of PPP deals: there were sold as shifting the risk to the private sector (who also got the chance to make profits). Instead, we've seen firms making profits - but in the end the risk still stays with us taxpayers. As Norman Baker (Lib Dem MP and general scourge of all things wrong) put it: "Just like Northern Rock, the private sector takes the profit when they can, and the public sector bails them out when matters go pear-shaped."

The one small piece of good news in all this? The bailout bill looks to be coming in at £1.7 billion rather than £1.9 billion.

Labels: gordon brown, norman baker, tfl

It looks as if Ken Livingstone's chickens are coming home to roost. Not only are there police investigations now into six different grants made by Ken & co in City Hall and the London Development Agency (LDA) but we also have a damning report into a series of major grants - including £4 million which was given to the Bernie Grant centre in Tottenham.

These grants total £18.5 million - the sort of sums you would have though would have been carefully looked after! - and the report has found serious flaws in the controls put into place (or rather, not put into place) to ensure the money was spent properly.

Locally, the issue of financing the Bernie Grant Centre has been a long, and rather sorry, saga - there have been lots of issues to question, but whenever someone has spoken up, Labour's blinkers have come down and they've assumed any questioning must some how be a secret plot to axe the centre and that anything and everything they are doing is perfect (as in this case back in 2004).

Well no - when there are doubts over money, it's our duty to ask searching questions to ensure money is spent properly and effectively.

My colleague Dee Doocey - one of the Liberal Democrats on the GLA - put it very well:

Deloitte's second - and completely independent - report vindicates the committee's serious concerns about the processes used by the LDA to manage and monitor cultural projects it funds ... It is very clear that the LDA has mismanaged public funds.

Ken's response? A rather weak quip about how you don't ask accountants to understand the value of a piece of art (because these grants were all cultural related) - which must misses the point. Just because the money is going on a piece of art or on a pet project of Labour it doesn't mean you can abandon proper financial controls and scrutiny.

As for the Bernie Grant Centre case - let's hope there were proper controls at the other end even if Ken Livingstone and the LDA didn't take proper care of the money when they were sending it out.

Labels: ken livingstone, london development agency

Another Wednesday, another PMQs (Prime Minister's Questions) in Parliament. What to make of today's Punch and Judy show between Cameron and Brown?

First - I guess, as Nick Robinson points out, that Cameron has forgotten his professed distaste for Punch and Judy, you say one insult, I'll say two back more loudly style of politics. Perhaps he genuinely meant it when he said it, but if so he's long since changed his mind.

Second -Gordon Brown really ain't that sharp or fast when it comes to PMQs. He was always going to have a tough act to follow after Blair who, love or loathe what he said, was a master of the art of question time.

Fraser Nelson rather wickedly desecribes Ed Milliband's apparent new role in the whole farago:

Ed Miliband seems to have a new job. He now sits next to Brown making theatrical grimaces and facial expressions of mock astonishment when Tories speak. Quite fun to watch. Oxford, LSE, Harvard – and he ends up as the highest-paid mime artist in Britain.

I see Mike Smithson (Political Betting) is speculating whether Brown might even be driven to trying to abolish PMQs. Well - if Brown is minded to, he could revolutionaise PMQs, improve Labour's standing, polish the image of politics and make the Tories look like silly - all in one go.

The answer? Turn down the volume and turn up the behaviour on the Labour side of the chamber. Imagine what would happen if all the Labour MPs started behaving like sensible adults - none of the screaming and pointing and exagerated facial expressions, none of the passing impressions of the rowdy pub bore who insists everyone in the pub MUST hear what they've got to say - and instead - behave like you or I would expect and be expected to behave in any other place of work.

In a blink, he would look statesmanlike, the Tories (if they don't follow suit) would look almightily daft in a one-sided shouting match, and who knows - PMQs might even end up fullfilling a purpose other than making politics look crap once a week.

But will Gordon do it? On past form, I'm not sure he's got the bottle to take a decisive act. Here's hoping though....

Labels: david cameron, gordon brown, nick robinson, pmqs

Not got this in convenient electronic format - so here's a photo of one of the signs explaining what is currently happening:

Labels: parkland walk

That's the question I ask in my latest column - this one for the local Highgate Handbook:

Just imagine Highgate Village on a summer day - with no bus stand! A beautiful pedestrianised area with no noisy, smelly buses with engines idling - and local people able to stroll happily - stopping to chat with friends and neighbours.

In order words - will Ken's fine words about improving our environment mean action in our community, or will it only be the grand schemes in central London that he pays attention to? Read on in the full piece...

Labels: ken livingstone, peter hendy

Second piece of bad news courtesy of Haringey Council this week - this one being the secret goings on over the closed community centre site on The Campsbourne.

This Hornsey estate would really benefit from the centre reopening - and it would be a great boost for the main residents in the area who are putting in great efforts to all sorts of local schemes to benefit their community.

But instead, it looks as if Haringey Council has done a deal with developers - and certainly isn't properly answering questions about the site's future.

Bad news on Muswell Hill Library this week - as Labour-run Haringey Council has gone back on its promises to put in more money to give the library a much needed bit of care and attention.

There were worrying signs back in July last year, when at a public meeting the Director of Libraries didn't really seem to know what was going on with the library plans - and it has now been years and years since Labour first started talking about restoring and rennovating the building (e.g. see here).

Which brings us to this week - and Labour have gone back on plans to put in extra money for Muswell Hill Library. As my colleague Gail (Muswell Hill ward councillor) said:

Muswell Hill Library has seen years of neglect by Haringey Labour and again the only commitment is another patch-up job. I am deeply disappointed that the library will not be extended after much consultation of residents and library users.

Labels: gail engert, muswell hill library

Hurrah! Brilliant! A reprieve for Jacksons Lane Community Centre. The Arts Council decided to fund us for one more year. Of course am over the moon, having petitioned, met with them, done my column on Jackson's Lane and generally lobbied and agitated as much as I and my colleagues could.

Thank goodness.

We now have time to make sure that when that year is up - Haringey Council has put in place the commitment and funding necessary to reassure the Arts Council that it is really supported by the local authority. Lack of commitment by Haringey Council was the stated and only reason it was in the firing line for cuts in the first place.

So - onward and upwards! Saved - for now!

Labels: