I thought that any Barnet Residents may be interested to see what Barnet Council spends your Council Tax on. Here is a video they made explaining what a marvellous job they did gritting roads and footpaths during the recent bad weather. Strangely all of this seemed to completely bypass my road and many in Mill Hill.
As you may recall the Leader of Barnet Council, Lynne Hillan and her Deputy, Andrew Harper were on holiday during the worst of the bad weather when the grit ran out. I suppose that they watched this from their luxury hotels in the sun and thought "We're doing a fine job". Strange how they can find the money to make videos saying what a marvellous job they've done, but they can't find the cash to pay for Sheltered Housing wardens for the elderly
Showing posts with label Snow. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Snow. Show all posts
Thursday, 28 January 2010
Wednesday, 13 January 2010
Barnet in Chaos
Yet again Barnet has ground to a halt due to snow. First Capital Connect are yet again experiencing delays of up to 1.5 hours (no surprise there). It seems to me that every time there is a spot of bad weather they all just hold up their hands and give up. Schools are shut and many roads are in gridlock. Buses have been diverted.
It took me an over an hour to drive from Mill Hill to Finchley this morning. Bunns Lane and Pursley Road were completely gridlocked. Unlike last week, the three local schools which my Children attend were all open. Given that driving conditions during the rush hour were just as bad, if not worse on some roads exposes the fact that there is no rhyme or reason to the schools opening policy. Why were schools closed last Friday and open today? Are there clear guidelines on when schools should shut or open due to weather?
As to gritting. It looks to me as if Lawrence Street had been gritted this morning, which was not on the list of roads, whilst Pursley Road, which is on a bus route and has three schools on it's route was left alone (resulting in gridlock). It strikes me that the "resilience plan" for road gritting was drawn up by people who know nothing of the Borough. let me give you a couple of examples of roads which have not been gritted, but any sane person would immediately recognise the importance.
Firstly, lets look at Hartley Avenue. This is a no through road, approx 100 yards long, with no residential dwellings on it. Not a priority if you are a council official in an ivory tower? What any local will know is that there is a Fire Station, an Ambulance Station, a Doctors surgery, and a public library in the street. Do the council really not recognise the importance gritting such a road and keeping our emergency services moving?
Next up, Consider The Rise. This road runs from Parkside to the A1/A41 Barnet Bypass. Although this road is a very short road, which only has a couple of dwellings, there are a couple of factors which make it a massive hazard in icy weather. As I said, it leads on the the A1/A41 which is gritted regularly as a priority trunk road. As a result traffic will always be travelling at near normal speeds. The Rise, however is completely ignored by gritters and becomes a skid track. It is also, as the name implies, on a very steep hill. Anyone not knowing the road, will go to turn down it, and skid straight into the oncoming traffic on the Barnet Bypass. In short, it is a massive road safety hazard. Lib Dem candidate for Barnet Kim Chechetto lives on Parkside, opposite the entrance to Parkside, and she was telling me horror stories of how cars were skidding out of control. She said that Parkside residents actually blocked the entrance to The Rise with cars to prevent these accidents during the worst of the cold.
It's all very well for Barnet to say that only the resilience network of 60 roads matters. They have a responsibility to all of us to keep the roads safe. With both of these examples, a short stretch of road could be gritted with negligable effects on the Boroughs grit supplies. It just highlights the lack of leadership at the top of Barnet Council. Do any of Barnets ruling elite actually know anything at all about the Borough they get paid so much to run?
Last week we were faced with the situation where the Borough ground to a halt, but both Council Leader, Councillor Lynne Hillan and her deputy dawg Councillor Andrew Harper were on holiday. Everyone I've spoken to who has been involved with organisations which have a responsibility to the public, say that someone should always be left in charge. Mayor of Barnet, Brian Coleman has been forcefully making this point to his colleagues. Councillor Coleman himself got caught out by the management chaos last week. He was on BBC London claiming Barnet had plenty of grit, only for his fellow councillor Daniel Thomas to announce that supplies were running low a few hours later.
It seems that Lynne Hillan and her Tory Colleagues think that the solution to any problem is to go and swan around in the lap of luxury at a luxury hotel. Don't Call Me Dave highlighted this in a recent blog, reproducing this email that Hillan had sent to her Conservative colleagues. It amazes me that Hillan thinks the whole issue of provision of care for the elderly is a joke. It is even more incredible that her Tory colleagues though she was the best person to run the council.
