Agenda and minutes

 Cllr Georgiou welcomed all residents to the Southgate Green Ward Forum and introduced Cllr Anderson; Cllr Stewart; Cllr Charalambous; Police Sergeant Perry LaFrenais; and LBE Officer Neeru Kareer.

 Received from the following residents: Alok Agrawal (CAPE), Andy Barker (FLDRA), Caroline Chenier (BHORA), Paul Mandel

 The minutes were amended to include reference to all residents present objecting to any redevelopment of Arnos Grove station car park; and reference was made to ongoing negotiations with Walker School on school places.

 The South West Enfield Partnership (SWEP) will reconvene in the next few weeks. Simon Lord, Area Partnership and Regeneration Manager, will once again be the officer responsible for coordinating.

 Police Sergeant Perry LeFrenais has taken over from Lorna Taylor as sergeant for Southgate Green ward. However, continuity is assured as both PC Ares Michaelides and PCSO Stuart Juffs, two experienced officers, remain as part of his team.

Sergeant Perry outlined the 7 crime priorities as established by the Mayor’s Office for Polling and Crime (MOPAC) and provided comparative crime figures for September 2013 and September 2014.

Across Enfield as a whole, apart from violence with injury, which is up 8%, all crime is down in the Borough. The 3 main priorities for Southgate Green are tackling burglaries, antisocial behaviour (ASB) and motor vehicle theft.

Sergeant LaFrenais was asked about:

i) National news reports of massive under-reporting of crime of up to 20%. He was unaware of the reports, but maintained that to his knowledge in Enfield that is not the case. All allegations, e.g. attempted burglaries, are recorded. However, he agreed to look into this and report back. ACTION: Sergeant LaFrenais

ii) Plans to leave parks unlocked at night. Perry was not personally aware of consultation on this, but said that it senior management’s views may well have been sought.

iii) Is crime in parks recorded in the figures or separate to them? There have been a few incidents in Broomfield Park recently. Sergeant LaFrenais agreed to check with Ares. ACTION: Sergeant LaFrenais

iv) Budgets. Sergeant LaFrenais accepted that there were financial constraints, but felt that they are coping nonetheless.

NeeruKareer, Senior Planning Officer from the London Borough of Enfield attended and provided the context and background.

Preparation of the North Circular Area Action Plan (NCAAP) began in 2011 and involved a number of stages of both formal and informal consultation and included extensive and ongoing dialogue with key stakeholders such as the South West Enfield Partnership (SWEP), TfL, local community representation; and the adjoining boroughs of Haringey and Barnet. All of this work has helped to shape the adopted version of the Plan, which was formally adopted by the Council on the 8th October 2014.

Detailed site specific policies for 19 opportunity sites across Bowes, Palmers Green and Southgate Green wards provide the planning principles by which development proposals will be assessed. The Plan includes site specific policies for both Ritz Parade (Opportunity Site 12) and Arnos Grove Station (Opportunity Site 7).

It is the intention to build 1,300 new homes in the vicinity, which includes the Ladderswood development and sites along the A406, previously owned by TfL, but sold to the Notting Hill Housing Trust, and this includes the Ritz Parade.

Ritz Parade

The Council is in the early stages of preparing a detailed Development Brief for Ritz Parade and are cognizant of the strong feelings of concern expressed by residents. The intention of the work will allow for an in-depth understanding of the regeneration opportunities the site offers as well as its limitations. This work will also investigate the viability of land assembly, land use mix, density and capacity for the Parade. Thus far, three development options have been identified and will be tested.

I. Comprehensive redevelopment of the site, including the demolition of the Ritz Parade building;

II. Comprehensive redevelopment of the site, but maintaining the existing Ritz Parade façade; and

III. The partial redevelopment of the site retaining the existing Ritz Parade building and developing the areas to the east, west and north.

Early consultation with key stakeholders will commence once initial findings are reported and this is likely to be in January 2015. More formal public consultation will take place on the preferred option(s) thereafter. This is likely to be March 2015.

Residents expressed concerns about the development options being a fait accompli. Why not consult before deciding on 3 options? Neeru explained that it was important not to confuse the NCAAP with the Notting Hill Housing Trust development. They are separate issues, the NCAAP seeks to shape the development, but the Council does not have a veto on whether or not development occurs. Indeed, there are number of agencies involved in the mix, including Transport for London (TfL) and Notting Hill Housing Trust. As to future development scenarios, there are only 3 high level options to be tested in terms of the development principle. The detail of what can be delivered within these 3 scenarios is still open for discussion, and this will be subject to the community consultation process taking place in early 2015.

The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

Locking of park gates

Councillor Anderson explained that a recent Overview & Scrutiny Committee meeting that was convened to discuss concerns over the decision to leave the parks unlocked the Cabinet Member for Environment & Community Safety (Councillor Chris Bond) agreed to delay the implementation of his decision until April 2015. In the intervening period he offered to meet with friends of parks groups to discuss the situation. However, it is important to note that the decision itself is non-negotiable, only the process is open for discussion.

Residents expressed reservations, alleging that Broomfield has a significant existing crime problem and the friend’s may not be in a position to take responsibility for locking the gates. What about dangers to wildlife and vandalism? Or what of the possibility of travellers entering the parks? Councillor Stewart suggested that there was nothing to stop travellers entering the parks during the day when the parks are open. Another resident offered a contrarian view, by suggesting that closing the parks at night might actually act as an incentive to break in and by leaving them open the problems may subside.

Councillor Anderson reiterated that anyone concerned about the plan should take up Councillor Chris Bond’s offer to meet.

Ultra Low Emission Zones

A paper was distributed that summarised the Mayor for London’s plan to introduce an Ultra-Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) to tackle London’s air pollution crisis, which is amongst the worst cities in Europe. If introduced, vehicles entering the zone to comply with strict emission standards. The UK Supreme Court noted compliance with EU standards will only be achieved by 2025 in London, 15 years after the original deadline. TfL’s modelling work suggests that the proposed ULEZ will reduce NOx levels in Enfield by 9% in 2020 compared to the situation without ULEZ. However, the benefit of ULEZ reduces in 2025 as more vehicles will be compliant with the relevant emissions standards in any event. Consultation on ULEZ proposals is currently taking place and lasts until 9th January 2015. Subject to the outcome of the consultation, TfL is hoping to have a scheme in place by 2015, giving users five years notice before 2020.

Fly-tipping

Councillor Anderson mentioned that he was seeking to identify and eradicate fly-tipping hotspots in the ward by working in collaboration with the Assistant Director for the Public Realm, Head of Regulatory Services and Head of Operational Waste, all of whom he had done a ward walk with recently. Areas identified are Palmers Road junction with Bowes Road; Alleyway behind shops in Bowes Road; Alleyway behind Haslem Court; Milton Grove, Hayden Lane, The Mall area opposite the Cherry Tree.

Residents added the area around the Notting Hill Housing Trust developments also needs attention.

Transport for London Updates

Councillor Anderson met up with a representative from TfL to discuss the access issues affecting Milton Grove along the A406 Telford Road and the safety measures installed. TfL are satisfied that since the measures have been in place, which have restricted the A406 to two  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

Tuesday 13th January 2015, 7.15pm,

The Penridge Suite, 470 Bowes Road, London N11 1NL