Trees in Mayfield Avenue

A Mr Gary Barnes appeared to talk about tree strategy in the Borough. He said that since a groundbreaking case in Westminster a couple of years ago councils are held fully liable for any tree or any part of a tree that can be proved to have resulted in – or contributed to – subsidence. The council are spending hundreds of thousands of pounds on subsidence claims as a result of this.

Due to this situation if they get wind of any tree that looks like it is causing subsidence or has the potential to do so the council will remove it immediately without any consultation, save to say that it will be happening. However he did say that in such a situation the council has a policy of a one-for-one replacement, with a new tree.

It is for the potential exposure to subsidence claims that the council refuses to accept any requests for Tree preservation orders.

In the case of the tree at No.41 Mayfield avenue an application for removal for off-street parking was initially refused. However the residents then highlighted that the tree was dangerously leaning. The council tree surgeon Mr Alex Campbell inspected the tree and while confirming that it was healthy concurred that there was a future potential danger of it falling down and so the tree was felled. I have the report for those interested in reviewing it.

I chatted to Gary at the tail end of last week and he confirmed this story and said that a new tree would be planted but only during the latter of this year as it was pointless planting one during the summer months (I’m not a gardener, is this true?). He also said he would ask Alex to check on the other gaps in the street with a view to planting further trees and in the report he sent me Alex does talk about re-planting the gap on the opposite side of the road (40-42?) which was caused by a previous tree that was blown down during a storm.

While I am sympathetic to the council’s nervousness to exposure to huge claims there is a flaw here. Basically we have no way of challenging the findings of Alex Campbell. If he says the tree must come down then Gary – his boss – will invariably pass it for approval. Technically therefore Alex can be compromised in his decision-making by external forces and the local residents are screwed. I’m not saying this happens but is it not a coincidence that it was only when No. 41’s original application was refused that it was suddenly “discovered” that the tree was dangerous anyway? Also, with regards to the forthcoming Acton housing development, what’s to stop a truck “accidentally” ramming a tree to force Gary’s hand?

I think we need to investigate this further, seek an acceptance that we must be able to challenge the tree surgeons report as necessary and try and apply for tree preservation orders for certain key trees, such as the one in the middle of the roundabout at Mayfield.

I’m open to views here. I am aware that Helen Orpe has already made some moves by firing off questions to Gary etc. some of which have probably been answered here and I know that Benz Kotzen has had some dealings already with Alex Campbell re: a major tree in Pruden Close due for felling. Maybe we should arrange a get-together to discuss this further?
Anthony

CPZ is on the way

Right then lets talk about the Control parking Zone initiative. It now appears we will not get another public consultation after all. A plan has been drafted up and it will now go to internal consultation.

The man responsible for the proposed CPZ is a Mr Mario Lecordier. I have his contact details for those interested. The bottom line is that Mayfield Avenue IS included for CPZ, which on the face of it I’m not personally against. However I do have a problem with two features:

1. The CPZ will be active throughout the day, rather than one hour. Mario stated that a number of roads are afflicted with a combination of local workers, city commuters, students and shoppers and so a comprehensive period was necessary to catch all these buggers out.
2. Saturdays will ALSO be included, for the same reason, ie on the weekend you are capturing shoppers etc.

He was against applying different rules to individual roads as he felt this would be “confusing”. My opinion is that it is really that he is FOR an easy life and a one size fits all approach makes life very comfortable for him.

It is surely logical that streets near shopping areas should have CPZ on Saturdays whereas outlying streets can be restricted to Mon-Fri only. Additionally streets where commuters is the predominant problem should be allowed to have a one-hour period only. I cannot see the problem in this. Having lived in Stockholm where practically each street had its own unique set of rules with no discernable “confusion” I find his argument very weak. Finally where on earth are people going to park?? Local car parks are noticeable by there absence and Mr lecordier really preferred not to dwell on that subject.

Anyway, after much cajoling from the general public and councillors alike, he agreed to place a copy of the plans in Southgate Library within the next 10 days. You will have to ask for them at the reception. I suggest all who are interested should go there, have a look and then let me know of your concerns. I will group them up and fire them off to both Mario and Terry Smith our local councillor.

Edward Smith did seek to assure us that concerns will be reviewed during the councils consultation period, so this appears to be our last hope for at least amending what is coming.

Anthony

Last Tuesdays Local Area Forum

Okay, a little (well okay, a lot) late due to England footbal teams short lived venture in Portugal and purchasing a new computer. Anyway, here goes:

So we had the local forum and it was the usual mix of sheer banality interspersed with the odd moment of enlightenment. Rather than detailing all that unravelled that night I’ll summarise as best I can:

The local police representative stated that the initiative at Southgate Green is to continue for the foreseeable future and has been a great success to date. In particular, its interesting that so far the feared migration to other local areas has not occurred.

I had a chat with the guy after his speech and he promised to look into the Mayfield garages once again. He was surprised that nefarious activities were continuing as he assumed that it was now resolved since the council last tidied up the area.