While we are on the subject of people not doing their jobs properly. Why is the Barnet Times (or the Barnet Tory Bugle as it likes to be known) incapable of criticising the Tory administration or their lack of commitment to the job. No mention at all of Hillan and Harper swanning off. As Barnet has failed so miserably to deal with the problems, surely they realise that people should be told why.
Is it any wonder that Barnet is in chaos. We urgently need a change. We need people who care about the London Borough of Barnet. We need people who care about ALL of the challenges that the Borough is facing. We need people who care for our elderly. We need people who are willing to rearrange their holiday schedule so that there's always someone around to take tough decisions.
It took me an over an hour to drive from Mill Hill to Finchley this morning. Bunns Lane and Pursley Road were completely gridlocked. Unlike last week, the three local schools which my Children attend were all open. Given that driving conditions during the rush hour were just as bad, if not worse on some roads exposes the fact that there is no rhyme or reason to the schools opening policy. Why were schools closed last Friday and open today? Are there clear guidelines on when schools should shut or open due to weather?
As to gritting. It looks to me as if Lawrence Street had been gritted this morning, which was not on the list of roads, whilst Pursley Road, which is on a bus route and has three schools on it's route was left alone (resulting in gridlock). It strikes me that the "resilience plan" for road gritting was drawn up by people who know nothing of the Borough. let me give you a couple of examples of roads which have not been gritted, but any sane person would immediately recognise the importance.
Firstly, lets look at Hartley Avenue. This is a no through road, approx 100 yards long, with no residential dwellings on it. Not a priority if you are a council official in an ivory tower? What any local will know is that there is a Fire Station, an Ambulance Station, a Doctors surgery, and a public library in the street. Do the council really not recognise the importance gritting such a road and keeping our emergency services moving?
It's all very well for Barnet to say that only the resilience network of 60 roads matters. They have a responsibility to all of us to keep the roads safe. With both of these examples, a short stretch of road could be gritted with negligable effects on the Boroughs grit supplies. It just highlights the lack of leadership at the top of Barnet Council. Do any of Barnets ruling elite actually know anything at all about the Borough they get paid so much to run?
Last week we were faced with the situation where the Borough ground to a halt, but both Council Leader, Councillor Lynne Hillan and her deputy dawg Councillor Andrew Harper were on holiday. Everyone I've spoken to who has been involved with organisations which have a responsibility to the public, say that someone should always be left in charge. Mayor of Barnet, Brian Coleman has been forcefully making this point to his colleagues. Councillor Coleman himself got caught out by the management chaos last week. He was on BBC London claiming Barnet had plenty of grit, only for his fellow councillor Daniel Thomas to announce that supplies were running low a few hours later.
It seems that Lynne Hillan and her Tory Colleagues think that the solution to any problem is to go and swan around in the lap of luxury at a luxury hotel. Don't Call Me Dave highlighted this in a recent blog, reproducing this email that Hillan had sent to her Conservative colleagues. It amazes me that Hillan thinks the whole issue of provision of care for the elderly is a joke. It is even more incredible that her Tory colleagues though she was the best person to run the council.While we are on the subject of people not doing their jobs properly. Why is the Barnet Times (or the Barnet Tory Bugle as it likes to be known) incapable of criticising the Tory administration or their lack of commitment to the job. No mention at all of Hillan and Harper swanning off. As Barnet has failed so miserably to deal with the problems, surely they realise that people should be told why.
Is it any wonder that Barnet is in chaos. We urgently need a change. We need people who care about the London Borough of Barnet. We need people who care about ALL of the challenges that the Borough is facing. We need people who care for our elderly. We need people who are willing to rearrange their holiday schedule so that there's always someone around to take tough decisions.
Friday, 8 January 2010
Brian Coleman agrees with me !
As a result he was left looking rather stupid with his "Barnet is full of grit" statement. Brian is less than pleased with how this has all panned out and quite rightly makes the point that "if someone was in charge coordinating this" then these banana skins would have been avoided.
