Author: Suzanne Beard

Categories
Health

Fears about new health groups’ safeguard of services

Pressure group 38 Degrees is urging local residents to sign a petition to help safeguard NHS services, following steps to set up new  Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) up and down the country.

The groups will have the power to decide what health services can be accessed in local areas and who provides them, but 38 Degrees fears that doctors in Enfield and elsewhere will be under pressure under the new arrangements to  hand out contracts to private companies – and that companies such as Virgin Care and Serco are circling with plans to win bids by slashing costs.

However, the new CCGs are in their infancy, and will have a  legal duty to listen to local people. 38 Degrees say that this means there is an opportunity to ask doctors on the CCGs to use their new powers to protect our NHS, not privatise it.

38 Degrees is urging local people to sign petitions to demonstrate to their CCGs that they expect them to protect local services. They are also currently seeking legal advice to help local groups ensure that responsibilty to protect services is written into each CCG’s constitution.

Interested in signing the petition? Visit
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/CCG-petition

Categories
Art and Culture Comedy Palmers Green

Roscommon erm…London N13

1970s Ireland comes to Palmers Green

Moone Boy is Chris O Dowd’s new comedy series about a 12 year old boy from a small town in Ireland who has an imaginary friend. Filmed in Roscommon, the  series began life as a comedy short as part of the Little Crackers series, and is partly based on O Dowd’s childhood. But the location for this trailer might be a little familiar…

Moone boy trailer

Categories
Community Food Palmers Green Planning and open spaces Uncategorized

Home grown fun!

Broomfield Community Orchard’s Summer Picnic this year included a scarecrow, apple bobbing, local honey, a tug o’ war and country dancing.

Up for some home grown country style fun? The next Community Orchard event is Apple Day, 2-5 on 21 October. For more information about the orchard, visit http://friendsofbroomfieldpark.org/friendsofbroomfieldpark/orchard.html

The fantastic summer picnic scarecrow. Image: Broomfield Community Orchard

 

Categories
Community Food Palmers Green Planning and open spaces Uncategorized

Council opens door for new community cafe in Broomfield Park

The realisation of plans to create a new community café in Broomfield Park is one step closer.

A first sketch of how the new cafe will look (image by kind permission of The Palmers Greenery)

Last week Enfield Council placed an advert in local press inviting expressions of interest for the provision of a ‘Community Facility’ in the park. Meanwhile an architects drawing of how the new café might look has been unveiled by the Palmers Greenery team.

Enfield’s advert paves the way for the Palmers Greenery group to make a formal application to open a new café in the park and is an important milestone in a community project initiated and led by local Palmers Green residents in association with the Friends of Broomfield Park.

Over the last year, the Palmers Greenery team has been working to develop a business plan, engage with local stakeholders, and establish a positive working relationship with London Borough of Enfield. Importantly, they have also been able to secure the ring fencing of £35,000 to cover start-up costs from the Enfield Residents Priority Fund.

The intention is that the Palmers Greenery will be child-friendly and serve affordable, healthy and, where possible, locally sourced food. All surplus generated by the Palmers Greenery will be re-invested directly back into Broomfield Park for park enhancing purposes.

“We welcome LBE’s willingness to embrace new ways of working collaboratively with the community”, says Sarah Cotton of the Palmers Greenery team.

“This project is a real opportunity for LBE to demonstrate that it is listening and responding to local people. We will be working very hard over the next few months to ensure our submission is as robust as possible.”

If you have any specific expertise that you think will be helpful to the Palmers Greenery team as they put the final tweaks to the business plan, please get in touch .

 

Categories
Community History Planning and open spaces

Have your say in the future of Broomfield House

Broomfield House at the turn of the century Image: The Broomfield House Trust/Friends of Broomfield Park

Could change finally be in the air in the chequered fortunes of Broomfield House?

The Broomfield House Trust and Friends of Broomfield Park have announced they are working on a new proposal with Enfield Council to secure financial support from the UK Heritage Lottery Fund, the aim, to restore the House for community purposes. The plans include restoration of the house to its nineteenth century appearance, without the mock Tudor facade added in the 1930s. The intention is to then follow up with a further, second bid, to the Parks for People Lottery Fund, to revitalise the Stable Yard and Baroque Gardens.

The announcement signals a change in direction from Enfield Council, who had previously proposed financing plans for the house and park through housing development. Housing proposal plans displayed on the side of the house have recently been taken down.

The next open meeting of the Friends of Broomfield Park will be on Wednesday 17th October at the Ruth Winston Centre. In the meantime, local residents are being asked to complete a short survey about their usage of the park, and how they would like the house to be developed and used.

So…what facilities would you like to see at Broomfield House ? some performance space? learning facilities? function rooms? A café? a small cinema? Click on the link to have your say, give your support and contribute to a brighter future for Palmers Green’s historic heart.

 

Categories
Community Planning and open spaces Uncategorized

Waste plan ruled ‘legally unsound’

Could there at last be some good news on Pinkham Way?

In two separate decisions in the last few days, inspectors have found the North London Waste Plan (NLWP) legally unsound, and Haringey’s bid to redesignate Pinkham Way as an industrial site has failed.

On Friday, the NLWP inspector ruled that the submitted plans for Pinkham way were legally unsound because north London councils had failed to cooperate with their adjacent boroughs outside the capital, who receive a proportion of their waste. The NLWP, which fixes a waste strategy for the seven north London boroughs for the next 15 years, has been more than five years in the making.

Representations from local residents that the Pinkham Way site should not be redesignated as an industrial site were also supported, following a hearing in August.

While this is promising news, the battle is far from over and campaigning and fundraising activity must continue, says Bidesh Sarkar, chair of the Pinkham Way Alliance.

“The North London Waste Authority are very advanced on a huge procurement process that’s separate from the waste plan. With the Pinkham Way preparation already done, they’ll have nothing to lose by pushing on with the planning application if at all possible.”

The next Alliance fundraising event will be a performance by soprano Dame Emma Kirkby on Sunday 7 October Further details will be available on the Pinkham Way Alliance website  shortly, or check our events listings for updates.