Lynne Featherstone

Having found out that some older local residents are unaware that they need to renew their Freedom Pass by the end of March, Lynne Featherstone MP is now stepping in and sending out to local residents the necessary information.

The poor information campaign by Haringey Council, who are the local Freedom Pass providers, was brought to the Liberal Democrat MP’s attention by local resident Betty Cairns. Mrs Cairns had spent three hours trying to find out how to renew the pass after spotting a small ad in the local paper about the need for renewal.

The Hornsey and Wood Green MP has now written to local residents to let them know how to renew their passes.

Residents who want to find out more about how to renew the pass can go to: http://www.haringey.gov.uk/older_persons_freedom_pass.

Residents who want to get an application form can either pick one up from their local post office, download it from http://www.haringey.gov.uk/older_persons_freedom_pass.pdf, or call Lynne Featherstone’s office for a copy on 020 8340 5459.

Lynne Featherstone, Liberal Democrat MP for Hornsey & Wood Green, comments:

“It’s appalling that there’s been such a poor effort to let residents know that they need to renew their passes. For those who might not read the local paper regularly, or use the internet, there is very little information out there about the need for renewal, not least since they closed down so many sub-post offices.

“This risks leaving some of our least mobile residents stranded on 1st April - and that is not acceptable.

“Haringey Council should have written to all current Freedom Pass holders to let them know what steps they need to take to avoid being left without a pass. But as that hasn't been done, I felt the need to step in.”

Bounds Green Tube Station has been designated a Grade II listed building by the Government, as the result of a two-year campaign by Liberal Democrats and local residents.

In July 2008, Cllr John Oakes wrote to English Heritage, requesting that Bounds Green Tube Station be put forward for listing by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport , in order to protect the much-loved local landmark.

Cllr  Oakes, Liberal Democrat councillor for Bounds Green, comments:

“I have long admired our tube station, and the way its Art Deco style makes it an ornament and a focus for the area's residents.

“After a tour with local MP Lynne Featherstone, to examine its excellent restoration by Transport for London, I was surprised to find that it had not been listed in the same way as Turnpike Lane and Arnos Grove, two other stations dating from 1932/3 and influenced by the legendary architect Charles Holden.

“So I asked the Bounds Green and District Residents’ Association and the Hornsey Historical Society if they would support my application, which they kindly did.

“I am delighted to say that the Minister for Culture, Media and Sport has now recognised  Bounds Green Tube as an historical gem and a very worthy addition to Haringey’s protected buildings by giving it a Grade ll listing.  This effectively limits any changes or extensions, so that its clean lines can be  enjoyed by many future generations.

“The Minister echoed my application, by drawing attention to the station's ‘special architectural interest...which responds appropriately to its suburban setting, while boldly announcing its presence.”

Lynne Featherstone, MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, adds:

“Well done to all those residents who helped this wonderful campaign, to ensure a key piece of Bounds Green history is preserved.”

Local Liberal Democrats have this week asked how much Haringey Council has spent correcting road signs after it emerged that a sign in Woodside ward was incorrect, with the road name spelt wrongly.

The error was spotted in a week when many local councils have been criticised for using hundreds of pounds of taxpayers’ money correcting misspelled signs. The sign in Pellatt Grove, Woodside Ward, has been reported to Haringey Council and a request has been made for the cost of all changes in signs for the last five years.

In June 2007 Liberal Democrats in Harringay ward revealed that Haringey Council failed to spell Harringay Passage correctly. Haringey Council even spelled ‘councillor’ incorrectly on car parking spaces outside the Civic Centre in Wood Green in 2008.

Ian Simpson, Liberal Democrat Focus Editor in Woodside Ward, comments:

“It may seem like a small thing but the misspelling of the Pellatt Grove sign is a reflection of the poor service local residents currently receive from Haringey Council.”

Angela Kawa, Liberal Democrat Focus Editor in Woodside Ward, adds: “What is more surprising is that a Labour councillor hold his advice surgery only yards away from the sign yet has failed to notice it.”