Brian Coleman wasn't keen on Hillan becoming Leader and he's smugly telling everyone that events have proven him right. As Brian Coleman is a former roads supremo, I'm happy to offer him a guest blog at the Barnet Eye to tell his under performing colleagues in no uncertain terms, how things should have been done.
Wednesday, 6 January 2010
Chaos in Barnet - Fantastic snow pictures in Mill Hill Broadway
If like me, you enjoy the snow, here are a few pictures taken at Noon today in and around Mill Hill Broadway.
Here is a lovely picture of a couple of boys tobogonning in Mill Hill Broadway. It seems they've lost their reindeer and are relying on a boxer dog to tow them up the Hill.
I had hoped to get a picture of the guy skiing to Marks and Spencers but he was at the Gherkin counter by the time I'd got the Camera out of the box.
Here's a lovely snowman in Station Road Mill Hill, outside of the M1 Cab office. In the background there's a 186 bus. Due to the lack of gritting the cab office had cleared the pavement outside of their office and made this rather jolly snowman on the pavement.
In the background you can see a 186 bus, the one Boris Johnson has diverted from the Watford Way, effectively putting Brent Cross well beyond the reach of the many elderly who live on the Watford Way between Mill Hill and Aerodrome Road and who used to use the bus to go shopping.
Here's a rather deserted looking Mill Hill Broadway. As you can see, at noon, no attempt had been made to grit the pavements and as a result, rather sensibly no one was out and about shopping. Given that the traders in Mill Hill have effectively lost a days trade, I wonder if the Council has any plans to refund a days business rates? Sadly for the owners of the shops, staff costs are the same, heating costs are higher, but takings will be well down due to the dangerous state of the pavements. I doubt that too many people at Barnet Council care too much about the effect on the business community.
Earlier today, I suggested that Barnet Council Leader Lynne Hillan should have at least been answering her emails and helping to coordinate the council response to the problem whilst on holiday. I asked why she hadn't delegated responsibility to the new Deputy Leader of the Council, Andrew Harper. It turns out that he's on holiday as well and the relatively junior Melvin Cohen is coordinating the response. Both Hillan and Harper receive generous allowances for their jobs. Is it too much to suggest that they coordinate their diaries and holiday at different times of the year. According to the Not The Barnet Times Blog, Hillan receives a "special responsibility allowance" of over £34,000 a year as Council Leader. Surely for such a figure, the least we should expect is that she ensures her or her deputy is around at all times.
Today we've had Mayor Brian Coleman on the Vanessa Feltz show saying Barnet are doing a fine job gritting. We've got the Leader of the Council and the Deputy Leader on holiday at the same time, leaving a junior cabinet member in charge. What is the result of this management drift? Boys sledging up and down the Broadway pulled by dogs, cabbies building snowmen because they can't navigate the sidestreets. Who suffers? The hard pressed businesses who pay rates and have no customers. The normal taxpayers who need to take time out of work to look after school children whos schools are closed. I'm sure Hillan and Harper will get straight on the case. Just as soon as they return from their holidays.
I had hoped to get a picture of the guy skiing to Marks and Spencers but he was at the Gherkin counter by the time I'd got the Camera out of the box.
In the background you can see a 186 bus, the one Boris Johnson has diverted from the Watford Way, effectively putting Brent Cross well beyond the reach of the many elderly who live on the Watford Way between Mill Hill and Aerodrome Road and who used to use the bus to go shopping.
Earlier today, I suggested that Barnet Council Leader Lynne Hillan should have at least been answering her emails and helping to coordinate the council response to the problem whilst on holiday. I asked why she hadn't delegated responsibility to the new Deputy Leader of the Council, Andrew Harper. It turns out that he's on holiday as well and the relatively junior Melvin Cohen is coordinating the response. Both Hillan and Harper receive generous allowances for their jobs. Is it too much to suggest that they coordinate their diaries and holiday at different times of the year. According to the Not The Barnet Times Blog, Hillan receives a "special responsibility allowance" of over £34,000 a year as Council Leader. Surely for such a figure, the least we should expect is that she ensures her or her deputy is around at all times.