The local youths are now apparently getting into Grovelands park by climbing over damaged fencing and riding stolen motorbikes around the park into the wee small hours, Quite how they get the bikes in was not elaborated. The Pony tailed one from the local council said that he was reeeeaaaalllllyyyy sorry but new funding was on the way for the parks which will help to nip this in the bud. Yeah, right.

We then had a long piece from a representative from Highways maintenance. The long and short of it was that our Borough roads are essentially knackered after years of under investment and now need at least circa £20million to be put right, which we aint got, despite the outlandish council rates. So we are in for a period of prioritised road maintenance based on nearness to hospitals, schools, tubes, main thouroughfare etc. This speech naturally degenerated into members of the audience promoting their own particular stretch of the road, which were met with the usual platitudes

Two other subjects were discussed, which I will write in separate entries:

Control Parking Zone
Local Trees

Ciao for now
Anthony Newstead

Mayfield Avenue Tree lives on.....

Okay so I admit to being trapped in my lounge with a beer crate watching the footie (Rooooneeyyyy...) In the meantime others have been working on our behalf..

It looks like we can put to rest the rumour of the supposed felling of the tree in Mayfield avenue roundabout. Following some sterling investigative work by neighbours Jacqueline and Andrew Holroyd it was found that Acton Housing Association would need permission from the Highways authority for such an act and no such application has been submitted.

However, we must remain vigilant as there its possible that they could apply in the future or – and councillor Terry Smith pointed this one out – they could always “accidentally” run into it, rendering the tree unsafe during the early stages of building work.

Still thanks to Jacqueline and Andrew we now have a set of contacts to tap into as needed and we also have Terry Smith ferreting away on our behalf, so fingers crossed we should be okay.

Re: Mayfield Roundabout Tree Rumour

Hi
So I have placed a message today with Nigel Lomax of Acton Housing Association concerning the rumour that the roundabout tree is to be demolished and the roundabout itself paved over. Unfortunately he is on leave until the 28th June so we will have to wait a little while for his response.

I have also contacted counciller Terry Smith this morning and given him an overview of our concern. He has promised to prod around in the council to see what he can find and will get back to me.

As soon as I have some new information I will get back to you all.

Watch this space

Dave's our Man

This was another piece in the latest newsletter:

Have you ever spotted some activity that required a police presence, immediately called the local police station and -after sitting on the line for half an hour visualising BT executives rubbing their hands in glee while you became slowly insensitized to soporific muzak - decided to quietly forget the whole thing?

Well in answer to a stream of complaints (when people actually managed to get through to the officers cowering at the other end of the phone) the local constabulary has come up with a solution.

Yep, Mr Dave Austin has agreed/been told to agree to pick up the poison chalice of being the local communities contact point for ANY illegal activity. This runs from serious crime to anti-social behaviour, graffiti, noise pollution, fly-tipping etc.

The idea is that if you have a concern simply call Dave’s mobile (0793 0695716), leave a message and he’ll get back to you pronto.

Whether he’ll quietly dump the phone and run off into the sunset after a barrage of calls only time will tell, but for now lets see if this works.

Home Protection advice

This was in the latest newsletter and unusually I had omitted to post it on this site:

Dave Murphy, a local Crime Prevention Officer, had some advice for residents at a local police meeting.
Tip 1
Motion sensor activated garden lights are going out of fashion these days as people get fed up having anxiety attacks over curious foxes etc. triggering the lights. He suggests using instead “Dusk till Dawn” lighting that comes on automatically at night and stays on until dawn.
Tip 2
Cut back front garden fauna, to avoid providing hiding places for nefarious individuals. Additionally, around the back, put trellis work on top of fences and throw in some thorny greenery for good measure, anything to make life awkward for the uninvited.
Tip 3
When you get someone at the front door claiming to be from a utility firm to read your meter etc. ask him what your account number is. If he’s genuine he’ll know (keep a copy of you’re a/c details near the front door as a reminder for yourself). Also some firms will provide a password system whereby the guy must know a password you have agreed with the firm. DO NOT simply accept an identity thrust in your face, even I can fake one of those.
Tip 4
If you have a rear extension that is climbable, ensure bedroom windows have locks and your house alarm has a passive sensor in the bedroom.
Tip 5
Make sure you have a chain lock or something similar so that you do not have to open the front door wide when answering the door. He thoroughly recommends a lock called DOORDEFENDER, which attaches on the Hinge side of the door and makes it impossible for someone to push the door open. It costs around £50 and can be ordered from a company called 1st Secure, details are as follows:
Product Website: DoorDefender
1st Secure Enquiries: 0121 7465040
1St Secure Order line: 08708 502111

Disturbing rumour re: Pruden Close development

It has been brought to my attention this evening that a rumour is doing the rounds in Mayfield avenue that the council/Acton housing association intend to knock down the mature tree on the roundabout that is in the centre of Mayfield avenue and pave over the roundabout itself to enable trucks delivering raw materials to get down to the building site in Pruden close.

