Got any tales you'd care to share about how one of your councillors has really impressed you? And to make sure we're not accused of lack of balance we'd also like to get any stories of how a councillor might have disappointed you.
I, and others, have mentioned this before, but nothing gets done.
Before a packed Stroud Green Residents Association meeting about three years ago, Cllr. Haley volunteered that the extension of the Finsbury Park CPZ over the Oakfield Road bridge over the North London railway line was "silly".
That's a verbatim quote!
I have not met one person who would disagree with that tough statement, but several who would use even stronger language than Brian's. Within weeks – and to many people's astonishment – Cllr. Haley said that he had taken the decision to suspended all CPZ reviews.
Alongside the Oakfield Road bridge there is no housing and it would make an ideal and natural CPZ buffer zone ... unless the intention all along was deliberately to push parking problems further north. That CPZ extension still not been reviewed. Politicians come and go but residents live with the consequences of their decisions or absence of decision, every day.
Cllr Alexander has been a great support to us for over 2 years, both practically and emotionally. No one else responded to our calls for help either from within the council or within other responsible agengies . The problem results from the poor management and lack of willingness of Chlidrens services to take responsibility for the young people it places in 'tendered out' (if that is the right term) services. It is an ongoing problem from which she has never waivered in helping us to keep trying to get a lasting solution for.
Let's not lose track of Gina's response. So a quick reminder that Gina has told us that she only asked for the road to be repaired because of all the pot holes.
If Gina walked to her Friends of Duckett's common meetings in Raleigh Rd instead of driving there she may have noticed that it is in a far worse state than Effingham ever was.
So if you're on the council you can get things done, if you're not...
"So if you're on the council you can get things done, if you're not. . ."
John, oh how I wish. Or perhaps, it works like that if you're a "cabinet" member. Though when it came to the unlawful yellow junction boxes outside Tottenham Bus Garage, even his eminence Brian Haley was treated with contempt and kept in the dark for two years.
In my own and other wards I've complained about broken, flooded, and generally appalling pavements The worst do get repaired. Some not. Sometimes I'm told there are far higher priority roads somewhere else - which seems fair.
Several years ago one side of my own street was scheduled for repaving. The chair of our residents' association - who lived on the other side of the road - teased me about preferential treatment for councillors. He wasn't serious and it wasn't true. The other side was repaved soon after. But it was a fair question. And actually I didn't know the answer. Yes, our paving was cracked and needed relaying. But I hadn't made a special request and I've no idea why a road was repaved in two hits.
(Labour councillor & prospective candidate Tottenham Hale ward.)
Sometimes it is a coincidence I agree Alan, but in my area, I find it strange that two roads which are in much better quality to my road, get priority for improvement. If there is a Councilor on that road, I hope that the FOI request will prove me wrong that there has been some favouritism
Can I urge people making Freedom of Information requests in Haringey to consider using the website What Do They Know. Subscribers to the site (it's free) get notification of questions and answers supplied.
The site is a bit awkwardly designed, but a useful resource. As Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis said: “The best disinfectant is sunshine”.
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(Labour councillor & candidate Tottenham Hale ward)