Lynne Featherstone

There is a bus stop on Muswell Hill – and Muswell Hill is aptly named. The steep gradient sees toddlers tumble, mothers with buggies hang onto them for dear life, wheelchairs needing restraining and older people picking their way fearfully to get to said bus stop. As for when it is wet or slippery….

It has been there a long time – but what has changed is that this is the primary bus stop that local people in Muswell Hill will have to use to get to the new community health centre at Hornsey Hospital at the bottom of the hill.

We (Liberal Democrats) have campaigned successfully on this to the point where Transport for London (TfL) agreed to consult on moving this badly sited stop. I have now submitted my own and local residents submissions to that consultation.

My LibDem colleagues Cllr Martin Newton, Cllr Gail Engert and myself met TfL officers at the bus stop in the summer to point out how dangerous it was for the young, the old and the disabled. As TfL agreed to look into the issue I wrote to local residents to get their views on moving the bus stop and then included all responses in my submission to the consultation.

For example, one of the letters is from a woman in her seventies, trying to push her husband in a wheelchair down the steep slope, and literally having to bend over backwards not to lose control.

So – let’s hope that TfL are moved to action by the responses to the consultation.  

 You can watch more about this story in this YouTube clip:

The video is also available on the YouTube website.

Following a successful Liberal Democrat campaign where Transport for London (TfL) agreed to consult on moving a poorly located stop on the only bus route to Hornsey Central, Lynne Featherstone MP has now submitted her and local residents’ responses to the consultation.

Local Liberal Democrats have long been campaigning for the first bus stop on the W7 route in Muswell Hill, the only direct bus to the Park Road Health Centre, to be moved up to Muswell Hill Broadway. In the summer, Ms Featherstone and Cllr Martin Newton met with TfL representatives at the bus stop to highlight the hazard of getting down the steep slope for less mobile and elderly residents. As TfL agreed to look into the issue, MP Lynne Featherstone wrote to local residents to get their views on moving the bus stop, and included all responses in her submission to the consultation.

Lynne Featherstone MP comments:

“This bus stop is very poorly located, and it’s great to have been able to make such a strong case for moving it up the Broadway thanks to the many responses from local residents.

“One letter in particular paints a very stark picture. A woman in her seventies, trying to push her husband in a wheelchair down the steep slope, and literally having to bend over backwards not to lose control. The bus stop needs to be moved before anyone gets seriously injured; otherwise I fear it is only a matter of time.”

Councillor Martin Newton, Lib Dem Transport spokesperson adds:

“It’s great to see that so many people have written to us with their stories. TfL is bound to sit up and take notice – and rest assured we’ll keep a close eye on this one.”

You can watch more about this story in this YouTube clip:

The video is also available on the YouTube website.

Travelling to the new Hornsey Hospital may soon become easier for disabled and elderly residents, after Transport for London last week agreed that they would consider changes to a ‘problem’ bus stop.

It follows a campaign by local Liberal Democrats to move the first stop on the W7 and 144 routes from Muswell Hill, due to the current stop being on a very steep slope and hard for disabled and elderly residents to reach.

The success is part of a wider Liberal Democrat campaign to improve the transport links to the Hornsey Hospital.

Local Liberal Democrats are now encouraging residents to contact Lynne Featherstone MP about the proposal, before she responds to a TFL consultation on the issue. Residents can either email Ms Featherstone on lynne or call the office on 020 8340 5459, before October 13th 2009.

Cllr Martin Newton, Liberal Democrat Transport Spokesperson, comments:

“I am very glad that Transport for London has now decided to look into providing a first stop for the W7 and 144 on Muswell Hill roundabout. Local residents with buggies and disabled and elderly people find it hard to access the bus stop on the steep hill.”

Lynne Featherstone MP adds:

“This is a great success for our campaign to get more buses and transport for residents to Hornsey Hospital. I’m delighted that Transport for London are looking into moving the bus stop, and I hope many local residents will take the time to contact me in support of the move.”