If this is true its clearly completely outrageous and must be stopped at all costs as the trees - and in particular THAT tree - defines Mayfield avenue.

However it is somewhat confusing as it flies in the face of the commitments made by Mr Lomax. Equally its not entirely clear where the rumour came from. So for now the next steps must be to make some urgent enquiries which I will do immediately to find out whether this is fact or fiction.

Watch this space.

So if you tried to get to this site earlier today you would have been confronted with a blank screen. Yep, my entire site had been wiped, vanished into the ether. Luckily I had saved a slightly earlier version of the code, which has enabled me to rebuild the site, but it got kinda scary there for a while.....

Meeting with Nigel Lomax re: Pruden Close development

Thanks to all who attended the Neighbourhood Watch meeting on Monday, it was good to y’all. Assuming no major catastrophes happen in the meantime (such as our houses being compulsory purchased to make way for a huge car park etc.) then the next meeting will be in September, speakers, venue and date to be confirmed nearer the time.

Nigel Lomax from Acton Housing Association kindly attended as promised to explain the proposed Pruden Close development, which encompasses the flaming Garages (pun intended). He produced a copy of the plans and walked us through the development proposals. He also answered a number of questions fired at him and the key points are as follows:

1. The plans are proposals only, Enfield Planning department must approve them before they can be ratified and therefore some changes may occur during this process. If it goes ahead work is due to start around the end of this year.

2. The existing garages will be demolished with a block of flats and two houses built on the area.

3. The designated places for the refuse bins WILL be moved in response to our concerns.

4. Key workers (teachers, nurses etc.) under a shared ownership scheme will occupy the flats. There are strict conditions in place with regard to re-selling their share of the property, to ensure that only key workers are able to purchase such a sale. The exception is if the original key worker has subsequently bought out the association’s share of the property to own the property outright, where no such clauses will be applicable. However Nigel felt that this was pretty rare.

5. In response to a request for us to see the terms of the lease Nigel promised to send a copy to myself. I now have a copy so for those that are interested please contact me and I will forward a copy on to you.

6. The car parking spaces have been calculated as one per apartment. Nigel stated that this was in line with planning policy and that in general most key workers will not own cars, preferring to use the tube and buses etc.

7. The actual density of development (the overall footprint of the buildings and number of residents they can accommodate) has been set at a very conservative level with emphasis on maintaining greenery where possible in comparison to other similar sites in London. This in large part was an attempt to better integrate the site with Mayfield Avenue, which is a traditional, leafy, quiet suburban avenue.

8. One tree is to be removed as it was deemed to be in a dangerous condition. I have asked Nigel to forward a copy of the tree analysis and will post the contents once I have received this.

9. Two three-bedroomed houses are also to be developed, which will be occupied by council tenants. I am unsure why this was imposed but assume this was part of the deal for Enfield council to agree to the project.

10. The building phase is going to disrupt daily life in Mayfield Avenue, which as it is a quiet residential area with both elderly residents and families with young children is of course a real concern. Nigel assured us that through the Neighbourhood Watch vehicle we would be notified in advance of major deliveries of raw materials and that the site foreman would coordinate with us to avoid constant streams of traffic. In an earlier meeting a possibility was also raised of limiting evening work, avoiding weekend work, making good any inadvertent damage to verges etc. This subject is obviously bigger than this synopsis but I suggest we hold our concerns until such time as we know whether this project is to go ahead or not. If it passes the planning stage we can hold a meeting to specifically discuss this issue.

Clearly there will be other questions that you will want answered that weren’t covered in the meeting. Can I ask though that to avoid bombarding Nigel with gazillions of emails and calls any queries be directed to myself. I will group together our concerns and forward them on to Nigel and will report back his response as soon as I get them.

Thanks again for all those that attended and for those that could not make it I hope the above answers some of your queries.

Red Sky at night, Pruden Garages alight....

Yep, the proud offspring of Southgate residents once again let off steam by setting fire to the Pruden close garages, this time last Thursday. Once again the fire brigade is called to make safe the damage and once again the council is conspicuous by their absence. All we need is the garages utterly flattened, barbed wire and a gate put across the road and local community police regularly patrolling the area. In a word, "commitment" is what we need. What we get is a regular pyrotechnic display courtesy of a set of matches and fly-tipping. Lets see if we can try and implore the Acton Housing guy to put some pressure on the council on our behalf...  

Tree felling in Mayfield Avenue?

I've just heard that a tree is being cut down in Mayfield Avenue by the council. Its the one outside No.41.
There may be a very good reason for it, so before I go ranting off to the council if anyone has any additional information about this I would be very grateful.
cheers
Anthony

Okay, the calendar is now up and running again, woohoo!
Anthony

NHW meeting - Nigel Lomax confirmed

Hi
Just a quickie to say that Nigel Lomax, the Development Manager of Acton Housing Association has confirmed that he will attend our meeting on the 14th June at Pamela's house.

He will be there to answer your queries on the proposed Pruden Close development.
cheers
Anthony