Happy New Year

Wishing all of my readers a Happy and prosperous new year.

I'm having a couple of days off blogging to recover from my hangover !

Man and Woman of the year 2010 - David Young & Yvonne Hossacks

I can't let the year pass without a mention of the Man of the Year - David Young, who took on the might of Barnet Council and won.  The BBC lists all of the recipients of honours this year - Jensen Button, Status Quo and Patrick Stewart to name a few. All fine candidates, I'm sure, but how many of them have saved a life? How many of them have removed a climate of fear in which hundreds of people were living? How many have shown huge personal courage in their twighlight years. For those of you who don't know of David Young, he's the guy who lives in sheltered accomodation in Barnet and took the council to the High Court when they passed the decison to remove the wardens. Barnet tried every trick in the book, including trying to have his solicitor Yvonne Hossacks struck off (again thrown out by a wise judge). Which leads us nicely to the woman of the year, Yvonne Hossacks. I hope and pray that in some small way this blog has helped them in their fight.

Her Majesty the Queen should summon the dynamic duo (Young and Hossacks) to the Palace and bestow the highest honour she can on them forthwith. I'd personally like to see her Maj also send the author of this awful policy, Barnet Council Leader,  Lynne Hillan, to the Tower for a period of reflection

As an Elderly lady who receives an excellent warden service at the taxpayers expense, I'm sure our good Queen can appreciate why these two are my man and woman of the year. Massive hat tip here to VickiM for reminding me of the compelling need to bestow this award (for what it's worth).

The Barnet Eye wishes all of it's readers a fantastic New Year. Lets all make a New Years resolution to fight injustice in this world in all it's shapes and forms.

Gritting in Barnet : Latest broadcast from the ministry of truth

http://www.barnet.gov.uk/highlights/gritting-severe-weather.htm

Check out the latest video from the Ministry of Truth at Barnet Council. Note the nicely gritted sideroad pavements shown. I saw no sideroad pavements gritted anywhere by the council, even several days after the event. Enjoy.

2009 Personal Highlights

Happy New Year to all Barnet Eye readers. As we approach the end of the decade, I thought I'd share a few personal highlights and lowpoints from 2009 with you.

Highlights - Falsedots gig for Unison at Claddagh Ring in November, a truly memorable night. Gig Highlights. Public Image at the Electric Ballroom. Smokey Robinson at the Roundhouse for BBC Electric proms. Political highlight - getting asked to represent the Lib Dems in Mill Hill Ward. Personal highlight - My daughter Madeleine becoming 1500 metre 13 year old National Swimming Champion in July at the National Swimming Championships in Sheffield. My Son Matthews team, Watling FC winning their league at Under 10 level in May. Winning my standards case against Brian Coleman in September.

Low points - My much loved mother in law, Margaret passing away from Cancer in March. This cast a massive shadow over the year. A certain Mill Hill Landowners disrepespect for the people of Mill Hill and Barnet with his brazen attempts to spoil views of the Green Belt. Sad news about a 2 former bass players from my band the False Dots.

Other points of note : Our music shop/ studio reception was demolished as part of a redevelopment. We moved into a portacabin in April and we're still there. Found a great talent, Connie and are working on some superb recordings with her at the studio. Manchester City waved goodbye to Mark Hughes in controversial circumstances and hello to Roberto Mancini. Whatever his plus and minus points, he must be the coolest manager on the planet. For a rock and roll Man City fan that is IMPORTANT !!!!

My fave picture of the Year

This picture was taken at our gig for Barnet Unison by my good friend Derek Treadwell. It's Adi Denton on bass on the left and my good self on the right. I suspect that this may well be the picture for our forthcoming album.

I'm hoping to organise a pretty major gig to raise money for cancer charities - The MacMillan Appeal and the Teenage Cancer Trust in March. I normally organise at least one a year. We were going to do one in March this year, but as my mother in law passed away from cancer at the start of March, I was too preoccupied.

Anyone who is interested in my music or my band, the False Dots can check out a few tunes on our "myspace site" - http://www.myspace.com/falsedots - I'll be updating this shortly with some newer tunes, picture and other info.

