Barnet Green Party's 2010 election launch at Tally Ho Corner.

North Finchley is due to acquire a new Cultural Quarter, courtesy of the Mayor’s regeneration funding.

Barnet Green Party chair Andrew Newby had a letter published in the Barnet Times (26-1-12, p20), What About the Pollution? Here it is. Below that are Poppy’s reflections on the proposed plans.

What about the pollution?

The Mayor of London’s office has announced that North Finchley will receive a grant of more than £1m for a street makeover near the Arts Depot and at Tally Ho corner.

Let us hope the money is spent effectively.

When will Barnet Council or the Mayor of London find some money to do something about the unhealthy pollution levels in North Finchley?

The Tally Ho pollution monitor has recorded average annual Nitrogen Dioxide levels around 50 percent above the World Health Organisation recommended maximum every year since the monitor was installed in the 1990s. See the Barnet section on http://www.londonair.org.uk/.

Nitrogen Dioxide, emitted mostly by motor vehicles, can itself damage your lungs and can combine with other substances to form other pollutants.

Specialists tell me that taking action to reduce Nitrogen Dioxide at Tally Ho would require a political decision to fund a project.

Barnet Green Party has campaigned on this issue for several years but unfortunately, neither Mayor of London Boris Johnson nor Barnet Council’s Conservative administration seem much bothered about pollution, in North Finchley or anywhere else.

I hope the people who go to see the promised ‘public art displays’ at the Arts Depot are not affected by the fumes they will be inhaling.

Not that there are likely to be many such people, unless Barnet Council sorts out its car parks policy.

Ironically, the freshest air in North Finchley at the moment is probably right in the middle of Lodge Lane car park. At midday on Saturday, a time when the car park would once have been jam-packed, the windswept rows of empty parking spaces provided forlorn evidence of the failure of Barnet Council’s switch to payment by mobile phone.

The council needs to revise its car parking policy urgently. Many suggestions have been made. One idea would be for Barnet to link in to the Oyster system so that users can just touch in and touch out of council car parks, being charged for the length of time their vehicle had been in the car park. Or Barnet could use one of the systems available which read a chip embedded in the vehicle.

Of course linking to Oyster or something other system would require an initially outlay but the council should quickly gets its money back from fuller car parks.

To go back to my initial point, if money can be found to pay for a “cultural quarter” in North Finchley why can’t any be found to try to reduce pollution or sort out Barnet’s car parking crisis?

What About Local Businesses?

The ArtsDepot is in a desolate wind tunnel

I welcome the overdue news that the area around the ArtsDepot in North Finchley is due to receive a facelift.
The Artsdepot towers in a shabby windswept urban desolation that does its best both to run over and blow away any brave soul who strays into its narrow orbit.

The borough recently announced that the Mayor of London has allotted over £1million to create a new Cultural Quarter around the Artsdepot, to include they say “new lighting, a space for public art installation and improved signage… [plus] improved pedestrian access, decluttering the high street as well as supporting local businesses to give the high street an uplift.”

I look forward to find out more about the plan: how is it proposed to undo the wind tunnel effect; to cut the heavy pollution in the area; and to make the quarter welcoming to local people. More realistically I want to know a lot more about the substance behind the promise to “support local businesses”.

I know culture quarters. I’ve seen them in regenerated areas such as London’s South Bank and Brunswick Square. They all feature the same uncheap eateries (whose names commemorate their Italian founder, or South American reptiles, or African long-necked ungulates, you know the ones I mean). Once opened, they might claim “local business” status. Lets not let that happen.

Listen Barnet, support genuinely local businesses that will give us a sense of community. You could start by bringing back the wonderful Quadruples and Lavender Lady, our local health food shops (we’re losing the Finchley Health Food Centre) that could perhaps expand into catering. Talk to Helen at Buzz Cafe and the industrious people at Ari about how to talk to the local businesses and what works for them. Keep out the big chains and keep your promise.

In you can help, come to our stall outside the Co-op in Woodhouse Road, Friern Barnet, any time from 10am.We would like to leaflet the whole of the ward if possible.

The NLWA will resubmit its plan in May, after the London elections.

Labour and Conservative councillors on the authority don’t want Pinkham Way plans discussed during the election campaign.

We do!

Voting Green in May is the only way to be sure of voting against the polluting eyesore.

