Lynne Featherstone

Typing still difficult, so here's the text of the press release:

As the recession deepens Haringey Council has rejected an opportunity for millions of pounds of funding for local residents it emerged this week.

Local campaigners and Liberal Democrats expressed astonishment when they learned that Haringey's Labour-run Council failed to organise applications for extra government money under the Sustainable Communities Act – instead opting for a “wait and see” approach.

Following enquiries from Councillor Nigel Scott, Alexandra ward, who proposed a unanimously supported motion to Council on the subject in January 2009, calling for an opt-in, Cllr Matt Cooke (Labour Cabinet Member for Community Cohesion and Involvement) sent an email indicating that Haringey Council will do nothing this year.

Councillor Nigel Scott comments:

"This new act gives real power to local communities yet Haringey Council admits they do not want to do anything to give this power and money to people in Haringey.

“Ninety five other councils are already doing this now, but Haringey has said, 'no thanks, we'll wait for next year'. This is unbelievable.

“The Labour councillors supported our motion in January but their warm words have failed to be followed up by any real action. Local residents will be very disappointed.”

Daniel Flanagan, a spokesman for Unlock Democracy, the organisation that campaigned for the Act said in a response to an e-mail from Cllr Scott,

"This is totally unacceptable and was not what was agreed at Council. There is no excuse for not opting in this year. There is no guarantee that there will be another round. The only way to be sure of getting something is to act now. The Council are letting down the residents of Haringey. If you do not opt-in, you are guaranteed to get nothing."

Lynne Featherstone MP adds:

"As the effects of the credit crunch start to hit our community, local initiatives certainly could do with this extra cash boost now - not in a few years time. The Sustainable Communities Act says, in effect, 'Give us some good community based ideas and we will pay for them', yet Haringey can't be bothered even to ask".

One - during the week my Liberal Democrat colleagues on Haringey Council got a motion through for Haringey Council to opt-in to the Sustainable Communities Act. The act in itself is really only a tool to open up future possibilities - but now we're well on the way to being able to do that.

Two - parking permit problems for residents in Clarendon Road sorted out.

Three - Transport for London (TfL) have now promised that we will be able to use Oyster Pay As You Go on trains by September. Easier train travel, here we come!

Many thanks to everyone who backed the campaign on this - I've no doubt the public pressure make a big, big difference.

That's the topic of my latest article, just uploaded to my website:

Have you ever felt like screaming ‘it isn’t fair’ when - regardless of the whole neighbourhood being up in arms – the Government runs roughshod over local peoples’ wishes and carry out its own wishes regardless?

Well, although it doesn’t have a sexy title, the Sustainable Communities Bill could help bring about a major change in the way we are governed so that in future local people can more often say, “hang on, you don’t have the power to do that.”

You can read the article in full here and also watch my colleague Julia Goldsworthy talking about the subject.

Sustainable Communities Bill in Parliament today. Not a sexy name - but it may go some way to meet that dreadful sense of powerlessness we all get sometimes when the Government runs roughshod over local wishes. It’s about giving local communities much more power over their issues in their own patch. It is a Private Members' Bill with all party support - and though it is usually quite difficult to get MPs to Parliament on a Friday (those with constituencies outside London are normally travelling back to a long weekend packed full of local meetings and events) - today there were enough to see it through to the next stage. Julia Goldsworthy has been doing much of the running for the Liberal Democrats on the issue – and you can watch her talk about it on her website.

Debate was followed by a very harrowing surgery – and then followed by a weekend off(ish)!

Good to see my colleague, Julia Goldsworthy, speaking out on this - supporting local communities is a very important issue!