Issue - meetings

A discussion about priorities for the area over the year to enable a plan to be drafted

The Chair referred to the proposed Area Plans and her concerns that one area plan for this Committee was too restrictive given that there were four wards in this particular Committee.  The idea of ‘one plan fits all’ needed to be addressed and whether there should indeed be two Area Plans for the Muswell Hill, Alexandra, Fortis Green, and Highgate Area Committee. It was noted that the Veolia contract for this Committee’s geographical area was divided into two ‘Village’ areas because of its sheer size. There needed to be variations because Highgate Ward in particular has issues that are different. The Chair also stressed that there was little need for new statistical information relating to the Ward areas to be collected as this information was provided to all Councillors when elected and therefore it was not necessary to replicate it.

The Chair commented that the main areas of profile that the Committee wanted emphasis on within the plan would be:

·        That the plan should concentrate on those in the area who were most needy and the least articulate

·        That the consultation on what the plan should contain should be an exercise from ‘the bottom up’ and not ‘top down’ and officers should consult local councillors to ascertain the matters of most concern through their casework – this would give a good outline of matters of common concern

·        That housing was an issue and Homes for Haringey needed to have some input.

·        Concern was raised about the condition of some housing in multiple occupation and hostels and the impact on the occupants

·        There needs to be consultation with local resident associations and pressure groups

·        That the Police required an input in terms of issues of concern to them in relation to safer neighbourhood matters as well as national initiatives and  concerns 

The Chair asked if there were any comments from the Committee

Councillor Williams sought clarification as regards to the timetable for the formation of the plan, and commented that in his view the Area Plan should form the main item of business at the next meeting of the Area committee in September. Councillor Williams stressed that all Committee members needed to feed into the plan as part of the overall process and that this was the first step in the consultation process and would aid officers in formulating the plan for consideration in September. The Chair added that the Committee area had very large and wide-spread volunteering communities and that such a resource needed to be tapped to feed in to the process.

Councillor Solomon commented that in terms of the proposed ‘village’ plan in her view it was vital to have a view of what this area was about and this should be in the form of a vision for the area, and that this was a wonderful opportunity for the Committee to embark upon.

Councillor Hare commented that the area plan did require some synergy in planning terms with Local Area Framework with the vision having some planning  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6