Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Davies and Jenks and for lateness from Councillor Allison. 

The Chair advised that the Forum part of the meeting would on this occasion firstly consider an item in respect of the Committee agenda – Deputations and petitions. In practical terms the first three Committee items would be considered first.

The Chair also on behalf of Area Committee Councillors, and the community as a whole, expressed shock and distress over the burning down of the Al-Rahma Islamic Centre and Bravanese Centre on 5 June 2013.  The Centre had provided advice, education, and  support to the Somali Bravanese community, and the Committee’s heart went out to them. The Chair also advised that there had been many offers of support and help from many groups in the local community which showed a standing together spirit in adversity of which the Chair stated she was immensely proud of.  The Chair also advised that there was a statement from the Council on chairs.

NOTED

The Chair also advised that an officer from the Council (Alex Fraser) was present in respect of the Borough tree strategy and was happy to talk to attendees at the back of the room.  Also there was information at the back of the room relating to the changes to permitted development from 30 May 2013. This included the size of house extensions allowed, although this did not apply to conservation areas.

The Chair also referred to the Health Service  Clinical Commissioning Group Public meeting on 19 June 2013 commencing at 6pm to 7.30pm at the Moravian Church Hall, Priory Road.

A member with a disclosable pecuniary interest or a prejudicial interest in a matter who attends a meeting of the authority at which the matter is considered:

(i) must disclose the interest at the start of the meeting or when the interest becomes apparent, and

(ii) may not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter and must withdraw from the meeting room.

A member who discloses at a meeting a disclosable pecuniary interest which is not registered in the Register of Members’ Interests or the subject of a pending notification must notify the Monitoring Officer of the interest within 28 days of the disclosure.

Disclosable pecuniary interests, personal interests and prejudicial interests are defined at Paragraphs 5-7 and Appendix A of the Members’ Code of Conduct

Councillor Engert declared a personal interest in respect of the deputation and item on 20mph as she was a member of the London Road Safety Council.

NOTED

The Chair welcomed representatives of WalkSafe N10 Jenny Poirier,  Catherine Haigh, Melanie Grange and Ingrid Wassenaar. The Chair advised that the deputation had 5 minutes to present their deputation followed by questions from the Committee members.

Ms Poirier from the group WalkSafe N10 – advised the meeting that the Group were a local campaign made up of parents, residents, teachers and governors. More than 600 people had signed the online and paper petitions, and letters had been received in support from the governors of two local primary schools – Coldfall in Haringey and Coppetts Wood in Barnet, as well as from Hollickwood school.

Ms Poirier advised that WalkSafe N10 were calling on Barnet and Haringey councils to make the streets around these schools safer for children. The campaign was concerned about the number of near misses and accidents on these streets, and had  carried out a survey which provided evidence of these incidents.

Ms Poirier advised that in respect of the 20 mphissue the Campaign wanted Barnet and Haringey councils to introduce a 20 mph speed limit on the streets around Coldfall, Coppetts Wood and Hollickwood primary schools in North Muswell Hill. There were more than one thousand children attending these schools. Many currently walked to school on streets with cars doing speeds of 30 mph or more. Many had to cross roads where there were no pedestrian crossings or where the crossings that existed were inadequate. Ms Poirier commented that the campaign believed that 20 mph could largely be achieved by signage, but that some streets would need additional traffic calming measures, such as speed humps. It was felt that a proper survey done by both Councils would establish what needed to be done.

Concerning more pedestrian crossing on Colney Hatch Lane, Ms Poirier advised that this was a fast road with only one crossing, which was only a zebra, between St Peter le Poer and Alexandra Park Road. This was woefully inadequate, and every morning parents had to weave their children through the traffic, which was totally unsafe. In recent years there had been several serious injuries to pedestrians on Colney Hatch Lane and at least one fatality. Ms Poirier advised that many parents supported two new pedestrian crossings – one next to Greenham Road (Haringey) and one next to St Peter le Poer church (in Barnet).

Ms Poirier advised further that the Campaign wanted the Council to listen to the concerns about other road safety problems. The campaign carried out an  online survey, and people who answered listed their top priorities. Some of these were relatively quick and cheap to fix – such as an extended railing on the pavement near Coldfall school on Coppetts Road.

Ms Poirier handed the Chair a copy of the survey (a copy of which will be interleaved with the minutes), which expressed concerns.

Ms Poirier asked that the Area Committee :

1.    to agree to recommend that our points were looked at by Cabinet. It was  great  ...  view the full minutes text for item 77.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the meeting held on 11 April 2013 be approved and signed by the Chair as an accurate record of proceedings.

Matters Arising

MH 70 – MINUTES – 24 JANUARY 2013

• MH56 and 55: (i) the use of LED bulbs. 

(i)            LED lights - The Chair advised that since she had been informed that the business case was still being looked at and investment in this area was undecided, there was no further update. The Chair agreed to write further to the service to seek clarification.

ACTION : Chair 

• MH57: Devolved Funding – The Area Champion advised that he had written to the Chief Executive on 12 April 2013 on this matter and following discussions at Director’s Group the advice given had been that there would be no devolved funding to Area Committees in 2013/14.