I went to see Peter Hendy, Commissioner of Transport for Transport for London – the big cheese – to present the postcard campaign for a new bus to serve the new health facility at Hornsey Hospital.

Miraculously – he said he would be willing to come personally and meet Haringey Health Trust to discuss the provision of public transport to the new facility. Hurrah! Score!

It was clear that Transport for London don’t think they should pay for all new public transport access – because in Mr Hendy’s view – Haringey PCT (Primary Care Trust) should have thought about the need for access before choosing the site.

Well – as someone who campaigned against Hornsey Hospital’s closure, against the taking away of the W2 bus route, and for a new facility for years – actually the site is the right place. However, I can see that there is an argument over why TfL should foot the total bill for any public transport now needed to serve it.

So – what I said to Mr Hendy was – well come and meet and perhaps you can go 50/50 on it. I don’t care which of you pays – what I do care about is that local people can get to the health centre easily.

The transport consultants that the PCT commissioned came up with a report that said that something like over half the people using the new centre would have journey’s of over 20 minutes and have to change buses. Every one knows that anyway. There isn’t a public meeting that I have been to about Hornsey Hospital where the issue of transport hasn’t been raised.

There are bus routes – but only one stop outside the hospital. The others leave a walk of over 400 metres – which if you are old or ill is too far – let alone those who have to change buses.

Anyway -chuffed with at least coming away with a promise to personally meet with local Trust and myself to thrash out what is needed and who will pay for it at least give us some hope.

Local MP Lynne Featherstone has this week secured a promise of personal intervention from the top Transport for London boss over transport links to Hornsey Hospital.

At the successful meeting on Tuesday with London Transport Commissioner Peter Hendy, the Hornsey and Wood Green MP presented hundreds of ‘back the bus’ post cards signed by local residents in support of the Liberal Democrat campaign to improve local bus links to the site.

The Commissioner has agreed to arrange a meeting between himself, Lynne and local health service bosses to look at how the transport needs to the new Park Road health centre can be met.

Lynne Featherstone MP comments:

“I’m delighted that TfL has recognised the need for better transport to the new hospital. With such wonderful new facilities it’s a real shame that the question of how to get there has been overlooked for so long.

“Now Haringey health service and Transport for London have got to come up with the goods.

“I just want to add a huge thank you to all local residents who took the time to ‘back the bus’ – I look forward to seeing Transport for London and the local NHS getting stuck into discussing real transport options so we can get the right bus service for local people.”

Yesterday first meeting of the day was with Transport for London (and Cllrs Martin Newton and Gail Engert) with regard to the bus stop (W7 and 144) sited about 100–150 metres down Muswell Hill from the roundabout.

The problem is that older people, mothers with buggies and those with mobility problems have real difficulty getting to this crucial bus stop because of the gradient of the hill. It is a very busy bus stop – and it becomes even more crucial with the imminent opening of Hornsey Central Health Centre, as it is only this bus that goes directly from Muswell Hill to the centre.

A little child coming down the hill towards the bus stop fell over whilst we were standing there – as if to illustrate the point. TfL understood the issue. They have now gone away to see which option might be possible: resiting the bus stop (unlikely), adding in a stop at the roundabout (most possible of the alternatives), extending the route to enable a bus stop along Broadway or Fortis Green (less likely). Anyway – as I said – TfL have now gone away to look at the options. Let’s hope that they take the proper action – because it really is a huge issue for older people who have to get to their doctor or to the centre for other health checks and cannot negotiate the hill safely.

