Labour councillors have got agreement on a series of community safety measures for the Grahame Park estate including ensuring broken security doors are fixed, dangerous pathways and pavements are made safe and litter and fly-tipping is cleaned-up.

Barnet Labour’s lead on Community Leadership, Cllr Sara Conway, raised the terrible state of the estate at Monday night’s Housing & Growth Committee (14 Sep) in an emotional appeal to the Council to step-up and sort out their neglect of the area.

The Tory-run Committee stopped short of agreeing to establish a multi-agency task force to tackle the ongoing community safety, enviro-crime and health issues on the Council’s various housing estates, but it did agree to prioritise the Grahame Park measures and to report back to the Committee on issues on the West Hendon estate.

The Committee also agreed to update councillors on the status of secure and non-secure tenants on regeneration estates across the Borough.

At a previous meeting the Committee had agreed to commission a report on tackling environmental, social and health issues and how they could engage better with the communities on the Council’s many housing estates. The Committee is still waiting for this report.

Barnet Labour Spokesperson for Community Leadership, Cllr Sara Conway said: “I’m pleased that some urgent actions have been agreed by the Committee, but the Council really do need to change the way they engage with local communities on our estates and the way services are delivered for residents there.

“I worry that Barnet’s regeneration plans are all about the buildings rather than the people living next to them or moving into them.  And projects such as parks lack a budget for upkeep and community safety.

“We need a plan that is more than laying bricks – one that invests in the roads and pavements, street-cleaning and local health and mental health services – we need the social infrastructure that should go with regeneration, and proper maintenance and attention to older parts of estates until they are demolished and rebuilt.

“I remain surprised that it is simply not illegal for Barnet to be leaving our residents to live like this.”

Ends.

For more information contact: cllr.s.conway@barnet.gov.uk