Today we've had Mayor Brian Coleman on the Vanessa Feltz show saying Barnet are doing a fine job gritting. We've got the Leader of the Council and the Deputy Leader on holiday at the same time, leaving a junior cabinet member in charge. What is the result of this management drift? Boys sledging up and down the Broadway pulled by dogs, cabbies building snowmen because they can't navigate the sidestreets. Who suffers? The hard pressed businesses who pay rates and have no customers. The normal taxpayers who need to take time out of work to look after school children whos schools are closed. I'm sure Hillan and Harper will get straight on the case. Just as soon as they return from their holidays.
No wonder transport in Barnet is in a state of chaos !
Not wishing to publish incorrect facts on the blog, I sent an email to Lynne Hillan. I immediately got the following response (phone no's masked by me) :-
I am currently out of the office until 8th January 2010. If you want to contact me urgently, please call Caroline Gray on 0208 359 2***. For Brunswick Park Ward issues, please contact my colleague Cllr Tambourides on 0208 368****or Cllr Lisa Rutter on 07956 ******. Otherwise I will deal with your message when I return.Lynne Hillan has not even been Leader for a month. Surely she realises that this type of major event needs hands on management. I'm not suggesting that she fly back from her holiday, but presumably she's been given a Blackberry courtesy of the council and the least she could do is is pick up her emails. When you take the top job, you get paid more. This is because you have to take extra responsibility. When crises occur, you have to be hands on. Even a note to contact her deputy, Councillor Andrew Harper would at least give the impression of someone being in charge.
The picture on the left here is the pavement. No sign of grit here either. My road is a busy cut through between Mill Hill Broadway and the A1/A41. Many people walk down to the Thameslink station from Apex Corner and beyond. At this time normally there would be many people walking up and down.
Clearly it is dangerous, especially for the elderly and disabled. This leads us to another question regarding one of Lynne Hillans pet projects. The plan to get rid of wardens for the elderly and disabled in Sheltered Housing. What would these people do if there was a problem today? Call a mobile warden from the other side of the Borough? They'd probably be put through to a foreign call centre and told someone will come next Tuesday.
Unlike Lynne Hillan, these residents, who pay the same taxes as Hillan but don't get massive allowances in return, cannot swan off on holiday to avoid the worst of the chaos.
The bottom line is that the buck should stop at the top. An organisation without leadership is an organisation that will fail. That is why your road probably looks like my road, if you live in Barnet. That probably explains why you are at home, like I am, minding my children, rather than sending them to their school. I lived in Stockholm for a Swedish winter and todays snow is nothing. The schools don't shut down there, because the authorities have sensible plans. How much money has Barnet Council cost the economy by shutting schools and leaving roads unsafe. The reason that schools and roads are shut, is purely down to bad planning. If Council Leader, Lynne Hillan can't even be bothered to pick up her emails, is it any surprise that nothing else works.
Thursday, 31 December 2009
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.
Friday, 18 December 2009
Proof that God has got a sense of humour
Having spent a winter in Scandinavia in 1981/2 I thought this was a rather stupid place to hold a summit about global warming. It's only human nature for the delegates to wake up this morning, look out of the window and think "This is a load of cobblers".
I've no idea how they choose these venues, but yesterday I printed a guest blog from Fr Jim Fanning who detailed the effects of man made climate change. They should have held the conference somewhere in the midst of a man made disaster so the delegates could actually see some evidence of whats going on.
Weather for Copenhagen, Denmark- Add to iGoogle |
-3°C | °F Current: Light snow Wind: NE at 21 mph Humidity: 86% Fri  Sat  Sun Mon |
Thursday, 26 March 2009
Spying on the naked guy
Lets do a bit of nostalgia. Lets look back on those heady days of last month when it snowed and the borough ground to a halt. I asked my kids whether they remembered it. They grinned. What was the best bit, I asked Matthew, my 8 year old. "The snowball fight with Max (his cousin) and the naked guy". I asked Lizzie 11, the same question. I got the same answer. We had a great snowball fight in the middle of Mill Hill Broadway. I'd hitched our boxer dog to our sledge and she'd towed the kids to the park and back, after tackling Mill Hill's most prized black ski run. Then we'd gone to Leyla's Turkish restaurant for a long and boozy lunch. During the course of lunch, one of the kids noticed a naked guy in the flats above Nat West dropping snowballs on unsuspecting shoppers. This provided much entertainment, especially when his girlfriend joined in the fun. I suspect that they were as unaware of the amusement they were providing us, as the shoppers were of the source of the snowballs. In case you were wondering, the height of the window preserved his modesty.
