Loot: Brian Coleman abolishes pay and display in Barnet

' and there are plenty of paypoints available, on a 'walk up' basis, at selected convenience stores, old cock ...'

*Update 5pm Friday, see below: oh, and guess which councillor is reported to have put the phone down on a local journalist when asked about this issue?

Here is a joint statement from Barnet's bloggers:

Brian Coleman abolishes pay and display parking in Barnet – bloggers call for Cabinet call-in and consultation

It has been brought to our attention that Councillor Brian Coleman has signed off, using delegated powers, a decision abolishing pay and display parking in the London Borough of Barnet. We believe that this is much too important an issue to be left to just one councillor to use delegated powers, and we call for the cabinet to call the paper in for review by the full cabinet.

The relevant report states that call-in must be done by 15th August. [http://committeepapers.barnet.gov.uk/democracy/reports/reportdetail.asp?ReportID=10559]

The people of Barnet deserve better than to have such important decisions passed without debate. This change affects many residents, businesses and visitors to the Borough. We call on the cabinet to reject this change and follow the example of other Boroughs, where residents, businesses and other impacted organisations are properly consulted, before such changes are approved.

12 August 2011

Signed:

Derek Dishman

John Dix

Vicki Morris

Theresa Musgrove

Roger Tichborne

Mrs Angry comments:

A few days ago, when no doubt he thought no one would be looking, (forgetting about the Barnet bloggers, who never sleep, and take shifts to maintain a constant vigil of council activities), Councillor Brian Coleman signed off a delegated powers report which is set to have huge repercussions for many residents in this borough.

Yes, we're talking about parking charges again - highway robbery, Broken Barnet style: the issue above all issues which is guaranteed to bring about a riot of civil disorder amongst the Hampstead Garden Suburbanistas, and residents ofall the 'nicer' parts of Broken Barnet.

You can shut all the childrens' centres you like, and remove all the wardens from sheltered housing, and sell off all our museums: ok - there will be a fair degree of middle class grumbling: threaten our libraries, and there is big trouble. Mess with the parking arrangements, though, and all hell breaks loose.

Mrs Angry understands that senior Tories at Westminster, if they think about him at all, have a less than respectful view of the antics of Councillor Coleman. Sadly, because of this tragic failure to impress his parliamentary colleagues, Brian's glorious political career will never take him beyond the plateau on which he currently languishes. Their gain is our loss, of course. Come next May, however, he may well find himself moving in a rolypoly direction up to and over the edge of the plateau and whoops, right over the side, tumbling down the craggy mountain into the valley of oblivion. What a shame.

The truth is that he simply lacks the emotional and political intelligence to sustain a more ambitious career. Seeing a long term objective, and having the self discipline to follow a strategic course towards it is a quality that he lacks, or at least he finds impossible to sustain, being fatally prone to major errors of political judgement, as the events of the last year's administration here have shown. The headline grabbing idiocies of the Barnet Tories has been one open, running sore on the body of the Conservative party: it's no wonder Eric Pickles decided to publicly humiliate his own Barnet councillors over the MetPro affair, and praise the Barnet bloggers - and yet still they don't get it, do they? They carry on, regardless.

In order to make a quick buck for the money pit that is One Barnet, Coleman has determinedly pursued the exploitation of parking revenue, forcing in a range of whopping new charges, removing free bays, and now foisting a new payment system on those of us foolish enough to want to park our cars. These changes have infuriated residents all over the borough, but most crucially, and most stupidly from his own point of view, they have alienated vast swathes of hardcore Tory voters, already antagonised by the equally ill judged fiasco of the councillors' pay rise saga, the repression of debate at Residents' Forums, the nonsensical attempt to bar filming at council meetings - and horrified by the depth of corporate incompetence revealed by the MetPro scandal. Practically everything this collection of congenital eejits does further sinks their chances of re election into the quagmire, but some Tory councillors seem to have a political death wish, and are carrying on struggling while they sink under.

Because what does Brian do next? Of course he realises that he has enraged the voters of Garden Suburb, and Golders Green, and East Finchley, and indeed all over the borough: but he cannot retract his parking plans: to him that would be a sign of weakness - so they must proceed regardless of the electoral fall out. This week, therefore, while lots of you are on holiday and far far away from the tyranny of life in Broken Barnet, Coleman has sneakily signed the order to remove all pay and display machines from the borough.

If you want to park anywhere in Barnet now, you need a phone, and a credit card. It's like Westminster, except, because we have no brains in the Broken Barnet Cabinet, we are out Westminstering Westminster. In our borough, for example, you will not have the option, as they do in town, of using a card at a machine or using prepaid scratch cards.

In our borough, you will do as you are told and remember that the point of parking charges is not to rationalise parking, in a way that will be to the greater benefit of the residents and tax payers, but to generate income for a council that is happy to throw away millions of pounds of our money in Iceland, and in countless wasteful overspends, but will make us pay for their profligacy, all over again, one way or another.