Green research shows that the plant could be an enormous white elephant. If total rubbish collected in North London continues to fall as it has done over the past four years the Pinkham Way MBT could be completely unneeded by 2016, meaning the NLWA might have to bring in rubbish from other areas to keep it operating.

Barnet Greens have also submitted 38 proposals for Barnet, Enfield and Haringey boroughs to improve their waste reduction, re-use and recycling operations, showing how the total volume of waste could fall more sharply even than current trends.

The NLWA is not expecting to reach a recycling rate of 50 percent before 2020 but many other municipalities have proven that a 50 percent rate can be achieved very quickly with the right systems.

Contact: Andrew.Newby@barnetgreenparty.co.uk

AM Poppy (left) and Jenny Jones at Avenue House in Finchley

Photo call – do join us!

What: London Assembly candidate launch

Who: Mayoral candidate Jenny Jones, London Assembly candidate for Barnet and Camden A M Poppy

When: 11am, 5 December 2011
Where: Hendon Town Hall,NW4 4BG

The Green Party’s AM Poppy will on Monday launch her campaign to become London Assembly member for Barnet and Camden with a call to make London a ‘fair pay city.’

The Green Party’s Mayoral candidate, Jenny Jones, will join Poppy at the event on the steps of Hendon Town Hall to launch the party’s 10:1 Campaign in the two boroughs. The campaign aims to reduce inequality in the capital by calling for businesses, councils and other employers in London to ensure that their highest-paid employee earns no more than 10 times the wages of their lowest-paid.

Barnet Council has recently reduced the number of managers on salaries above £145,000 from nine to three. However Council leader Richard Cornelius has refused to support the 10:1 campaign or calls for him to ensure all his staff are paid a London Living Wage, currently set at £8.30 an hour.

Poppy said: “The economy is teetering, and our Tory-led government says we’re all in this together. Really? Judging from Barnet’s Tory-led council’s practices, that is far from the case. The council hasn’t heard the last of this. Fairness is worth fighting for.”

Speaking about the Green campaign for the GLA, Poppy said: “I want to see London become a more livable, affordable and happy city, that’s what this campaign is all about.”

Mayoral Candidate Jenny Jones said: “The 10:1 campaign is just one example of how the Green Party is tackling the big issues of this election head on. It is a simple, practical step towards reducing excessive income inequalities that are damaging our economy and society. We want to make London the Fair Pay City and City Hall should lead by example in this area.”

“Poppy is a very determined campaigner and a passionate advocate for the Green agenda in her local area. I have been very impressed with the work she has done towards lowering the speed limit on Barnet’s roads to 20mph, which is particularly pertinent given that Barnet has the highest number of road deaths in London. I am sure that Poppy would use this drive and enthusiasm as an Assembly Member to make London a fairer, cleaner and greener city for us all.”

For further information please contact Joe Williams, the Green Party’s 2012 election campaign press officer, on 0207 549 0219 or joe.williams@greenparty.org.uk

1. A.M Poppy has lived in Barnet for many years. She attended East Barnet School and is involved in local arts. Her professional background is in journalism and communications. She is a committed campaigner and played a central role in campaigning for anti-sex discrimination laws in Hong Kong.
2. Poppy is an active member of the Barnet Green Party. She previously stood as a candidate for her home constituency Chipping Barnet in the 2005 general election.
3. You can find out more information about the 10:1 campaign here.
4. Photos of Green Party candidates, including Jenny Jones, can be found here.
5. A list of Green Party London policies can be found here.
6. A full list of Green Party candidates for the London Assembly elections can be found here.
7. A list of achievements by the Green Party in the London Assembly can be found here.
8. The Green Party of England and Wales promotes the policies of ecological sustainability, a fairer more stable economy, a more equal society, a higher standard of democracy and accountability of politicians to the communities they serve, and social justice on the global level as well as in our own country.
9. Caroline Lucas became the UK’s first Green MP in the 2010 General Election.
10. The Green Party is now the largest party on Brighton and Hove Council.

Green Party member Donald Lyven’s observations on the forum of 23 November:

I attended the Finchley Forum at Avenue House last Wednesday.  The problem with customers not using local shops due to pay and display machines being covered is getting very serious.  I heard testimony from shop keepers in Temple Fortune and East Finchley all saying they are losing business since there are fewer customers as people drive away when they see the covered parking machines and need a mobile phone and bank card to park.