For us, we turned it into a truly memorable family day. The fact that nothing was moving, most of the shops were shut and all the kids were off school only added to the fun. So why do I mention it. Well if you read the latest edition of Barnet First, the councils magazine, it seems that the council kept everything running like clockwork?
It reminds me of the Soviet newspaper "Pravda" in the days of Breshnev. My wife studied Russian at Uni and we travelled a fair few times to the USSR before it collapsed. One of our friends ran a pirate radio station in Minsk. Even playing a bit of decent music was subversive then. I invited Igor over to the UK. When he arrived, I
took him down to Budgens in Mill Hill Broadway. As we walked around he pronounced "It's so depressing". I replied "It's not that bad". He wasn't referring to the state of the shop. He was commenting on the fact that the shelves were full. It was becoming clear to him that the picture of the west painted by Pravda (which means Truth in Russian) was anything but honest.I was at a meeting of the Barnet Community Action group last night. One of the subjects we discusse
d was future shape. Apparently the seventh principle is democratic accountability. This would be easy to achieve. Give the people of Barnet a referendum on whether they want full scale privatisation of the council. If they won, they'd have a mandate and us malcontents would have to shut up! Trouble is, if they can't even tell the truth about a bit of snow, that everyone with eyes could see, what hope is there for an honest and open debate.
Thursday, 5 February 2009
Mike Freer Blog Scandal - It's OK to criticise Waitrose, just not Freer
Those of you who have followed the story of Mike Freer's taxpayer funded blog and how he censors critical comments may be interested to see this - http://leaderlistens.com/2009/02/03/hurrah-for-waitrose/. It seems Mike is quite happy for critical posts to be left, so long as they are not about him. Having lauded Waitrose for giving out 240 pints of milk to vulnerable residents, Mike is quite happy for a blog suggesting Waitrose were a bit stingy to be left. Here's the comment :-
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One Comment
1.
Magda
Posted February 4, 2009 at 8:07 pm | Permalink
Couldn’t Waitrose have stretched to a loaf of bread for all the publicity they have got out of this? More to the point, couldn’t the council have forked out for some decent food for people stuck at home in the cold? Where is your ambition?
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I think that this comment is a bit unfair on Waitrose, if all the supermarkets got together and set up a system of distributing food at times such as this it would be a great gesture & highly appreciated. If I was Freer, I'd have been straight on the phone to tesco's etc suggesting they did their bit and named and shamed those that didn't chip in, but then again that would require a bit of thought and effort. Waitrose at least did something, so lets lay off Waitrose.
I think that maybe Waitrose have learned the hard way what happens when you are no longer useful to Mike Freer. It seems he's the only one who is above criticism on LEADERLISTENS.COM
By the way Mike Freer has edited the comment he left on his "Business as Usual" blog on leader listens. He now says the following :-
MikeFreer
Posted February 3, 2009 at 6:26 pm | Permalink
Thank you for taking the time to reply Mary - it is appreciated.
The work of our gritting teams, who have worked tirelessly around the clock since Sunday evening to target main routes, town centres and transport hubs, cannot be underestimated and my thanks go out to them and the other Council staff from other departments who despite the suspension of public transport by Transport for London managed to get to work to keep the Council operating as many services as possible.
While some local authorities have ordered their schools to close in the adverse weather conditions, Barnet Council did not and the decision was taken independently by Heads in consultation with the Chair of Governors, as schools themselves are best placed to decide whether their grounds are safe and that they had adequate staff cover.
It goes without saying that people in such extreme circumstances will have experienced some difficulty, that goes without saying but in comparison to our neighbouring boroughs with significantly smaller road networks we stand head and shoulders above the rest. As a comparator, Barnet is roughly 35 square miles in area, compared to Islington which is around 5 square miles. We are one of the biggest and best.
