A blot on the landscape in a beauty spot and a graphic demonstration of the failure of the Barnet Labour regime

Back in May 2022, I hoped that the new Labour regime, with a massive majority, would render this blog redundant when it came to writing about council policy failures. I made a conscious decision to not write blogs about their actions, until they had a chance to demonstrate whether they are up to the job. 

Here we are, two and a half years later and I'm sorry to say that we need bloggers just as much as we ever did. Today we look at a typical example of their complete failure to look after the resources of the Borough properly and how this is having a massive negative effect on our quality of life.

These pictures are of the former cafe/bar at Scratchwoods open space. It has been closed for around two years and is literally falling apart. It is clearly unsafe. The area is used by dog walkers like myself, however the area is littered with broken glass. There are fridges and all manner of things dumped and it is a total eyesore. It is bad enough that Barnet Labour have let an asset fall apart and become dangerous in a local park. It is also scandalous to see public resource that could be let out and rented, bringing in much needed cash, has fallen into such a sorry state. 

A quick search indicates that a property of this size let for lesuire would bring in £25-40,000 per annum, if it was in a lettable condition. That money could be spent on many things. Having a business on site would also improve the ambience of the area. There are many local parks with thriving cafes. Scratchwood is one of the best parks in our area, with not only a lovely grassed area, but also an extensive wood.  There is no reason at all why a cafe shouldn't thrive if run properly.

Sadly, this asset will cost an absolute fortune just to be made safe and to no longer be an eyesore. Barnet Council has a massive financial crisis, with a massive black hole. Although the rent from this is a drop in the ocean, it is a good example of the lack of proper husbandry of council resources. It breaks my hear to see.

Barnet Council to charge me £182.50 a year to walk my dog

 Barnet Council are planning on imposing car parking charges on users of Scratchwoods open space. Hale Tory Councillor Laithe Jajeh has posted the justification for this action on the local Facebook group

"Following the murder of a young man in December 2019, issues with an on-site cafe and members of the public that frequented the site and the overall popularity of the car park at all hours (day and night), the council and Cllr’s agreed with police guidance that there is a potential safety concern that needed addressing (monitoring of vehicle registrations that utilise the car park). This will enable the council and authorities to monitor the site and ensure illegal activities are deterred. The best option tabled was a system that did the above and in order to pay for and maintain it, a small charge was agreed and introduced at committee. This is subject to a review in 12 months and any thoughts and comments via email are appreciated: Cllr.l.jajeh@barnet.gov.uk"

As Mr Jajeh knows, I walk my dogs over Scratchwoods on a dialy basis (when the park is actually open). I choose this area as it is very quiet. I have two large rescue dogs, who are easily frightened and we rarely get disturbed at Scratchwoods. Mr Jajeh states that a 'small charge' will be levied. As I usually walk the dogs for 1.5 hours 3 or 4 times a week, the small charge equates to approx £182.50. I have walked over the area with Mr Jajeh on several occasions, discussing the issues with fly tippers and other nuisance users. Mr Jajeh declares that the charge will 'deter illegal activities'. I hardly think that people who dump stolen cars with bodies in the boot will be deterred by a 50p parking charge, it will however penalise perfectly ordinary people such as myself, who have dogs that require quiet open spaces. Several of the people I know who use the space also have rescue dogs who also benefit from the relative tranquility of the space. 

Mr Jajeh states that the on site cafe has caused problems. I have no idea if this is true, I personally have not seen any evidence of this. In fact having the cafe made the park seem safer to me. If what he is saying is true, it would seem fair to address this with the Cafe owners and not penalise dog walkers and families who usethe park for recreational reasons in a perfectly social manner. 

I am not really one for conspiracy theories, but I can only wonder whether it is Laithe Jajeh and the Barnet Tories way of 'paying me back' for my criticism of them over the years on the local Lib Dems Mill Hill account? The only people who will really suffer financially are the regular users, all of whom value the wonderful facility. 

A walk over Scratchwoods yesterday revealed that @BarnetCouncil have done nothing about the dumped rubbish despite being notified 3 months ago @Laithe_Jajeh 1/2 pic.twitter.com/3xxBbyO5T3

— A Better Mill Hill 🔸🌈🇬🇧🇪🇺 (@ABetterMillHill) April 18, 2019

What is a park for?

Have you been for a walk through Scratchwoods open space recently? I went there and decided to play a little game called "Count the Condom". It seems to me that this particular open space has become a "sex theme park". There is even a Facebook page called the Scratchwood Open Space Dogging Appreciation Society.

The catchphrase for this site is "Anything Goes".

Sadly this isn't true.  Iranians (and Kurds and Afghanis) celebrating Sizdah Bedar, the 13th day of their new year like to go to Scratchwoods with their families and have a picnic. The Council has shut the park and banned this. The reasons? It causes too much litter.

How hard is it to ask these communities to organise a committee to manage the picnics and clean up the litter? A couple of PCSO's on overtime paid for by the Iranian community could easily manage a family festival. Maybe they could go and clean some of the condoms away before as a gesture of goodwill. A few years ago I was stuck on the A1 for nearly an hour due to traffic caused by a huge police operation to shut down this festival.

I'm no prude but I wonder where society is going when we have a culture where Dogging = good and Family Picnics = Bad. This week I've been looking at issues of community and how we need to develop it. I can think of nothing better than family picnics. If there is a large enough community to enforce a ban, then there is a large enough community to engage positively and have a joyous celebration for all of the community. Until 1829 it was illegal to be a Roman Catholic in Great Britain. Now St Patricks day has become a major part of the London calendar. Lets work together as a community to make people who want to stage such celebrations have a pleasant and safe environment. What would be better. A ban for the weekend or a happy festival where all of the litter, condoms, plastic bags and mess were cleaned up afterwards by responsible citizens in the community staging the event.