I know it’s easy to mock and say people should walk or cycle to the shops instead, especially when you just want a loaf of bread or a pint of milk, however, these shops are losing ALL passing trade.  A case in point is me on Saturday.  I drove to Tally-Ho and parked in Lodge Lane car park.  As I have already registered my vehicle with the Westminster parking system, I went through the laborious procedure of entering 4 digits from my registered debit card, entering the location number, confirming which vehicle I wish to park, how long in minutes I want to park, then enter the three security digits on the back of the card!

I can now do this in 90 seconds!  However, I saw people drive in, look at the sign and drive away!  There were lots of other people standing around on their mobiles with credit cards in hand, and the carpark was eerily empty for the time of day!  As reported at the Forum, there were street parking places available in Finchley as
well as along the High Road.  Basically, those clued up to the system have never had it so good, being able to park in any shopping street!

Barnet Council refused to offer a Christmas parking amnesty to the shop owners, and the Parking Scratch Cards to be introduced from 5th Dec will be only £2 for one hour, and you can only buy a minimum of 4!  So that’s £8 to pay out before you can stop for that loaf of bread!

Anyway, I delivered three bags of stuff to the charity shop, visited my optician, went to the shoe shop for some slippers, and then popped into the newsagent, and yes, just for a pint of milk (to take to the allotment for my tea).  Had I been one of those who had no mobile, wasn’t or couldn’t register, I too may have driven to
Brent Cross instead!  Our local high streets are suffering big time, possibly leading to shops closing down; loss of business rates to the very council stupid enough to cause this current crazy situation.  And whose idea was all this?  Yep, Brian Coleman.  The anger at the Forum was evident.

Also, increased traffic speeds past schools due to mini roundabouts and humps being removed during resurfacing also caused a great amount of anger towards the council – another problem caused by yes you’ve guessed, Brian Coleman.

I trust Barnet Green Party will highlight these two severe current problems with which to criticise the current Tory Assembly member!

Barnet shares with Wandsworth the dubious distinction of having the greatest number of council employees earning over £150,000 pa (nine of them) according to figures analysed this week by the Green Party. The chief executive’s pay is 12 times more than the London living wage. He earns £200,976 – only four boroughs pay their chief exec more.

With so many proposed cuts, how does Barnet justify these fat cat salaries? Enfield, our neighbouring borough, has only one employee – the chief exec – on more than 150,000. They might like to ask themselves, do we actually need a chief executive? Soon after Leo Boland went to work as the GLA’s chief exec, they decided they didn’t need him and abolished the role altogether. The Telegraph has revealed this week that Leo Boland, the former chief executive of Barnet, enjoyed an afternoon tea at Fortnum and Mason on expenses. Need I say more?

(L-R) Gardi, the Barnet Banner and me in front of the Palace of Westminster standing in opposition to the arms trade

We are not resting in our pursuit of Barnet’s dodgy investment policies. This week we’ll be writing to them for an update on their investments in tobacco – last year it was announced they had £8million carcinogenic investments. For a long time now we have been pressing the council on its lethal investments in weapons makers – especially BAe systems.

In September Gardi and I (Poppy) went to represent Barnet Green Party at the demonstration against the arms trade, and heard Caroline Lucas address the demonstration. That was just before she got some of the traders ejected from the arms fair for purveying banned weapons.

Poppy (second right) and supporters campaign outside East Finchley Underground Station

Please sign our online petition for a 20 mph speed limit in Barnet, at:
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/20-mph-speed-limit-on-barnet-residential-streets.html

Barnet’s AM Poppy launched her campaign as Green candidate for Barnet and Camden Boroughs in next year’s London Assembly elections by cycling slowly up East Finchley High Road to highlight our campaign for a 20 mph speed limit on Barnet residential streets.

She was joined by around 10 other Greens and cycling enthusiasts and their protest attracted quite a crowd of onlookers.

Poppy said: “I know it’s provocative to cycle slowly up the road, but the challenges facing Barnet’s residents call for urgent, drastic action, including curbing traffic speed.

“Firstly, there’s Barnet’s tragic road casualty figures – the highest number of road deaths in London, and the second highest number of people suffering injury on our roads last year. (In 2010, nine people died and 1,520 were injured on Barnet’s road network, a rise of 8% on the previous year.)

“There is also our shameful air pollution. For example, the pollution monitor at Tally Ho (the only monitor in Finchley) has registered average annual Nitrogen Dioxide levels above the World Health Organisation recommended maximum ever since the monitor was installed in the 1990s.

