Mill Hill Pocket Park delayed

I understand that Cllr Sury Khatri has stated in a Barnet meeting that he could not see any demand for the proposed Mill Hill Pocket Park to be located at the junction of Brockenhurst Gardens and the Broadway and that he had not been consulted. 

This is incredible considering that not only have the Neighbourhood Forum have been very much promoting this plan for a long time, even Cllr Khatri's own party have mentioned the Pocket Park proposals on their own leaflets!

Cllr Khatri's opposition to the scheme means that the Pocket Park is now delayed. This scheme would be a welcome addition to Mill Hill. This is really needed to deliver improvements to make the Town Centre more attractive and to encourage greater footfall and investors.

A polite email to Cllr Khatri, supporting the Pocket Park proposals for Mill Hill, copied to Jamie Cooke, the senior officer from Barnet involved with the Pocket Park proposals would really help. Their email addresses are: cllr.s.khatri@barnet.gov.uk and jamie.cooke@barnet.gov.uk

End of an era as Andrew Dismore decides not to run in General Election

The snap General Election announced by Theresa May this week has led to a few surprises so far, but the biggest surprise is the fact that Andrew Dismore AM will not be the Labour Party candidate for Hendon.


Our former MP made the announcement today that he would not be running for personal reasons. Mr Dismore was an outstanding MP for Hendon between 1997 and 2010 and even his detractors will admit that he has always been a diligent and hard-working MP and since 2012, the Barnet & Camden member of the London Assembly, taking over from the widely hated Brian Coleman.


There are in my own opinion, many talented and able people in Barnet Labour who will now be in the running for the Labour Candidacy. Ammar Naqvi, Adam Langleben, Sian John and Arjun Mittra amongst many others. All will prove to be good candidates if chosen.


For myself however, I do think Andrew Dismore's departure increases Alasdair Hill's chances of actually being elected as the next Hendon MP. The Liberal Democrats have been the only party that have been consistently against the Brexit madness convulsing the political class. On the doorsteps we are hearing that the Hard Brexit being pushed by Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn is not what people in Hendon want.


One thing is for sure, this contest is wide open and Matthew Offord may well be spending more time at his luxury thatched cottage in deepest Berkshire before long...

Barnet Conservatives protect Capita and Re: (Again)

I was at the Barnet council meeting tonight, where I got a taste of the sheer contempt the Barnet Conservatives have for the public.

Labour councillor Adam Langleben proposed a motion for an emergency council meeting to ask the council to set up a cross party review of Barnet Planning which has been failing the public for some time. Cllr Langleben specifically mentioned Barnet's incompetence over the proposed Milespit Hill cemetery extension that many believe is a Trojan horse for a Mausoleum or even Crematorium project on the site.

In theory this motion should have had cross party support but the Conservatives submitted an amendment to the motion that kicked the investigation to the existing scrutiny committee that has allowed Capita and Re: to literally get away with astonishing levels of incompetence over the last few years.

In reply Cllr Cornelius the Conservative leader of the council stated that Barnet planning's problems were nothing to do with incompetence but rather the leglislation they were working under. No mention whatsoever of what happened in Mill Hill at all.

In reply Cllr Langleben asked the Monitoring Officer to exclude members of the Hendon Conservative Association from the vote as one of the planning schemes under debate was the demolition of the White Bear pub in Hendon. Before the General Election the pub was bought out by a developer who was a staunch Conservative supporter who erected large billboards supporting the Conservative candidate Matthew Offord. In addition there was a question as to whether individual councillors who are members of Hendon Conservative Association had received donations from the same developer. I was sitting in the public gallery but could not hear a response from the Interim Monitoring Officer David Tatlow but the vote went ahead anyway with the Hendon Association councillors. The motions went to vote (all Mill Hill councillors voted for it) and of course the Conservative amendment was adopted and the original motion lost.

So no scrutiny and Capita remain protected. Next time you see our Mill Hill councillors please ask them why they are blocking real scrutiny of Barnet Planning.

Barnet Council reprimanded over lack of care for homeless

Barnet Council have been reprimanded by the Local Government Ombudsman for systematic failures in dealing with homelessness.


A homeless woman approached Barnet Council in January 2015 for help following her eviction from private rented accommodation. Incredibly she had to remain homeless during the winter months and was even hospitalised for an asthma attack. Barnet Council were approached four more times by her over the following 15 months and on each occasion she was told she was not a priority need.


What she wasn't told was that Barnet Council were obliged to give her a formal decision about her homelessness and that she could then appeal the decision. The woman and her father complained to the Local Government Ombudsman who investigated.


