Residents Forum Next Tuesday

Next Tuesday 20 July the Chipping Barnet Residents Forum will be held at Chipping Barnet Library at the back of the Spires. It starts at 6.30pm and all residents are welcome. Mr Reasonable will be asking a number of questions including one regarding the removal of traffic lights at the junction of Margaret Road and East Barnet Road. Given the timing of this Residents Forum, the councillors allowances and the removal of Cllr Salinger from the deputy chair role of the forum, I suspect it will be a lively affair. Make sure you get there early to ensure you get a seat!

Update on the removal of the traffic lights at Margaret Road

Having done some research on the GLA website, I have found the original studies on which some bright spark determined that removing the traffic lights from the junction of East Barnet Road and Margaret Road might be a good idea. Frankly they are poor and make sweeping generalisations. They are take no account of the benefits or disbenefits for pedestrians - so it's only cars and lorries that matter these days then. Worst of all it shows that the saving made by removing the lights are marginal. I have calculated that if there is just one serious accident in 17 years or one fatal accident in 147 years following the removal of the lights at East Barnet Road, it negates all of the financial benefit!

http://www.london.gov.uk/archive/mayor/economic_unit/docs/traffic-signals.pdf
http://www.london.gov.uk/archive/mayor/economic_unit/docs/traffic-signals-appendixa.pdf

This is nothing short of a disgrace. If you are against the removal of these traffic lights then send an email to Kulveer Ranger, (kulveer.ranger@ london.gov.uk) the Mayor's Transport Advisor and the man who appears to be promoting the ridiculous scheme.

Threat to Traffic Lights

TFL in their wisdom are considering removing the traffic lights at the junction of Margaret Road and East Barnet Road http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/10472683.stm . This was proposed a couple of years ago and rejected on the basis that it was dangerous yet TFL are reconsidering it again. How dare some pen pusher at TFL determine what should be done in our community without even bothering to talk to local people. I for one will be sending off a stiff letter to TFL and I encourage everyone else to do the same.

LDF Draft Postponed

I went along to the Scrutiny Committee and spoke about my concerns with the Local Development Framework. and how it was failing New Barnet. I followed this up with an email to one of our local councillors along with detailed evidence of how the LDF is ignoring the views of local people and the local elected representatives by continuing to promote New Barnet as an areas for mixed use development (supermarkets).

I am pleased to say having just read the agenda for the Cabinet Committee meeting on 21 June, where the draft LDF was due to be approved for final consultation, it appears to have been withdrawn.

I am sure it will reappear again at some stage but for now we have got the Council to pause for reflection. Mr Reasonable will continue to keep an ever vigilant eye on any planning matters affecting New Barnet - next will be the Town Centre Framework.

Barnet Council still not listening

Imagine my frustration when reading the latest version of the Local Development Framework (LDF) which will be presented to the Business Management Overview and Scrutiny Committee next Thursday. At the end of last year, 271 people from New Barnet took the time to send their views on the LDF and the overwhelming view was we don't was a mixed use commercial development (for which read supermarket and flats) in New Barnet. We duly went through the consultation on the New Barnet Town Centre Framework where again opinion was overwhelmingly against new retail development in New Barnet. Yet the latest draft of the LDF published yesterday states clearly that New Barnet is a priority town centre "having a character more appropriate to higher density mixed use development". It has not waited for the Town Centre Framework to be published and to incorporate those policies. It has cleverly deleted a few words but the rump of the issues remain outstanding.

Yet again the Council are bulldozing through a policy which local people simply do not want. So much for consultation!

Holding people to their promises

With the elections over I suspect we can now expect to see Tesco and Asda sticking in their planning applications. If they do, I hope our newly elected councillors will stick to their promises of opposing any new superstore development in New Barnet. I also hope they will urge council officers to reconsider their desire to "intensify" housing along East Barnet Road which will mean family houses being pulled down and replaced with blocks of flats.

Why I am voting for The Residents' Association of Barnet

Set out below is the text taken from the RAB blog.

Many Barnet residents were, and remain, deeply unhappy about the way in which Barnet Council is run. Amongst many of the concerns expressed is the character and integrity of those who were elected to represent residents in the one organisation that effects all our daily lives; and is paid for from our taxes.

Set out below are the seven key principles that should apply to all aspects of public life as set down by the Committee for Standards in Public Life.

Now when reading them please consider and think very carefully. Do you believe that the Barnet Councillors seeking re-election have lived up to these standards in both the letter and the spirit of the principles over the past four years?

If you do, then vote with a clear conscience that your selection will, at the very least, be qualified for continuing public life.

If not; then surely you must vote for the people who will not only live up to these standards but embrace them wholeheartedly and unequivocally. The independent candidates supported by The Residents' Association of Barnet candidates, are these people.

THE SEVEN PRINCIPLES OF PUBLIC LIFE

SELFLESSNESS - Holders of public office should act solely in terms of the public interest. They should not do so in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves, their family, or their friends.

INTEGRITY - Holders of public office should not place themselves under any financial or other obligation to outside individuals or organisations that might seek to influence them in the performance of their official duties.

OBJECTIVITY - In carrying out public business, including making public appointments, awarding contracts, or recommending individuals for rewards and benefits, holders of public office should make choices on merit.

ACCOUNTABILITY - Holders of public office are accountable for their decisions and actions to the public and must submit themselves to whatever scrutiny is appropriate to their office.

OPENNESS -Holders of public office should be as open as possible about all the decisions and actions that they take. They should give reasons for their decisions and restrict information only when the wider public interest clearly demands.

HONESTY - Holders of public office have a duty to declare any private interests relating to their public duties and to take steps to resolve any conflicts arising in a way that protects the public interest.

LEADERSHIP - Holders of public office should promote and support these principles by leadership and example.