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Well their you go. Ever the brave leader, he's now blaming all of the Schools heads for closing. I bet he's the first to bask in the glory when they do well - If it's good news, Mike's done a great job - if it's bad news it's down to the heads. He's the Leader of Barnet Council, many roads weren't gritted. No schools opened on Monday, two schools opened on Tuesday. Most shops in Mill Hill were shut on Monday as staff couldn't get to work. Most Council services were affected. Mike Freer posted a blog saying "business as usual". He just can't admit he's wrong. He can't take criticism. All he can do is moan about everyone else and how many roads we have in Barnet. That's your job Mike, if you can't do it hand it to someone who can.
One final point I will make. I've had more response about this than any other blog I've ever posted, here or on the Times. People are truly disgusted and that goes right across the political spectrum. No one likes a coward and no one likes a liar !!!!
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One Comment
1.
Magda
Posted February 4, 2009 at 8:07 pm | Permalink
Couldn’t Waitrose have stretched to a loaf of bread for all the publicity they have got out of this? More to the point, couldn’t the council have forked out for some decent food for people stuck at home in the cold? Where is your ambition?
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I think that this comment is a bit unfair on Waitrose, if all the supermarkets got together and set up a system of distributing food at times such as this it would be a great gesture & highly appreciated. If I was Freer, I'd have been straight on the phone to tesco's etc suggesting they did their bit and named and shamed those that didn't chip in, but then again that would require a bit of thought and effort. Waitrose at least did something, so lets lay off Waitrose.
I think that maybe Waitrose have learned the hard way what happens when you are no longer useful to Mike Freer. It seems he's the only one who is above criticism on LEADERLISTENS.COM
By the way Mike Freer has edited the comment he left on his "Business as Usual" blog on leader listens. He now says the following :-
MikeFreer
Posted February 3, 2009 at 6:26 pm | Permalink
Thank you for taking the time to reply Mary - it is appreciated.
The work of our gritting teams, who have worked tirelessly around the clock since Sunday evening to target main routes, town centres and transport hubs, cannot be underestimated and my thanks go out to them and the other Council staff from other departments who despite the suspension of public transport by Transport for London managed to get to work to keep the Council operating as many services as possible.
While some local authorities have ordered their schools to close in the adverse weather conditions, Barnet Council did not and the decision was taken independently by Heads in consultation with the Chair of Governors, as schools themselves are best placed to decide whether their grounds are safe and that they had adequate staff cover.
It goes without saying that people in such extreme circumstances will have experienced some difficulty, that goes without saying but in comparison to our neighbouring boroughs with significantly smaller road networks we stand head and shoulders above the rest. As a comparator, Barnet is roughly 35 square miles in area, compared to Islington which is around 5 square miles. We are one of the biggest and best.
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Well their you go. Ever the brave leader, he's now blaming all of the Schools heads for closing. I bet he's the first to bask in the glory when they do well - If it's good news, Mike's done a great job - if it's bad news it's down to the heads. He's the Leader of Barnet Council, many roads weren't gritted. No schools opened on Monday, two schools opened on Tuesday. Most shops in Mill Hill were shut on Monday as staff couldn't get to work. Most Council services were affected. Mike Freer posted a blog saying "business as usual". He just can't admit he's wrong. He can't take criticism. All he can do is moan about everyone else and how many roads we have in Barnet. That's your job Mike, if you can't do it hand it to someone who can.
One final point I will make. I've had more response about this than any other blog I've ever posted, here or on the Times. People are truly disgusted and that goes right across the political spectrum. No one likes a coward and no one likes a liar !!!!
Monday, 2 February 2009
If this is business as usual in Barnet, God help us !!!!!
I thought I'd see what the Leader of Barnet Council, Mike Freer has to say on his Leader Listens blog. I had a very nice day off. I had to look after all the kids as when I woke up all Barnet's schools were shut. I enjoyed towing my little boy on a sledge from my house all of the way to Flower Lane Park. Past all of the uncleared and ungritted roads. Later on we had a rather tasty lunch in Leyla's Turkish restaurant on Mill Hill Broadway. Unfortunately some of the teenagers were clearly in rather too high spirits, as there was a little bit of trouble, bins being thrown at cars. We initially wanted to have lunch at Pizza Express, but there was a sign up saying "Sorry we're shut, staff couldn't get in due to ungritted roads". The owner of Leyla's turned up half way through our lunch. He was fuming "4 Hours to drive from Barnet. Don't they grit the roads" he exclaimed. Shops such as W H Smiths were also shut. We just got a message to say my mother in law's urgent appointment at the hospital for tomorrow has been cancelled and the kids are off again.
