ARRANDENE WALK - One of Mill Hill's hidden gems

Just thought I'd drop in a few pictures taken on a recent walk around Arrandene openspace in Mill Hill. I love living in Mill Hill when the sun shines. Sometimes we need to remind ourselves that we actually live in a nice part of London and it is worth defending

Barnet Council and the dog poo revolution

As some of you who read the blog will know, I'm standing for Barnet Council in the May 6th elections. I'm standing for the Lib Dems in Mill Hill ward and we've been doing our best to find out what really upsets our friends and neighbours, so we can do something about it if we win. It will come as no surprise to anyone that what bugs our friends and neighbours is what bugs us. Take for example all of the potholes currently wreaking havoc with all our cars. Do you know anyone who likes Potholes? Well I do, my brother is a welder and he's making a fortune mending broken alloy wheels. Apart from him though, we are all fed up with them. Of course the Council aren't quite so bothered because they aren't the ones paying for the broken wheels and damaged suspensions.

One thing which comes up time and time again is dog poo. Specifically dog poo in parks and council run open spaces where children play. Talking to people, a major worry is the way professional dog walking services are taking huge numbers of dogs, 10-15 at a time for walks on public land. They are using council ameneties to run their businesses. They are not cleaning up after their dogs and often don't have the packs of dogs under control. I really worry that there is going to be a really awful incident in our open spaces. I have discussed this time and again with local Conservative Councillors and get the same answer "It's not the Councils job to regulate private individuals and companies". Well I think that in this case it should be. That is why I'm going to be calling for Barnet Council to do the following in relation to professional dog walking services.I am in the process of drawing up the details of a "professional dog walker licensing proposal". This will regulate the walking of more than 3 dogs on public land. The key points I've identified :-

* Professional dog walkers should wear an identifiable jacket with a registration number on
* All dogs walked by professional dog walkers should wear an identification tab on their collar
* Professional dog walkers must keep all dogs under control at all times
* The council should have a helpline or email address to report breaches. Services which are regularly reported should lose their license to operate
* All dog walkers should face fines for not cleaning up dogmess
* All professional dog walkers should attend a training course and be certified as a "competent operator

Oh and in case you are wondering, I've got a lovely boxer dog called Tilly (see piccy taken in snow at Arrandene) and I always carry a poo bag when I take her out for walkies. She has a certificate tto say she's passed obedience classes (although anyone who knows the breed will wonder how she managed this).

 At the moment these are draft proposals. I'm really keen to hear from residents, so that we can stand on platform of removing dog poo from our green spaces, rather than be standing in dogpoo in our green spaces. CLICK HERE to email any comments to me you may have on these proposals

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

Beauty?

I took this picture on my walks around Arrandene open space in Mill Hill. A fine old tree in the snow, artistically decorated with a graffiti tag. Has this tree been decorated in such a way to artistically enhance the beauty of one of Mill Hill's most fantastic open spaces? Or is it just an unintelligent yobbos way of "marking" rather like cats urinating on the garden fence?

I've spent my life trying to get people to be creative and artistic. When I asked the council what they are doing about graffiti in Barnet, they gave me details of how they have "cleaning squads", how they've "targetted" graffiti artists. How they've increased the number of police and PCSO's on the beat.

Why is it so far beyond the wit of Barnet Council, Lynne Hillan, Mike Freer, the whole lot of them, to wake up to the fact that this is the result of boredom and lack of facilities for youngsters? When I was at Finchley Catholic High School, I got caught writing an obscene message about a female member of staff on the wall of the boys toilet. Sadly for me, I was caught by the teacher she was married to. As the teacher quite liked me, he arranged for me to repaint the boys toilets, at my own expense, over the half term. He agreed not to tell the headmaster, who was looking for a reason to expel me at the time.

There are plenty of old folks who have flats that could do with a lick of paint. Is it that hard to figure out a solution to this and maybe give a few youngsters a useful skill.