In our borough, anyone who is elderly, without a mobile phone, or without a credit card does not count, and has effectively excluded themselves from the right to drive or park. If you are foolish enough to have English as a second language, that's your fault. If you are disabled, either make sure your disability is bad enough to get a permit, or stay at home. Alternatively, to make sure you will be able to park anywhere you like, at no charge whatsoever, become a Tory councillor, or, if you can bring yourself to, marry one, and make full use of their free permit. Or take a taxi everywhere at our expense. Even better, become the Mayor, and nip down to Sainsbury's in the limo.

Oh but surely, Mrs Angry, you may be thinking, the London Borough of Broken Barnet has considered the effect on residents, before proceeding with such a radical policy? Oh yes, citizens, they have: Mrs Angry urges you to look at the report yourself on the council's website. and read the following, astonishing conclusions of the Equalities Impact Assessment.

In point 1c we are told that (my emphasis in bold):

"The only age group envisaged to be affected by the project are the elderly as it is considered they are less likely to be accustomed to utilising a mobile phone in the methods necessary to pay for their parking sessions by phone.

It is considered that technology could also discriminate against the infirm and disabled.

In addition, customers who do not speak English as their first language may feel discriminated against if they are unable to understand the instructions corresponding to the cashless payments.


It is considered that the removal of pay and display machines across the borough would have a significant impact on certain sectors of the community who, due to their personal circumstances , may not be able, or be comfortable using the pay by phone technology."

So: the elderly - a huge section of the residents of Barnet - will be affected, the infirm and disabled are potentially facing discrimination, non English speaking users too, and in conclusion the removal of the pay and display machines would have a significant impact on certain sectors of the community.

In addition the report notes the potential impact on the visiting of 'local amenities' ie shops and businesses, and warns of the increased vulnerability of residents having to use mobiles in public places.

Despite the clear warnings of this report, the changes are going ahead. Why? Because of the contempt which this Tory council has for the process of consultation, and for any need to consider the impact of its stupid policy decisions on the community it is supposed to serve.

Oh, there is an action plan which is meant to address shortcomings of the plans. Er, well, no, it doesn't address the huge glaringly obvious risk of discrimination in the case of vast sections of the community, all it does is tell us that 'customers' will be able to make payments on a 'walk up basis' at some pay points at a few 'selected convenience stores'. So any whinging old folk, disabled residents, non English speaking users or those without a phone- you will have to get up off your lazy, disadvantaged backsides and wander about the shops a bit looking for these places, hoping that a traffic warden doesn't fine you in the meanwhile.

Not happy about this, you ungrateful voters? Wait til the next election then, and remember who was responsible for this cock up. Alternatively you may wish to contact Councillor Coleman and express your opinion by email, cllr.b.coleman@barnet.gov.uk , by phone, or in person at his surgery.

*Update, according to the local Times website:

"Both Labour and Lib Dem councillors have now “called in” the decision, forcing it to go before a scrutiny committee, on September 5.

Councillor Kath McGuirk, Labour’s transport spokesman, said: “I think residents will be outraged to be brutally honest.

“The way they’ve been totally ignored on parking charges. This is the straw that breaks the camels back. They are just being used as a cash cow.”

No: don't stop the carnival ...

Margaret Thatcher at Finchley Carnival, 1984 - photo John Hodder

What is Finchley famous for, do you know, apart from stroppy women? (Yes, above and to the side ...)

Well, let's see ... we have plenty of interesting historical, literary and cultural associations. Yes, we do: don't tell our Tory councillors, though, because it will confuse their poor little empty heads. We don't like culture, here in Broken Barnet, and we close it down wherever and whenever we find it, with our relentless drive for efficiency.

History, then. Take for example Finchley Common: the former lair of infamous highwaymen such as Dick Turpin, and Jack Shepherd. Turpin's Oak has been preserved, as it happens, and carved with the inscription ' Stand and Deliver', and placed on the edge of the last remaining strip of the common, now the location of alternative outdoor pursuits, especially after dark. No doubt soon there will be a tribute to Reggie and Ronnie Kray, who once holed up in flat nearby, not long before their detention at Her Majesty's pleasure. Wonder what the inscription will be? Give me all your cash or I'll nail your f**king hand to the floor? Nice. We like protection rackets, though, here in the London Borough of Broken Barnet, don't we?

What else? Well, adjoining the Common was once Cobley's Farm, where Charles Dickens lived in 1843, while he was writing 'Martin Chuzzlewit'. He often reminisced about wandering the 'deep lanes' here on his rambles with friends, and being inspired to create the character of Sarah Gamp from encounters with a well known, drunken and rather disreputable woman who staggered around the neighbourhood in those days. No: not Mrs Angry. Dickens knew the area well, in fact, from an earlier period he had spent here researching the life of the clown Grimaldi, who lived in a cottage near the farm. We like clowns here too, in the London Borough of Broken Barnet, don't we?

