Firstly, happy new year! We seem to be in the longest freeze that I can remember. It has certainly caused me to cut my car usage. Barnet’s main roads are not too bad but the side roads and the pavements are very icy. I walked up to Barnet yesterday for my surgery at Chipping Barnet Library. I usually walk up the path from Mays Lane past the tennis courts and into the Old Court House park. To my surprise the path had been gritted the whole way up which is …

There are plans to build a new play area in Tudor Park using funds from the playbuilder programme. You can view the proposed scheme and make make comments by following the link below.
http://www.barnet.gov.uk/index/council-democracy/consultations/playbuilder-consultation.htm

At the last Council meeting we discussed the 10:10 campaign. This is a campaign that individuals or organisations can sign up to that commits to try and cut their carbon emissions by 10% in 2010. The motion for the Council to join the campaign was defeated by the Conservative majority and a much weaker piece of waffle passed in its place. I have therefore decided to join the 10:10 campaign as an individual and try and cut my and my families carbon emissions by 10% in 2010. My first action …

For a while now I’ve been concerned about the cost both environmentally and monetary of the Council’s courier service. The courier service delivers committee papers including agenda’s and minutes and any other post that comes directly to the Town Hall to councillors home addresses. At the last council meeting I asked about the cost and was told that the cost of just delivering to Councillors for the last financial year was £26,600. Now given that all the committee papers are available electronically and that most other post that I receive …

Tonight’s Council meeting decended into farce. The Tories elected the new leader of the Council Lynn Hillan. They then spent too long celebrating in the break so that there was no one there to move the administration policy item and so it was not taken. When they did all return they voted down the opposition policy item which was about signing up for the 10:10 campaign (A cross party non political campaign to aim to reduce Carbon emissions by 10% in 2010). Then having elected a new Cabinet, one of …