The Chair advised that at the Area Chairs meeting on 10 June 2013 there had been concerns expressed about this by all area chairs and they had asked that the Cabinet Member for Communities look into this issue further.

NOTED

• MH58: Muswell Hill Library disabled access and use of space behind the Library - the Chair advised that this had been raised together with associated issues as part of the Muswell Hill Ward Walk on 1 May 2013. Feedback on this issue was expected at the end of June 2013 and she would report back to September 2013.

NOTED

·        MH64 – Issues pertaining to nursery places – the Chair advised that information had been received from the service and circulated to Members.  Councillor Allison had noted that the figures supplied for primary only related to state sector children. The Chair had also questioned why the 0-4 numbers were higher for the Ward Walk information supplied.

Following a brief discussion it was AGREED that the Area Champion would seek clarification from the service and relay the information to Committee members.

ACTION : Area Champion to liaise with service

MH 72 – LOCAL POLICING

·         Councillor Newton advised of the circulated letter from MOPAC (Stephen Greenhalgh) which had responded to the concerns expressed by the Committee.  There had been some hope regarding a commitment to keeping front counter staffed by local volunteers for the the same amount of hours to those currently.  However there was disappointment that there would be no local base for the 3 SNTs. He further added that Councillors would be meeting the Borough Commander the following week to hear final plans.

NOTED

MH73 – AREA PLANS

• The Chair reported that following the budget cut which deleted the engagement team in P & S directorate there would be no officer support for managing and updating the area plans. The decision taken by the Governance Review Delivery group had been that if Area Chair as wished to continue with the plans then they would need to populate/mange these themselves.

Following some discussions recently with the Area Champion it had been AGREED that the Chair would populate/update with the Area Champion’s assistance in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 78.

In respect of the following items Members of the Public attending are encouraged to ask questions and raise any concerns

·          Borough-wide 20MPH Speed limit - 6.35pm

 Local resident Norman Beddington will outline the benefits of lowering the speed limit. Tony Kennedy, Transport Policy & Projects Manager LB Haringey will give abrief update on the proposals going to Cabinet on 18^th June for consultation on a Borough-wide 20MPH Speed limit. Followed by questions to the two speakers.

·          Improving local roads, pavements, and lighting - 7.15pm

Tony Kennedy, Transport Policy & Projects Manager LB Haringey will give a brief update on getting improvements to local roads, pavements, and lighting. Followed by questions.

·         Improving Local Bus Services – particularly east/west bus routes – 7.50pm

Peter Howarth, Borough Engagement Manager [North] for TfL will be in attendance to give a brief update on the Local Bus Services.  Followed by questions.

There will be a 5 minute interval after the Area Forum business has concluded

see mh80 below

The Chair asked for feedback on items raised during discussions in the Area Forum part of the proceedings.

i.    Deputation from WalkSafe N10 and 20 MPH issue

Councillor Bloch reiterated his earlier concerns as regards the failure of officers to engage with the representatives of WalkSafe N10 and expressed his concerns that this should have happened as a matter of course.

Councillor Bloch MOVED, SECONDED BY Cllr Allison  that officers  arrange as soon as possible to visit the roads in question in N10 and to meet with WalkSafe representatives to discuss the matter as soon as possible.

Councillor Hare also referred to his comments in the Forum part of the meeting and he MOVED an addition, seconded by Councillor Allison, that in addition to the deputation resolution the Chair be requested to raise the following points at Cabinet on 18 June 2013:

·                    That the consultation period be extended in terms of the Borough-wide consultation period beyond September 2013 for approx 1 month or longer to allow for a better response from local schools who would have only just retuned from Summer School holidays in early mid September 2013

·                    That the issue of A & B roads be clarified

ii.         Bus Route Information

Following concerns raised by Councillor Scott in respect of conflicting messages as to the supply of information pertaining to regulation of bus routes being available to the public, and such information being lodged with the Council, the Chair agreed to write to Tony Kennedy to clarify where the information from TfL was shown and if it was readily available. Councillor Scott particularly commented in respect of recent diversions on the 234 bus route which had not been conveyed to local Ward Councillors although the TfL representative had made reference to this and that LB Haringey had been informed.

Councillor Allison also commented that the Highgate Society had been aware of the changes and also the document referred to by TfL in respect of bus routes and views etc, and Councillor Hare commented that as this document had been referred to by the TfL representative numerous times during the Forum part of the proceedings then it should be readily available.

The Chair summarised and it was AGREED that the Chair would write to both TfL and LB Haringey to clarify the status of the document and ask that it be readily available on the Council’s website, and sent to all Cllrs.

ACTION: Chair

Councillor Scott also referred to the recent Ward Walk where the issue in regard to the traffic lights at Colney Hatch Lane and Alexandra Park Road junction had been raised and that the CE had said that the more local concern and lobbying about such issues raised its profile and that this should assist the Council in its cause to TfL.

iii.        Local Road Improvements

The Chair commented that there had been little information gleaned from the discussions in regard to the mechanism for LIP influence/how to prioritise works within the future programmes.

Following clarification it was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 80.

Nil

The Chair advised that the next meeting would take place on  23 September 2013, The Committee agreed that the venue would be the Royal British Legion, Muswell Hill.

Items for discussion

The Chair asked that Members respond to her by 30 July 2013 with items.

NOTED