Hope you like the piccie

Arrandene Open Space in the snow - part 2

A couple of you said you enjoyed the pictures I posted last week of Arrandene Open space. You also said how important you thought the protection of the green belt is. On boxing day, I nipped in to the Adam and Eve pub for a pre lunch sharpener. I bumped into several friends on their way for a walk across the fields to Barnet. The people of Mill Hill love our open spaces. I am going to be doing a whole series of pictures of the good and the bad of the green belt over the coming weeks. If you want a nice, pleasant walk to appreciate great views of Mill Hill, drive to Mill Hill Park, and have a stroll up the Arrandene meadow around to  the brook. On your way back, there's a great little cafe in Mill Hill Park, where you can enjoy a nice warming cup of tea

Where are Barnet Council putting the 22 new traveller sites?

Boris Johnson has set a legal requirement on the London Borough of Barnet to construct 22 new sites in the Borough for travellers. This arbitary number has been imposed on Barnet without consultation. Rather hypocritically, Mayor of Barnet, Brian Coleman has accepted a well paid job from Boris running the fire and emergency services. Coleman sounded off about this imposition by Boris, but didn't see fit to actually give up his well paid job in protest.

Unlike Brian Coleman, the Barnet Eye does not go around blindly criticising proposals until we see the details. This requirement has been known for many months and the Barnet Eye has been making enquiries as to the size and location of these camps. We are also interested to know whether they indicated that there will be a massive increase in the numbers of travellers or whether the proposal is just to make proper sites for travellers already living within the borough in less suitable sites.

This blog has long championed the green belt and we have major concerns that several sites have been earmarked which will have a major impact on the green belt within the borough. The council owns huge swathes of land in areas such as Mill Hill and Barnet, and given that travellers do not erect permanent structures, it is far easier to circumvent planning regs for mobile homes.

As this legal requirement has been known for many months, the Barnet Eye has made enquiries as to the location of these sites and been told that they have not been decided. Given that this is a legal requirement why could this be? The answer, sadly, is rather obvious. There are council elections in May and the Conservatives know that many of these sites will be in marginal wards such as Mill Hill and High Barnet. They know that the proposals will not be popular with their voters and they do not want the fact that a Conservative Mayor of London imposed them to become widely known before the election. In short they are hoping to keep it all quiet until after the election.

The Barnet Eye believes that important issues such as this, which may have a huge effect on the green belt and open spaces should be matters of public consultation. Lets be clear about this. Boris Johnson has made the decree, so we HAVE TO HAVE the sites. The Barnet Eye believes that it is hugely important to make sure these are properly sited and that locals have a say in the important issues that are raised. As with many things, I suspect that Leader of Barnet Council, Lynne Hillan will simply wait till after the election, then impose them wherever she feels like it, without any consultation whatsoever.

Pure, white and deadly

Sadly for those of you who love a good scandal, this blog isn't an exclusive revelation of Barnet Council Leader Lynne Hillans usage of naughty substances, or any other politicians for that matter. This blog is about something killing and harming far more people than cocaine in Barnet.

I'm talking about diabetes. For many people this is a disease caused by lifestyle. It can be avoided. I knew nothing of diabetes until my mother started going out with a lovely man who suffered from the condition. When she met him, he was recovering from a broken neck, caused when he passed out due to low blood sugar. His life was a constant battle to monitor his blood sugar levels.

At this time of year, our children stuff in cakes, chocolates, sweets, all manner of things stuffed full of sugar. Now this won't surprise you. What may is how much sugar is in the food we eat for our regular meals. The Government Guidelines say that you should eat no more than 90g of sugars per day.

Tin Heinz Beans - 20.8g
Tin Heinz Tomato soup - 19.6g
Frey Bentos Steak & Kidney pie - 1.4g
Muller Fruit corner - 20g
Bowl of Cookie Crisp cereal with Skimmed milk - 16.6g

When you look at the soft drinks our children drink, the figures are even more alarming

330 mg Tin of Coca Cola - 35g

So if you drink 2 tins of Coke and then eat a tin of beans, thats your recommended sugar for the day. Once you start regularly exceeding this level, you start massively increasing the risk of developing diabetes. I never gave this any thought whatsoever until I got to know someone who suffered from the condition. Typical symptoms of diabetes are exhaustion, thirstyness. Undetected or uncontrolled, it can destroy the body and cause blindness and loss of limbs due to poor circulation. For many it is only controlled by daily insulin injections.

You can reduce the chances of getting this horrible disease by  regular exercise and healthy eating. What troubles me is the number of children who are quite visibly not eating healthily and not getting enough exercise. This is where the new leader of Barnet Council. Lynne Hillan comes in. It's not her job to make the children of the borough eat their dinner or to kick them out for a game of football. It is her job to make sure that there ample opportunities for them to participate in sport. I urge her to make a commitment to improve provision of participant sport in Barnet. She could start by banning the sale of playing fields and freezing rents for all sports clubs on council owned property.