Anyway, as I said, I thought I'd see Mike Freer's take on the day. The title of todays blog entry? "Business as usual despite heaviest snowfall in a generation". If you don't believe me click here to see for yourself - http://leaderlistens.com/2009/02/02/business-as-usual-despite-heaviest-snowfall-for-a-generation/
What can I say? If Mike Freer thinks this is business as usual, god help us all. I can understand a Council Leader wishing to put a positive slant on a major event, but to say it was business as usual in Barnet? Unless he's on holiday in Bermuda and a council lackey told him a few porkies, then I'm sorry to say he's completely lost the plot. Nice as it is to have a day off with the children, business was anything but usual in Barnet. You know that, I know that, everyone in Barnet knows that - apart from Mike Freer, who is supposed to be in charge of the Council.
P.S Mike, if you really think it's business as usual here, please send me a cheque for all my lost income today.
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Update
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Just screenscraped this from the Barnet Council website - info concerning Council Services on this "Mike Freer business as usual" day !!!!
Click on Link for the page - http://www.barnet.gov.uk/highlights/adverse-weather-services.htm
Update Monday 2 February, 4:25pm
Leisure services
Church Farm Swimming Pool is now open and has resumed normal programme.
All other centres run by GLL will closed at 7.30pm this evening. Queen Elizabeth Leisure Centre has been closed by the school and will not open at all. Compton Leisure Centre will remain closed all evening, as the outdoor pitch is unoperational.
Update Monday 2 February 4.15pm
List of schools that are confirmed as closed tomorrow Tuesday 3 February.
Update Monday 2 February 12.24 pm
Housing Benefit and Council Tax
Telephone lines are closed today.
Environment
All vehicles and available staff will be directed to grit roads and keep footpaths clear:
* no refuse collection
* no school transport today (2 February 2009) and tomorrow (3 February 2009).
The main priority at present is to keep the main arterial routes flowing. Side roads will be tackled as soon as practicably possible.
Parking
Restrictions across the borough remain in force.
Education
Most schools across Barnet are closed.
Housing
* A skeleton staff from the council’s housing team is operating from Barnet House.
* Homeless services are operating on an out-of-hours basis, Tel: 020 8359 2000.
Environmental health
Members of staff from the environmental health team are in the office and will be answering calls.
Corporate Governance
* The council’s switchboard, CCTV and Priority Intervention Teams are in operation as essential services.
* Callers to the switchboard may experience delays due to the volume of calls and staffing levels.
* Emergency planning team are in as an essential service
Children’s Service
Staff from Children’s Service are maintaining skeleton services and are contactable by telephone. If you know the telephone number of your social worker please call them directly as office phones have been diverted to mobiles. An emergency cover service is available and if you need to speak to someone please Tel: 020 8359 4066.
If your emergency is outside office hours please call 020 8359 2000.
Adult Social Services
As only essential journeys can be made support is being targeted to those most vulnerable i.e. those living on their own with personal care needs without any other form of support. In the case of an emergency situation, we are providing a social work duty service where you can speak to a social worker if you have been advised that essential services for you cannot be provided because of the weather.
The duty teams can be contacted on the following numbers:
* Older people, Tel: 020 8359 2440
* Physical and sensory impairment, Tel: 020 8359 4652
* Learning disability, Tel: 020 8492 5473
In order to ensure that these essential services are provided, we will be closing the following day services tomorrow (The Space, Flower Lane, Rosa Morison, Flightways). We will keep the website regularly updated and we hope that normal service provision will be resumed from Wednesday, 4 February. In the meantime, we would urge everyone who has a vulnerable family member or neighbour to make contact and ensure that they are well.
Meals should get to everyone who is very vulnerable today. Providers are contacting anyone else to whom they cannot get meals to discuss the situation.
Registrars
The Registrars office is closed. An emergency service for death registrations only will be provided and is accessible by calling 0208 359 2000.
Barnet Homes
Barnet Homes have messages regarding their services.
Council meetings
There are no scheduled meetings on 2 February 2009, but it is the intention that the Hendon, Finchley and Golders Green and Chipping Barnet Area Planning Sub-Committee meetings scheduled for 3 February 2009 will proceed as normal.
