At our recent Barnet Eye Awards, West Hendon councillor Helene Richman vowed to push for the council to officially adopt a policy of actively working with local stakeholders to ensure that we protect our pubs. The Barnet Eye is delighted to note that Councillor Richman has secured a commitment from the Leader of Barnet Council to support our campaign.
She has tabled the following question for the next full meeting of Barnet Council and has received a positive response
Can the Conservative led Council of Barnet declare its commitment to assist stakeholders who wish to preserve the well-loved and historic pubs of Barnet which provide so much value to the communities in which they areThe Leader of the Council has responded positively to this question. We now await the deliver yo f a proper strategy from the Council to ensure we have a proper council policy to ensure that pubs in Barnet are no longer flattened to provide luxury flats, in defiance of the wishes of local communities.
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We congratulate Councillor Richman on her efforts.
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I feel that your view of the fate of the Midland is too rosy. Cllr Helene Richman's feeble question to Leader of Barnet Council Richard Cornelius is just puffery. No wonder Cornelius said 'yes' in response: she might as well have asked him if he was in favour of greater loveliness. It is possible I suppose that this anodyne question is a a forensic device, and that Richman intends to follow it up with a supplementary question actually indicating her support for the Midland, but I doubt it. Even if she did, she would only get one of Cornelius's usual smarmy deflections in return, and so achieve nothing. If Cllr Richman had had any sense, she would have kept shtum about her opposition to the application until it arrived at a planning committee, and then have tried to persuade her fellow Tories to vote against it. As it is, after her grand-standing, she will probably have to recuse herself from ANY planning committee. Cllr Richman, along with the bizarre Hendon MP Matthew Offord, have hi-jacked a fine grass-roots campaign, and, as Barnet's Tories will inevitably do, ruined it.
ReplyDeleteIs there an unspoken rule that in a possibly Labour majority area, a resident cannot approach the elected Ward councillor, just because he/she happens to be a Conservative?
ReplyDeleteI gather that all West Hendon ward councillors are 'new brooms'. We will see whether they sweep clean or just move the dirt around. I think we need to give Cllr Richman a fair chance to help the residents with The Midland Hotel.
It is also vital that ALL pubs are protected in Barnet, not only The Midland.
If a pub protection policy does come into place because of this first question, then it will be really good for Barnet. A 'YES' is not a 'NO' or a 'MAYBE'.
I agree that Cllr Richman will have to recuse herself from any planning meeting concerning this one particular application. This is only because she has been notified by so many people about the application. That is not her doing. In fact, it will be the correct thing for her to do - to call it in and speak on behalf of the residents if it went to committee.
As for MP Offord - surely it is a good thing that he chose to support The Midland fight against demolition, as did some Labour members?
The priority here is The Midland. Do we want to save it or not? I think we need all the help we can get.
Thank you for your support too, Mr Roots!
May you continue to successfully keep your watchful eye over Barnet's heritage.