She could also take measures to ensure that all Barnet Schools have a healthy eating policy and all children are educated as to the risks of diabetes and bad lifestyles. I suspect that in the long term an effective policy will be far cheaper than ignoring the problem and hoping it goes away.

Being fair to Councillor Hillan and Barnet Council, it is primarily parents responsibility to educate their children in these matters. It really isn't hard, just look at the side of the tin or on the packet. That tells you how  much sugar is in the product. Even more importantly, why not kick little Johnny off the playstation and go for a walk with him. I'm not really one for big lectures and I know the last thing we all want is a nanny state telling us how to live our lives. Having said that, I only started taking an interest in the subject and understanding the consequences when I met someone and learned the facts. Once you know the risks, it's up to you to decide.

Brian Coleman : A bad year for Lynne Hillans teaboy

Where did it all go so wrong? Why did it all go so wrong? At the start of the year, our (then soon to be) Mayor of Barnet, Brian Coleman was riding high. He knew he would soon be fulfilling his lifelong ambition of becoming Mayor and he was widely seen as the kingmaker in the Barnet Conservative Party. He reveled in his role as the "Marmite Man" of Barnet politics. You either loved him or you loathed him. Either way, he had a high profile and a solid base of supporters who he'd carefully built up and who he could marshall behind whatever position he wished to take.

Brian ends the year widely discredited. Strangely this was starkly demonstrated by two issues where he was probably completely right. Brian was a big opponent of the Brent Cross redevelopment scheme. He felt that it was the wrong scheme for a leafy suburb such as Barnet. Sadly for Brian, the other events of the year actually meant his opposition to the scheme was used by the PR for the scheme to demonstrate that it was only oddballs and fringe elements who opposed the scheme. The other big illustration of his diminishing influence was the election of Lynne Hillan as Leader of the Council and the Barnet Conservatives. Previously Brian would have expected to play a lynchpin role, but he knew Hillan was the wrong candidate. When he did the maths and realised he couldn't stop her, he bottled it. He didn't even bother to turn up to vote in the election.

Brian has had his year in the sun as Mayor. Sadly for him, it won't be remembered fondly. As the only sitting mayor to have been found guilty by the Standards committee, of breaching Barnets code, it was pretty embarrassing.  All of this started by Brians lack of judgement in sending a rather stupid email and then not doing the decent thing and apologising. Probably even more embarrassing and even more damaging was his "odious toad" at fellow ex QE Boys schoolmate and colleague on the GLA John Biggs.This was filmed for posterity and has caused much merriment on the various blogs.

This was the moment when my attitude towards Brian Coleman changed. I suspect this was true for many people. For me, he stopped being a strident, arrogant bully and became a rather sad figure, filled with Pathos. Why? Well I received a couple of emails from ex schoolmates of Biggs & Coleman who explained how Coleman was teased and bullied at school. Listening to Colemans comments to Biggs in this light, it became clear that Brian Colemans outrageous behaviour over the years is classic behaviour of a little boy who has been bullied. His many and varied outbursts over the years are his way at lashing back at the "big boys in the playground". As such I cannot view him through the "marmite goggles" I previously used. I just feel sorry for him.

Hearing how some Tories have referred to him as Lynne Hillans teaboy, given the lack of respect  and inability to exert influence, I've almost started to feel sorry for him. The emphasis is on the almost as he is a grown up and he's brought it all on himself.

First Picture of New Barnet Conservative Council Cabinet

Group Photo of Barnet Conservative Council Cabinet

L-R Councillor Matthew Offord, Leader Lynne Hillan, Councillor Andrew Harper, Councillor Richard Cornelius, Councillor Melvin Cohen, Councillor Helena Hart, Councillor Daniel Thomas, Councillor Sachin Rajput, Councillor Robert Rams, Councillor Daniel Webb.

The new Cabinet would like to thank Mayor Brian Coleman for making the tea and bringing the biscuits whilst they celebrated their new jobs and would like to say sorry for not bothering to turn up on time to welcome him into the chamber aferwards at the last cabinet meeting.

Members of the public will be pleased to see the new busts of former council leaders Victor Lyon and Brian Salinger in the background.

Please note this picture is a spoof. Any likeness between any member of Barnet Council and totally wooden puppets on strings is purely coincidental