At lunchtime I went to a meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group on HIV/AIDS. One of my constituents was there – and we are going to meet up locally to see how we can take forward both the normalising of HIV / AIDS so that the stigma is further reduced and more people learn that there is really no difference between someone with HIV/AIDS and someone without the chronic disease – except the illness, which isn’t catching and no longer means dying. We have let this slip off the agenda a bit – but I think it needs another awareness campaign. And perhaps even more importantly – a campaign to get people to come forward for testing. There is still a reluctance – but if tested early – the treatments now are fantastic (although tough at times). There is no longer a death sentence to having the disease – but you have to get tested to get the medicine!

Then it was off to New Scotland Yard to meet with the Trafficking Unit. I wanted to meet with them because locally I have been concerned about the girls working in a massage parlour and the extent of the adverts in the back of some of our local newspapers which blatantly advertise things like ‘new girls arriving all the time’.

In fact, in terms of the newspaper ads (which I thought would be an easy thing for the squad to tackle) they say it’s a difficult line between trafficking and prostitution, and chasing down ads doesn’t really address the organised crime and the challenges of bringing and persuading trafficked girls and women to safety. The unit is really targeting enforcement and has had some success. Sadly – the Government seems keen to stop their funding – which is clearly insane given they are the only unit tackling this and it is highly, highly specialised.

We looked also at the issues around trafficked children – and Haringey is an area where there are some concerns around this issue. I remember there was always discussion as to whether Victoria Climbie had been trafficked. Having met her parents I find it hard to believe. But there definitely is a trade in trafficked children and I will be setting up some meetings (hopefully) with someone who can get into that community and help the police. Anyway – a very interesting briefing – and hopefully very useful.

I’ve often had to put a shifty on when crossing the road at the bottom of Muswell Hill. There hardly seems to be time to make it across. Well – it’s not my imagination – the lights really are not giving enough time to make it safely.

There are 26 major pedestrian crossings in Haringey in breach of national safety guidelines updated in 2005, including the signals at the bottom of Muswell Hill where it meets Priory Road and Park Road, and also the signals where Wightman Road, Hornsey Park Road and Turnpike Lane meet.

I’m lucky – I can still put a shifty on when needed – but older people, people with mobility difficulties and those with babies and young children may not be able to rush across.

It isn’t rocket science and should be easy to fix – so come on Transport for London!

For more on the story, see this week’s Journal coverage.

Well – the new all singing, all dancing Hornsey Hospital will open in the relatively near future. But despite raising the issue of public transport needs to the new facility since the day of its inception – and requests to Peter Hendy (TFL Commissioner of Transport for London) and Haringey Council and all – they are still ‘having meetings’ about it.

We need to make sure that this new medical centre is properly served by adequate public transport. They took away the W2 when it was closed some years ago. Official figures from the health trust acknowledge that the area is very poorly served by buses, with less than half of local residents able to get to the Park Road Health centre in less than 20 minutes. We need a new bus – particularly to serve those people whose GP practices move in, but also for everyone who will access the other services on site.

It is absolutely fantastic that we finally have a new health facility in our local area after campaigning for so long with local residents to make it happen. But what’s the point if it is so difficult for people to get there?

Transport for London didn’t want to replace the Countdown display on a damaged bus shelter on Priory Road (Muswell Hill):

(You can also watch this on the YouTube website.)

The bigwigs from Transport for London came to Parliament to meet with the London Lib Dem MPs to answer specific questions from them. Quite a line up! Tim O’Toole (tube), David Brown (surface transport), Ian Brown (overground) and the Commissioner for Transport – Peter Hendy.

Needless to say my constant refrain is ‘gissa bus’ – and specifically the extension to a full time route for the 603. What is like trying to get blood out of a stone is the cycle where I ask, I get told that a full time route is not financially viable – but then they won’t say what demand level will make it viable. However, today after pushing and pushing the point, David Brown has said that he will finally get back to me with some sort of figure. I could see scepticism in his eye – because he is convinced that the model TfL use to assess viability predicts demand accurately. I say bollocks to that. Anyway – I want to try and prove their model wrong. So – if they say 10 passengers per hour or 20 or whatever – I will find them!