Anyway, as I said, I thought I'd see Mike Freer's take on the day. The title of todays blog entry? "Business as usual despite heaviest snowfall in a generation". If you don't believe me click here to see for yourself - http://leaderlistens.com/2009/02/02/business-as-usual-despite-heaviest-snowfall-for-a-generation/
What can I say? If Mike Freer thinks this is business as usual, god help us all. I can understand a Council Leader wishing to put a positive slant on a major event, but to say it was business as usual in Barnet? Unless he's on holiday in Bermuda and a council lackey told him a few porkies, then I'm sorry to say he's completely lost the plot. Nice as it is to have a day off with the children, business was anything but usual in Barnet. You know that, I know that, everyone in Barnet knows that - apart from Mike Freer, who is supposed to be in charge of the Council.
P.S Mike, if you really think it's business as usual here, please send me a cheque for all my lost income today.
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Update
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Just screenscraped this from the Barnet Council website - info concerning Council Services on this "Mike Freer business as usual" day !!!!
Click on Link for the page - http://www.barnet.gov.uk/highlights/adverse-weather-services.htm
Update Monday 2 February, 4:25pm
Leisure services
Church Farm Swimming Pool is now open and has resumed normal programme.
All other centres run by GLL will closed at 7.30pm this evening. Queen Elizabeth Leisure Centre has been closed by the school and will not open at all. Compton Leisure Centre will remain closed all evening, as the outdoor pitch is unoperational.
Update Monday 2 February 4.15pm
List of schools that are confirmed as closed tomorrow Tuesday 3 February.
Update Monday 2 February 12.24 pm
Housing Benefit and Council Tax
Telephone lines are closed today.
Environment
All vehicles and available staff will be directed to grit roads and keep footpaths clear:
* no refuse collection
* no school transport today (2 February 2009) and tomorrow (3 February 2009).
The main priority at present is to keep the main arterial routes flowing. Side roads will be tackled as soon as practicably possible.
Parking
Restrictions across the borough remain in force.
Education
Most schools across Barnet are closed.
Housing
* A skeleton staff from the council’s housing team is operating from Barnet House.
* Homeless services are operating on an out-of-hours basis, Tel: 020 8359 2000.
Environmental health
Members of staff from the environmental health team are in the office and will be answering calls.
Corporate Governance
* The council’s switchboard, CCTV and Priority Intervention Teams are in operation as essential services.
* Callers to the switchboard may experience delays due to the volume of calls and staffing levels.
* Emergency planning team are in as an essential service
Children’s Service
Staff from Children’s Service are maintaining skeleton services and are contactable by telephone. If you know the telephone number of your social worker please call them directly as office phones have been diverted to mobiles. An emergency cover service is available and if you need to speak to someone please Tel: 020 8359 4066.
If your emergency is outside office hours please call 020 8359 2000.
Adult Social Services
As only essential journeys can be made support is being targeted to those most vulnerable i.e. those living on their own with personal care needs without any other form of support. In the case of an emergency situation, we are providing a social work duty service where you can speak to a social worker if you have been advised that essential services for you cannot be provided because of the weather.
The duty teams can be contacted on the following numbers:
* Older people, Tel: 020 8359 2440
* Physical and sensory impairment, Tel: 020 8359 4652
* Learning disability, Tel: 020 8492 5473
In order to ensure that these essential services are provided, we will be closing the following day services tomorrow (The Space, Flower Lane, Rosa Morison, Flightways). We will keep the website regularly updated and we hope that normal service provision will be resumed from Wednesday, 4 February. In the meantime, we would urge everyone who has a vulnerable family member or neighbour to make contact and ensure that they are well.
Meals should get to everyone who is very vulnerable today. Providers are contacting anyone else to whom they cannot get meals to discuss the situation.
Registrars
The Registrars office is closed. An emergency service for death registrations only will be provided and is accessible by calling 0208 359 2000.
Barnet Homes
Barnet Homes have messages regarding their services.
Council meetings
There are no scheduled meetings on 2 February 2009, but it is the intention that the Hendon, Finchley and Golders Green and Chipping Barnet Area Planning Sub-Committee meetings scheduled for 3 February 2009 will proceed as normal.
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