Agenda for Southgate Ward Forum on Wednesday, 22nd March, 2017, 7.30 pm

Agenda and minutes

Venue: The Southgate Methodist Church, 45 The Bourne, Southgate, N14 6RS

Items
No. Item

14.

Welcome and Introduction

Minutes:

Cllr Edward Smith welcomed the residents and introduced the agenda and format for the evening.

 

Cllr Smith also made reference to the appalling terrorist attack that happened earlier that day in London.

15.

Crime update from the local Neighbourhood Police Team

Minutes:

No police attended. In light of the terrorist attack in the morning, their absence was not surprising.

 

16.

Local Items

a.       Cycle lanes on the A105 

b.    Proposed abolition of Enfield Southgate constituency

c.     Replacement of Southgate Library 

d.     Upgrade of planting areas around Southgate Tube station

e.    Update on proposed new primary school in Bourneside.

Minutes:

A105 – Cycle Scheme - Cllr Smith - Asked for feedback on the works for the new cycle lanes on the A105. One person supported the installation of cycle lanes and highlighted the pollution caused by cars and the need to encourage residents to use alternative forms of transport.

Paul Mandel spoke about the next stage of the scheme in Enfield, Southbury Road to Ponders End. He referred to the planning difficulties that might push Phase 2 to the end of the project.  Paul also raised the issue around the Post Office in Palmers Green, which wont be able to be serviced under current proposals.

Cllr Smith then highlighted the Quieter Neighbourhood Schemes that will be introduced by the Council to prevent traffic travelling through adjacent suburban roads to avoid congestion on the A105.


Cllr Hayward – stressed the impact on businesses and that the Council is denying the drop in trade being experienced by shops since the work has started.  Shops need to ask for a reduction in business rates.

Agreement from one cyclist that the scheme has not been thought through and the benefits have not been proven. Hackney and Islington have thought through plans. Real world tests were not carried out in Enfield.


Proposed Abolition of Enfield Southgate. The objective of the proposals was to equalise the number of voters in each constituency and reduce the number of MPs by 50.

 

Cllr Smith discussed the second consultation and the high number of residents that had supported the retention of the constituency.  He encouraged residents to comment on the Boundary Commission website.


There will be a third consultation based on the revised report from the Commission. This is expected around Christmas 2017. Final proposals will then go to Parliament.

Replacement of Southgate Library.
Cllr Smith referred back to the last meeting of the Forum where  Sally McTernan, who is head of customer services, including the libraries, had  came to speak to residents. More money would be injected to improve the layout of the new library, but residents felt that this would not improve the situation significantly. 

 

One resident highlighted the lack of security when he accessed the site and library without being challenged to sign in. He also has not heard back about the level of books available. He thought the amount of books in the new library was 70% down against previous volume of books. Cllr Smith also mentioned that he accessed the site without being asked to sign in.


The car park is now locked so residents cannot park as they used to. This was being done to prevent college staff parking on the site.

 

Residents commented that no real consultation was done and that this process was mismanaged by the council.

 

It was asked how much Council budgets have been reduced? – Cllr Hayward said that the budget for libraries has been drastically cut by the Labour Council and that they now needed to be operated largely by volunteers. The libraries have been reduced  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

17.

Local Concerns

An opportunity for residents to raise environmental and other matters with        their local councillors.  Please take the opportunity to Email us before the meeting about any particular issues so that we can look into them beforehand.  Our contact details are below.

Minutes:

John Millidge - Raised the question who was responsible for bus stops? John referred to the problem of temporary bus stops at Oakwood. The nearest bus stop is now down the road by the school. Also more bus stops were needed on Bourne Hill. (W9 service). Residents have to walk to the top of Fox Lane to pick up the bus. There is no hail and ride either on Bourne Hill. (The problem is that the buses don’t stop when they are hailed). The meeting was advised that councillors had been in lengthy discussions with the traffic engineers about installing new bus stops on Bourne Hill some months ago, but an objection from one of the residents had stymied progress.  We will encourage the Council/TFL to install one new stop on Bourne Hill on either side.

 

Mr Clary mentioned the need for residents to respond on the latest consultation on NHS services. Tricia Webb raised the over 50’s Forum and asked residents to sign their petition for a fairer allocation system of government funding for Enfield.  Residents generally were still having problems accessing council services.

 

A last question was raised regarding a new secondary school on Bramley Road.  Fairview withdrew their previous application in light of the planning difficulties over development in the Green Belt. Nothing more has happened since.  However the academy chain ‘Wren’, were still seeking a site within Western Enfield.

18.

Date of Future Meetings

Minutes:

June 21st 2017