“The dangers of bad air are consistently underplayed, and the mayor does everything he can to avoid paying the hefty fines that exceeding the levels carries, rather than everything to bring down the levels.

“In any case I want to see London become a more livable, affordable and happy city, and convert Barnet into a model borough for cycling and pollution reduction, not like it is now – London’s most deadly borough for road users of all kinds.”

Please sign our online petition for a 20 mph speed limit in Barnet, at:
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/20-mph-speed-limit-on-barnet-residential-streets.html

- The elections for the Mayor and London Assembly take place in May 2012.

- Jenny Jones has been selected as the Green Party candidate for Mayor.

- The London Assembly consists of 25 members – 14 elected from constituencies 11 elected from a Londonwide proportional list. The Greens have two members on the outgoing Assembly.

- POPPY BIO:

A communications professional with experience on three continents, Poppy went to school and lives in Barnet borough. A life-long campaigner for community, sustainability and fairness, Poppy chaired the committee that spearheaded the successful campaign to introduce anti-sex discrimination legislation in Hong Kong in the last days of the colonial government, and has served as a peace worker in Palestine and in the Philippines. She has stood in Barnet

as Green parliamentary candidate, and now co-chairs the party’s Regional Council. She can also be found jogging along Dollis Brook, cycling across Hampstead Heath, and people-watching with her family at Camden Lock.

Let's recycle not throw away

The North London Waste Authority has made a very welcome tactical retreat on its plan for an unnecessary £100 million waste treatment plant at Pinkham Way.

But the battle isn’t over. We need to convince Barnet’s Brian Coleman and the other dinosaurs who sit on the authority that it makes financial as well as environmental sense to focus on the wide potential for increased recycling rather than to fritter £100 million on a giant rubbish squashing machine.

Most people that I know, young and old, are well aware of the importance of reducing the amount of waste that we throw away. There is every reason to believe that recycling rates would jump immediately in Barnet and the other NLWA boroughs if they brought in the improved recycling systems that have already shown their effectiveness in other parts of England.

Barnet’s recycling contractor May Gurney is confident it could lift Barnet’s recycling rate for household waste to 55 percent from around 30 percent currently if the borough adopted a system that the company runs successfully for a number of other councils, such as five in Somerset.

Meanwhile, Haringey’s contractor Veolia has for example achieved a 50 percent recycling rate for Broadland council in Norfolk.

All across Britain recycling rates are rising and total household waste volumes are falling and this has even been happening in North London, as the authority’s own figures show.

In the three years to April 2010 municipal household ‘arisings’ in the NLWA area fell an average of 2-1/2 percent a year but amazingly the authority’s plans for a massive plant at Pinkham Way were based on a projection of ‘arisings’ expanding at a rate of nearly 1 percent a year.

Of course May Gurney and Veolia or another contractor would want a bit more money for enlarging the local recycling operations but that would be much more worthwhile than handing over £100 million of council taxpayers’ money for the ghastly Pinkham Way plant which on current trends would be half redundant as soon as it opened.

Let’s reduce, re-use and recycle as much of our waste as possible to ensure that any new rubbish treatment plants that do have to be built can be small ones.

Many thanks to the people who have contacted us following our plea for ideas for better reduction, re-use and recycling of waste materials. We now have a list of 27 (see previous news story, below) but any further suggestions would still be welcome before we submit them to the NLWA.

Send your thoughts to andrew.newby@barnetgreenparty.co.uk

Waste bins at a Whetstone home

Latest news: The number of ideas has reached 27 but we still want more. We’re sure there are dozens of possibilities.

There are so many different things wrong with the planned Pinkham Way waste treatment plant in Friern Barnet that the Green parties in the three boroughs involved have divided up the research responsibilities so that we can mount the strongest possible case against this awful proposal.

Barnet Green Party has take on the task of assembling suggestions and proposals for ways in which Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Councils could improve their recycling rates and thus reduce the need for their plan to  build a 300,000 tonnes a year MBT (mechanical bio-treatment) factory at Pinkham Way.

Please send your ideas and comments by e-mail to Andrew.Newby@barnetgreenparty.co.uk.

We plan to submit the ideas by the end of  July to the three councils and the North London Waste Authority, the seven-borough organisation which is behind the Pinkham Way project.