A large three-storey terrace house, which has been empty for nearly a year in Stroud Green ward, is a stark reminder of the failure by Haringey Council to tackle the housing crisis in the borough, local Liberal Democrats said this week.

Latest figures show that 370 council-owned homes are currently empty, whilst over 16,000 families are on the housing waiting lists and 566 families are waiting for properties with more than three bedrooms.

Last week, Liberal Democrats announced a national policy to bring 250,000 empty homes back into use, as part of their economic stimulus and job creation plans.

Cllr Richard Wilson (Stroud Green) comments:

“Large families wait for years on waiting lists and in overcrowded temporary accommodation, until homes of this size become available. It's scandalous that Haringey Council is happy to let this house, which could be a wonderful family home, lie empty for nearly a year.

“No wonder we have such long housing waiting lists in Haringey, when our Labour-run council is so wasteful with its own housing stock."

Lynne Featherstone, MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, adds:

“Week after week I have local families come to me in desperate need of family-sized homes. It makes me so mad to see these properties lie empty, whilst thousands of local residents need homes.

“This is another example of Labour’s failure, locally and nationally, to tackle our housing problem.”

Following a successful meeting with hospital bosses last week, where Lynne Featherstone MP and members of a local group for visually impaired residents demanded the right to get hospital information in accessible formats, the Whittington Hospital has now agreed to produce information in large print, Braille and audio.

The Liberal Democrat MP and the members of the Haringey Phoenix Group that represents blind and partially sighted people locally, were taking part in the RNIB’s ‘Losing Patients’ campaign, to turn the right to get, by law, hospital information in accessible formats, into reality, on the ground.

The Hornsey and Wood Green MP has now also written to the local hospital service, to ask for local GPs follow suit.

Lynne Featherstone MP, comments:

“Getting the chance to find out about personal and sensitive hospital information, without first having to share it with a family member or neighbour, is something most of us take for granted. But for many blind and partially sighted people here in Haringey, that’s just not the case.

“I’m really delighted that, after our meeting, the Whittington has agreed to make this a reality for all its visually impaired patients. And hopefully, this is just the first hurdle; I look forward to the day when all GPs and hospitals, locally, will do the same!”

Mr Frank Bonus, a Haringey Phoenix Group member and Muswell Hill resident, aged 97, adds:

“I live alone and am registered as partially sighted.  When I receive a hospital appointment letter, I have to wait until someone comes to visit me and ask them to read it to me.

“If I could receive the information on cassette or CD, I could listen to it for myself, without having to rely on anyone else.”

To help keep track of Haringey’s bird population, Lynne Featherstone MP on Friday went bird counting with Grieg City Academy students, in the school’s grounds in Hornsey.

The Hornsey and Wood Green MP joined the students for the RSPB’s 'Big Schools’ Birdwatch', an annual event to check up on the UK bird population and part of the world’s biggest birdwatch. Armed with check sheets and pictures of the most common birds, the team spotted species such as woodland pigeon and blue tit, in the schools’ special wildlife garden.

Any local resident who wants handy tips on how to make their garden more inviting to birds should go to http://www.rspb.org.uk/hfw/

Lynne Featherstone, MP, comments:

“I’ve just had the most amazing time, bird counting with the Grieg City students, and, thanks to this handy sheet, we were able to identify quite a few different ones, like woodland pigeons and blue tits.

“I look forward to seeing the results, but I fear that, judging from previous years' counts, we need to do all we can, to make Haringey’s birds feel more at home.

“The RSPB has got a really useful website, with handy tips on how to make a garden more inviting, and I’m certainly going to have a look to see what I can do with mine!”

Liberal Democrats in Woodside ward have this week launched a campaign to bring a local park back to life. Local residents are being asked what improvements the Council should make to White Hart Lane Recreation Ground, also known as ‘Pond Park’.

Local Liberal Democrats are concerned that the park, which has declined in recent years, has little to attract visitors and needs a face-lift to become a better place for local young people and families to enjoy.

The boating pond which the park is named after has been out of use for over five years.