Barnet Council had the sheer brass neck to tell the Ombudsman this in their defence. "were it (Barnet Council) were to issue formal decisions to all those seeking housing assistance there would be significant challenges with the number of Housing Needs officers being required to conduct such a high volume of assessments and write the subsequent decision letters".


So in other words, we don't have enough staff and we really can't be bothered.


The Ombudsman found against Barnet Council and the woman concerned has had an apology from the Council. Additionally, the Ombudsman ruled that: "the Council should also ensure that in future, homelessness applications are taken and decision letters issued in all appropriate cases".


More at http://www.lgo.org.uk/information-centre/news/2017/mar/ombudsman-finds-systemic-problems-with-barnet-s-homelessness-services-during-investigation

The Thin Blue Line

I work on the Thameslink Programme at Network Rail's offices in Southwark. It's a central location and no more than 15 minute's walk from either the City or the Palace of Westminster. I'm an occasional visitor to the Houses of Parliament, and I'm always impressed by the courtesy and professionalism of the Police and Security staff who work there.

Yesterday as many of you know by now, Constable Keith Palmer lost his life defending the Palace of Westminster. Only moments before he was attacked he was taking selfies with tourists. He was unarmed. Four other people died yesterday including the perpetrator of the attacks. Many more were injured, including French schoolchildren on a trip to London. Westminster is the very heart of our democracy; the Police did great work yesterday to keep our streets and our Parliament safe for us. I must mention Conservative MP and Minister Tobias Elwood who fought hard to try and save PC Palmer's life.  Life goes on; as it always must. The only answer to attacks like these is to just bloody well get with life. See you Saturday morning on the Unite for Europe march!

Adds: Julia Hines has since brought this blog post to my attention. It contains very practical and useful advice: http://whatkirstydidnext.com/lifestyle/practical-ways-to-help-in-times-of-an-attack/

1. Show your appreciation for our AMAZING emergency services by making a donation. Text SAVE to 70800 to donate £5 to London’s Air Ambulance, who were quickly on the scene.
2. It’s reported that members of the public gave first aid to those who were injured whilst waiting for the emergency services. Consider a donation to St John Ambulance who provides training in first aid. Text AID to 70030 to donate £5.
3. Go on a first aid course.
4. Tower RNLI was deployed to save a woman who had fallen into the Thames and who is among the injured. Support their work with a donation. Text RNLI to 70300 to donate £5.
5. To honour the policeman who lost his life, tweet your appreciation of our policemen and women who put their lives on the line for us every day. Better yet, tweet a local police department.
6. Retweet this and call out anyone sharing inappropriate images.

1. I know it's Twitter and there's no editor but please don't RT pictures of dead and wounded on Westminster Bridge. They have loved ones.

— fleetstreetfox (@fleetstreetfox) March 22, 2017

7. If you see something suspicious but you don’t want to waste police time because ‘it’s probably nothing‘, report it. If you think it might be suspicious, it probably is.

If anyone sees anything suspicious or that causes them concern please call 0800 789 321 ASAP – always call 999 in an emergency #London

— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) March 22, 2017

8. Donate blood. Find out where you can donate blood on the NHS Blood and Transplant website.
9. Show your appreciation for the amazing work of our NHS staff. Sign the Save our NHS petition.
10. If you were in the area at the time of the incident and have any footage – photos or video, send it to to the police via this website.
11. Don’t spread fear. Do not share anything that is mere speculation. Arm yourself with knowledge and FACT. Share news only from verified and trusted sources such as the BBC.
In times like this it’s difficult to comprehend such an attack but we mustn’t just stand by. We can do something and we must.

Mill Hill Italian Market 17-18 March

Don't forget the Italian Food Market returns to Mill Hill Broadway this Friday 17th March and Saturday 18th March. See you there!

Lib Dems Mill Hill Action Day 5th March 2017

Richard, Charity and Alasdair on the stall today.

I woke at 6.30am this morning to hear the rain hammering onto my bedroom window and to see part of my garden fence had blown down in the night. My first job this morning was getting my fence back up. Not promising for our first Lib Dem action day in Mill Hill, but luckily by 10.00 the rain had stopped. Alasdair and I got our stall ready and we were joined by Charity Pierce and many other local Lib Dem activists who came down to help man the stall and get those all-important Focus deliveries done across Mill Hill. We had a really positive reception on the street, many people were asking us "are the Lib Dems back in Mill Hill?".

Our answer is of course, yes and we intend to win our council seats back! Look out for our Mill Hill Focus leaflet dropping into your letterbox soon.