Here are the main suggestions we have collated so far:

Proposals for improved recycling, reduction and re-use of waste materials in Barnet, Enfield and Haringey boroughs:

1/ Councils should bring in incentives and/or penalties to encourage businesses to recycle. Business waste contributes up to half of the total and most boroughs have made little effort. Responsibilities for business waste are scheduled to transfer to councils from central government.

2/ Councils should start recycling all recyclable plastics, instead of just a small proportion, eg in Barnet plastic bottles only and in Enfield only plastic of grades 1 to 3.

3/ Improve the recycling arrangements for blocks of flats. Cities abroad don’t seem to have a problem with recycling from flats. Many cities in European countries have large bins at the entrance to blocks of flats with the recycling bin or bins right next to the ‘grey’ bin. Barnet and Haringey have failed to take public funding to encourage recycling at flats.

4/ Make businesses take back packaging, which would encourage them to use less packaging to start with.

5/ Provide more neighbourhood recycling centres, like Summers Lane in Barnet.

6/ Improve the recycling lorries so that crews are better able to take larger items, eg cardboard from large packages.

7/ Bring in reduced charges for small amounts of rubbish in the traditional bins, eg by putting a line in bins and lowering fees if the rubbish is below the line.

8/ Implement penalties or disincentives for putting large amounts of rubbish in the traditional bins. Even better than recycling is keeping your waste to a minimum in the first place.

9/ Empty traditional bins only once a fortnight instead of once a week. Councils which have tried this (often Tory ones aiming to save money) say that it does lead to increased recycling rates and to smaller volumes in traditional bins.

10/ Provide separate sealable recycling bins for food scraps, as it would appear many people don’t like putting food in with green garden etc waste.  Some councils in England already do this.  Barnet Council says a lot of food scraps still go into the general bins. If food bins were separate the big green bins could be collected less frequently.

11/ Encourage people to use kitchen bins with separate compartments so that different kinds of waste can be kept separate, making it easier to recycle all of the.

12/ Provide more recycling bins at bus stops, stations, in parks etc and set up a system to empty all public bins regularly. This would also help keep litter down.

13/ Encourage and promote schemes that re-use bottles, such as door-to-door milk delivery. Many people seem unaware that milk delivery to your door is still available.

14/ Reintroduce (ie reintroduce in Britain though they are still current elsewhere) deposits on glass and plastic bottles and jars to encourage people to take them back to the shop. Alternatively or additionally, shops and supermarkets could give loyalty points, charity tokens or ‘neighbourhood currency’ for returned bottles.

15/ Encourage more repair facilities so that items can be re-used instead of recycled or scrapped. Eg some English councils and many in other countries support repair shops for furniture, cycles, electrical and electronic equipment and many other items. Summers Lane, for instance, might be one suitable location.

16/ Encourage the teaching of repair skills so that people can provide repair services either as professionals or volunteers, whether in their own home, customers’ homes or in small workshops.

17/ Set up facilities for exchange of wood and construction materials so that craftspeople and builders can have easy access to reusable materials. This could also help avoid the needless destruction of old, traditional and attractive fittings.

18/ Amend planning and building regulations to encourage the re-use of old wood and construction materials.

19/ Allow controlled public removal of appropriate items from neighbourhood recycling centres, as happens in other countries.

20/ Allow people to help themselves from skips unless the skips are marked otherwise.

21/  Tell residents about recyling levels in their ward, street or lorry collection round. Create a competitive spirit by encouraging people to exceed past performance.

22/ Reward wards/neighbourhoods with high levels of recycling by discretionary spending, priority on other green initiatives or the issue of  ‘neighbourhood currency’ to spend with local businesses.

23/ Encourage people, including supervised children, to have garage or table sales outside their homes for unwanted items instead of throwing them away. Such events could develop community spirit by bringing neighbours together.

24/ Promote annual street ‘mini-markets’ at which people can buy, sell and exchange items among local people.

25/ As some other boroughs have done, nominate volunteers to be neighbourhood promoters of re-use and recycling, to explain recycling services to new residents and to encourage all residents to reduce, repair, re-use and recycle.

26/ Give official encouragement to charity shops, Freecycle and other services which enable goods to be re-used instead of thrown away.  Eg, with extra publicity such as website where people could look to see which local organisations will take the books, furniture or whatever items they no longer want.

27/ Develop and expand council schemes to encourage home composting. Eg: http://www.barnet.gov.uk/composters

More ideas please! I reckon we can get at least 50.  If you’ve sent an idea before that we’ve failed to include without saying why not please send it again.