Local residents can take part by signing an online petition to Haringey Council to receive funding to give a face-lift to the park. The petition is at http://campaigns.libdems.org.uk/pondpark

John Thompson, Woodside Focus Editor, comments:

“I remember playing in the park as a child in the 70’s it was a place where local kids met after school and played football. At the weekend model boating clubs would meet to use the pond. It’s sad to see it derelict.”

Lynne Featherstone MP adds:

“I hope that local residents will take part in the online petition. For too long the Labour Council has neglected this vital green space. We now need to see some investment to bring it back to life for local people to enjoy.”

Ahead of the imminent launch of a new consultation about schools funding in Haringey, Lynne Featherstone MP last week put the case of our local schools getting £1,000+ less per pupil than neighbouring boroughs directly to Schools' Minister, Vernon Coaker.

The Hornsey and Wood Green MP, accompanied by Chair of the local Schools Forum, Tony Brockman, got confirmation from Vernon Coaker MP that the funding arrangement, where Haringey schools pay Inner London wages but get Outer London funding, has resulted in one of the country's most unfair and largest discrepancies between neighbouring boroughs.

The Minister said that it would probably come down to two options, which would be consulted on in the very near future. One of the options, based on straight labour cost, would mean virtually no change - the other option, called the 'hybrid option', would see the current 20% gap between Haringey and its neighbouring boroughs reduced to 6%.

Lynne Featherstone MP comments:

“On the eve of the launch of the consultation, it was important to bend the Minister’s ear and make the case for Haringey.

“Once the plans are firmly on the table, I will encourage all local residents to respond, so we can let the Government know just how strongly local people feel about this unfairness; so watch this space!”

Tony Brockman, Chair of Haringey’s Schools Forum, adds:

"Lynne set out Haringey's case very clearly in Parliament and to the Minister. There is now likely to be an option in the Government's consultation which would fund Haringey schools fairly. "

Almost 2,500 pensioners in Hornsey and Wood Green will miss out on extra payments to help them pay their energy bills after the recent cold snap, according to figures unveiled by the Liberal Democrats.

Cold Weather Payments of £25 a week are paid to people on low incomes who receive a qualifying benefit, such as Pension Credit, when the weather gets very cold.  Liberal Democrats have now found that, in Hornsey and Wood Green, almost 2,500 pensioners who are eligible to claim pension credit, and hence the cold weather payment, don’t do so. Local MP Lynne Featherstone has written to the Government to find out what they are doing to help local pensioners get the benefits they are entitled to.

Lynne Featherstone MP comments:

“It’s shocking that so many old people, here in Hornsey and Wood Green, are not getting the help they need to pay high energy bills after the recent snowfall.

“The system for getting these much needed payments is so complicated, that people who really need and are entitled to extra help are not getting it - clearly something’s very wrong!

“The Government should be making every effort to identify pensioners who are missing out and make sure they get the help they are entitled to.”

Residents in Highgate will have more access to car club vehicles, after Haringey Council agreed to adopt Liberal Democrat councillors’ proposals to provide more car club bays for local people.

Haringey Council has taken up Liberal Democrat Councillor Neil WiIliams’ calls for improvements to the initial scheme, set up last year, which failed to include the densely populated Miltons area of Highgate, east of Archway Road, and the north of Highgate, near the Kenwood Estate.

Haringey Council is now proposing that four more car club bays will be installed - two near the Kenwood Estate and two in the Miltons area. The new bays in Highgate are part of an expansion of the car club scheme, which will provide an additional 39 spaces.

Cllr Neil Williams (Highgate ward) comments:

“I am glad that Haringey Council has recognised our calls to make it easier for local Highgate residents to use the car club scheme.

“It hasn’t been long since my colleague Cllr Rachel Allison led the campaign, successfully, for the introduction of a car club scheme in Highgate. Now we have a scheme that is thriving and expanding.”

Lynne Featherstone MP adds:

“Car clubs are vital in the continuing fight to reduce our carbon footprints. Well done to Highgate councillors, for helping to get better access for local residents.”

Locations of the new Car Club bays:

1. Sheldon Avenue N6 4NJ: two car club parking bays near Kenwood Estate.
2. Tudor Close N6 5PR: two car club parking bays in Homes for Haringey car park.