The November 2021 edition of Safer Neighbourhoods News for Palmers Green ward is now available. There's a warning about phone snatching at bus stops in Hedge Lane and Green Lanes and a reminder that if you report a crime to a WhatsApp group or neighbourhood watch, you still need to report it to the police.
Kahtan Kibasi has sent in a poem about Broomfield Conservatory, written while it was closed during lockdown. He introduces it with a thankyou message to the volunteers who look after the conservatory and its plants.
North Central London CCG, the body that pays for NHS services in our area, has announced the withdrawal of the extended access to free patient transport services that was set up in response to the Covid-19 pandemic for people who were shielding.
Architect's Journal has a detailed article about the hitches that Transport for London (TfL) has come up against as it tries to build new housing on tube car parks. Two of the controversial projects are not far from PG - at Arnos Grove and Cockfosters. If this is an issue that interests you, well worth reading because it is unusually thorough and looks at the issues from many different angles.
Residents of some Enfield wards - I'm looking at you, Palmers Green councillors! - would be grateful if they had more than a few hours notice of upcoming ward forums, while minutes of previous meetings would be looked upon as a wholly unrealistic luxury, but the Winchmore Hill ward forum has always been exemplary in both respects. This week it has outdone itself by publishing not one, but two versions of the minutes of its most recent meeting, on 4th November.
The size of Saturday's well organised and well behaved march shows what was already clear - that there is substantial opposition to the Fox Lane scheme, though it proves nothing about the overall balance of opinion among residents or about whether on balance the effects of the LTN are beneficial or harmful. It's also clear that there is a widespread view that Enfield Council is not listening to people's complaints about the LTN. Instead of just saying that all comments will be taken into account, the council would do well to be more ready to acknowledge people's genuine concerns, and to engage more readily about potential ways of mitigating problems.
Public health experts are sounding the alarm that the current Health and Care Bill is likely to be the nail in the coffin for our public health service. They are warning that the Bill will pave the way for the English NHS to be replaced by the profit-driven American system, in which private health providers are incentivised to cut and deny care to increase profits.
Last week the newsletter featured a pupil at Bowes school pleading for decisive climate action. This week a scientist explains why it's time for her and her colleagues to drop their gentle and unemotional approach and start to put across the urgency of action forcefully.
A new community hub at Firs Farm Wetlands and improved equipment in Tottenhall Rec are among the projects that will be benefiting from the first round of the Enfield Neighbourhood Fund.
Enfield Council is proposing to create 'plazas' in Palmers Green and Enfield Town with the aim of providing outdoor trading opportunities for businesses, encouraging 'café culture' in the two town centres and creating a space for children to play and for community and cultural events
The latest newsletter from Southgate District Civic Voice has some brief information about Christmas events in the borough's town centres and a Christmas Fair in Southgate