Cobley's Farm was built on, of course, by housing development in the late nineteeth century: Mrs Angry lives in one of these houses, in fact. One field was not developed, but became Victoria Park, a much needed greenspace and public amenity. And for more than a century, the park has been the focal point of Finchley Carnival, always celebrated - or until recently - with a funfair, and a parade, with floats presented by local organisations and charities, marching bands, that travelled through Finchley's shops, to the park, watched by people lining the streets, and volunteers collecting for charity. (Mrs Angry remembers one year when her then small son was deeply traumatised by the surreal sight of a hundred or so marching trumpeters all dressed - for no apparent reason - as Spiderman. Still not over it, are you, Joe?) These parades, in fact, were probably the only time throughout the year when there was, for a brief hour, some sense of community and pride in what is now a high street in decline, like so many others, unable to compete with supermarkets and local shopping centres.

Not any more though. This year, there was no carnival. A bitter and public feud has erupted between the organisers of the Carnival and uh oh: guess who -no, go on, have a try - yes our favourite, much loved local councillor and GLA member, Mr Brian Coleman. Brian is Cabinet member for Environment, don't you know, and a part of his responsibilities is to oversee the use of our greenspaces.

Councillor Coleman, unsurprisingly, loves local carnivals and shows, as this gives him the opportunity to attend them in his official capacity, dress up in all his municipal bling and stomp about feeling Very Very Important, wowing old ladies with his charms in the tea tent, and cheerily taking his turn in the stocks for the 'throw a wet sponge' challenge. Ok, I made that last bit up: but wouldn't it be fun? Imagine the money it would raise. Queues of eager punters, from here to St Albans. Me first, though.

Sideshow Bob/Brian is especially concerned about Finchley Carnival, as he lives, conveniently, just across from the park, and is sometimes to be seen lurking in the vicinity, just popping in for a little stroll, I imagine, incognito, you know.

So what's gone wrong? What could possibly go wrong with, let's see, a group of hard working voluntary organisers, and an impossibly rude, opinionated, and obstinate individual who thinks he knows better than anyone else what should be done in any given situation?

According to a report in the local Times group paper, Councillor Coleman, demonstrating the masterful display of the tact and diplomacy for which he is so widely admired, and which is guaranteed to return him to his role as GLA member next year, is quoted as claiming:

“The council has rescued the event and saved it for the benefit of the people of Finchley. We saved it from a bunch of amateurs who failed to deliver.

“Last year it was sad and pathetic. This year it’s going to be fun in Finchley.”

How dare this puffed up, egotistical little nobody speak about any residents in such terms, let alone those who have given years of dedicated - and voluntary - service to the community, and raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for local charities?

Who the hell does he think he is?

Yes, the last couple of events have been frankly pretty awful. It was a mistake to get rid of the parade. But it is clear from remarks made in a letter to the Finchley Arrow site by Bill Lethorn, one of the long term organisers of the show, that they have been struggling to maintain proper control over the planning of the carnival, thanks to interference from the council. Rather amusingly, the editor of the Arrow has felt moved to ask, in the interest of political balance, for someone to volunteer to write in with fulsome praise for any of the positive and generous things that our Brian has done for the local community. There appears, strangely enough, not to have been an over abundance of replies to this request.

This year further problems in arranging the carnival were caused by Mr Coleman and his Tory councillor chums upping the charges for use of the park from £140 to a stonking £3,500. Mrs Angry understands that discretion could have been used to waive the fees, but someone, who exactly, I just cannot imagine, decided to impose the full cost. A suggestion was then made that the council would be prepared to lower the cost if fees were shared with a large funfair that the council wished to force the organisers to hire. The organisers refused to be bullied into the council's terms and decided to withdraw, cancelling eleven events, including a blues & soul night and events involving local dance and drama groups, ending a hundred years of history of the carnival, and enabling Brian to get his own way, as he always must.

Late in the afternoon yesterday, Mrs Angry and daughter wandered home through the park. The funfair chosen by Councillor Coleman, we noted, was poorly attended, and nothing like the lively, buzzing event it used to be. It was so boring, even the Graveyard Family & the Bally Gang didn't bother to show up.

Around ten o'clock, Brian's much vaunted firework display sent who knows how much of the fees from the fair up into the sky, pointless as it was hardly dark, and no one cared anyway. Mrs Angry didn't watch, preferring instead to lie on the sofa feeling gloomy, watching angst ridden Swedish policemen not get shot in Wallander.

The end of the Carnival says a lot about the state of things here in Broken Barnet: all the usual themes are to be found running right the way through the whole sorry affair. The lie of the Big Society laid bare for one thing.

Here in our borough we treat community volunteers with contempt and insult them, rather than 'empower' them, and respect their right to make their own decisions. The failure in the negotiations between organisers and the council was doomed by the dysfunctional relationship that this Tory administration has with its electorate. It does not want to listen, to engage and to consult, it wants to dictate, and use our money for its own purposes, rather than be accountable to us for the way in which it is spent. All the important decisions are made, secretively, by a minority of councillors who are paid a premium for their roles a Cabinet members - but believe they have the absolute right to ignore the views of the people they represent.

This is not localism, or democracy: this is life in Broken Barnet, and oh, Margaret: this is all the doing of some of your most devoted, die hard fans. The Carnival you used to come and watch is dead, and, almost everywhere else, Thatcherism may be dead too, but not among the ranks of the Tory party in Barnet - did you know? In more ways than one, here in your old constituency, we're still living in 1984.