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.

Candidates, members and supporters of Barnet Green Party gather at Tally Ho Corner.

For more information visit our Council Elections Page.
Press coverage: MEP Jean Lambert backs Barnet Green Party’s campaign launch at Tally Ho today

Noel Lynch and Steve Norman of Barnet Green Party with Jean Lambert MEP at Tally Ho Corner during the Council Elections campaign in 2006

Barnet Green Party will launch its 2010 Barnet Council election campaign at 11.00 am on Saturday 10th April at the pollution monitor at Tally Ho Corner in North Finchley. Green Party candidates from across the borough will be joined by Green Party MEP, Jean Lambert.

Why not come along and meet us?

For further details contact: Andrew Newby

Then on Sunday 18^th Donald Lyven, Green Party parliamentary candidate for Finchley and Golders Green, and Andrew Newby, Green Party candidate for Hendon, will attempt to fly a kite to 140 metres, the height of the chimney at the incinerator which the Brent Cross Cricklewood developers propose to build.

The attempt will take place at Clitterhouse Playing Fields at 1.00 pm and should be a spectaculr sight. Why not come and join us?

Contact: Donald Lyven.

In the Barnet Council elections, the Green Party is fielding its strongest team ever.

Seasoned campaigners Noel Lynch, Andrew Newby and Steve Norman are contesting the party’s target ward of East Finchley, where Lynch achieved the party’s highest Barnet vote in 2006.

Another impressive Green Party line up is in Mill Hill Ward, where locally-based twin sisters Dilan and Dilem Kurt are lining up alongside former borough councillor David Williams. (pictures attached).

In Totteridge Ward, Katie Margolis and Julie Rosenfield are aiming to build on the high vote achieved by Andrew Newby in 2006, when he posted the second highest Green vote in the borough, beating Labour and Liberal Democrat candidates.

The pollution monitor is the place where the party launched its council election campaign in 2006 and the Greens have chosen it again because they say nothing has been done in the past four years to improve the situation.

“In January, the monitor showed that nitrogen dioxide levels at Tally Ho Corner averaged 80 microgrammes per cubic metre, double the World Health Organisation’s recommended maximum level,” said Gardi Vaswani, the Green Party’s lead candidate for Woodhouse Ward, which includes North Finchley.

“Emissions in North Finchley may be no worse than other places in the borough – we just don’t know as it is one of only a handful of monitors across the borough. Probably many other places are as bad for pollution and the council has no budget for reducing emissions levels,” Vaswani said.

Lyven and Newby’s kite flying plan aims to mock the Brent Cross Cricklewood developers’ denial that the 140 metre chimney will spew fumes across the whole of North London.

“Of course it will,” said Lyven. “140 metres is an enormous height. The legal maximum height for flying a kite is less than half of that – 60 metres in fact. If anyone tries to stop us we’ll ask how come the developers expect to get away with building a polluting chimney 140 metres tall when we can only fly a kite to 60 metres.”

Caroline Lucas delivers her keynote speech at The Arts Depot in North Finchley

A photo slideshow of the Green Party Conference including Caroline Lucas’ rousing keynote speech at the Arts Depot in North Finchley can be viewed here.


Caroline Lucas’ speech can be viewed here

BBC News report of the Conference here

Here are links to reports in the local press, The Hendon, Finchley, Barnet, Potters Bar, Edgware, Mill Hill Times
Keynote speech by Caroline Lucas in North Finchley promises Green Party action on inequality

Green Party conference held in Finchley

Green Party's Darren Johnson, Chair of the London Assembly

Barnet Green Party is calling on Transport for London to institute a new bus service.

This new service would take in:

North Finchley – Finchley Memorial Hospital – Finchley Leisure Centre – East Finchley – Kenwood – Royal Free Hospital.

Increasing numbers of patients are being referred to the Royal Free Hospital. In view of the difficulty of getting there by public transport and the need to increase the bus service between North Finchley and East Finchley, the Green Party’s Darren Johnson, Deputy Chair of the London Assembly, is to lobby the Mayor, Boris Johnson, to instruct Transport for London to institute the new route.

Arts Depot in North Finchley

The Green Party Conference is coming to Finchley. The Arts Depot in North Finchley will host the 2010 Spring conference from this Thursday, February 18th, to Sunday 21st. It’s a fabulous opportunity for local people to find out more about the policies and values of the party in what will be council and general election year.

The Arts Depot opened in October 2004 offering a wide variety of events including theatre, music, dance, comedy and the visual arts and has become a respected part of the local and wider community. Having recently celebrated it’s 5th birthday the arts centre has been involved in many community activities like its education and outreach programmes.

Barnet Greens are excited by the prospect of welcoming the national party into our neck-of-the-woods. We’re also looking forward to engaging with the issues and spreading the word about what Greens have got to offer as a party.

Green Party Spring Conference 2010 will be held from the 18th to 21st February at The Arts Depot, North Finchley, London, N12 0GA.

More information can be found here: http://www.greenparty.org.uk/conference.html