No voting for you, sonny

So we - my wife, my son and I - headed off to our local school to vote. It must be exciting voting for the first time but we live in Barnet and so, unsurprisingly in some ways, my 18 year old could not do so. He had registered online within the stipulated deadline but Barnet, without letting him know he needed to send it, had not had his proofs of identification. So no actually he didn't vote. As he himself observes "so when they talk about the lack of Young voters maybe they should think about the system being broken rather than trying to figure out what's wrong with British youth?" Like his dad he enjoys a good rant, but how much better to have been voting, like his friends in Camden.

A Letter to Barnet Parking Dept

Barnet have let us down once again. This is the letter I have sent them. It gets it off my chest. They never listen to a word that residents say, although they were forced to give money back two or three years back when someone took them to court. The parking system in Barnet is similar in many ways I always feel to a Mafia style racket.

 

I have long learned by past experience that Barnet Parking Dept is devoid of human compassion or kindness but I do want to register my utter dismay that once again your money making scheme has caught us out. This time it was my wife's other sister whose car was parked on our street and we forgot to put a voucher in it. It was December 29th after all, an ordinary working day as far as parking attendants are concerned so what can I do? Yes, I suppose it might have been someone parking in our street then catching the tube to work though highly unlikely. So another £55 chalked up to the racket that you run. Add that to the £40 already shelled out by us. It is appalling and I write with no realistic hope of getting the money back but with the hope that at least someone in the department with an ounce of human kindness will read it and see that something needs to be done about this daylight robbery that causes such misery.

Why on earth would you need to regulate parking on December 29 except as a money making exercise?

Barnet's Latest Idea

Barnet Council are always thinking of ways to spend our money. Their latest idea is that in addition to the grey bin and the green bin that already clutter up our front garden they would add a blue bin to the collection plus a couple of little brown bins (there's another one inside the one you can see in the picture). What we are supposed to do with the black box with the lid and the blue one with the net (lost long ago) I am not sure. Whether there will be a red bin too next year I have no idea. it's certainly boom time for plastics manufacturers. Meanwhile trying to get a refund from them for the overcharge on parking permits is proving quite testing. I applied eight long weeks ago and so far I have heard nothing at all despite their empty promises. There was a time when you could park in your own street for free and you paid for your own bin. That was a long time ago now. I'm not grumbling just observing.

Good Jews Week

Providentially we have had two Jewish people speaking at the church in the last few days about the work of the gospel among their people. First Andreea came to our midweek meeting to speak about the work she has been involved in over the last 18 months adn then yesterday evening David Zadok was with us speaking about the work of HaGefen publishing and preaching from Psalm 121. Living as we do in an area that is 15% Jewish it was good to be reminded to pray and to know that many Jewish people are showing an interest in these things and coming to know Messiah for themselves in many cases too. For more info check these sites here and here.

Finchley and Golders Green

So the election is on us. I found this useful info at politics.co.uk for the Finchley and Golders Green constituency.

Sitting MP: Rudi Vis, Lab, standing down

Candidates:
Alison Moore, L
Mike Freer, C
Laura Edge, LibDem

Majority Election Result 2005: 741 Lab (1.7%) Majority Election Result 2001 3,716 L (8.5%)
2005 Swing: 3.4% L to C

Constituency info:

Pop c 106,000 constituency covers Finchley, GG, Childs Hill, Hampstead Garden Suburb in London Borough of Barnet (N London). NW of Hampstead, SE of Mill Hill and SW Friern Barnet.
Following a review, Boundary Commission modified constituency. It gains part of the Woodhouse ward from Chipping Barnet and small parts of GG, Finchley Church End and Garden Suburb wards from Hendon constituency, while it loses most of the Coppetts ward to the Chipping Barnet constituency.

Early medieval period - Finchley sparsely populated woodland. From 12th century farming began. Edgware, Highgate and London Railway (later GNR) reached here 1867. 1905 tram services established in Finchley, eventually replaced by trolley buses. 1933, Underground New Works Programme (35-40) announced. Lines through Finchley electrified and connected to Underground, Archway to E Finchley via new tunnel.
After WWII, introduction of London's green belt undermined pre-war plans for Underground here, and upgrading between Mill Hill E and Edgware abandoned. Line used by steam freight trains until closed completely, 1964.
GG has been place in the parish and manor of Hendon since c 13th century. Building of Finchley Rd (1827) resulted in development of a hamlet and by late 19th century around 300 people in the area.
1907, transport links improved by opening of GG tube station, leading to development of area west of Finchley Rd. Establishment of Hampstead GS brought major changes to area east of Finchley Rd. Temple Fortune Farm demolished and a retail district established along front of the road.
Finchley and GG constituency has a large and well-to-do Jewish population. Represented by Margaret Thatcher and a safe Con seat until Vis's unexpected victory 1997.
Lab's tiny majority certain to be overturned by Con gain in 2010. Possible an exceptionally good result for Cons could give them a share in excess of 50% here, as though national figures indicate this is unlikely, the swing to the Cons is sure to be above average here, looking at the nature of the voters.

Demographics: Housing: Owner-Occupied 63.1%, Social Housing 11.9%, Privately Rented 21.6%, Homes without central heating and/or private bathroom 6.4%
Education: Full time students 7.3%, Graduates 16-74: 44.6%, No Qualifications 16-74 15.8%
Ethnicity: Not born UK 35.9%, White 74.2%, Black 5.2%, Asian 12.3%, Mixed 3.2%, Other 5.1%
Faith: Christian 40.0%, Hindu 6.8%, Jewish 19.6%, Muslim 6.0%
Gender: Male 47.3%, Female 52.7%
Age: Under 18 21.0%, Over 60 19.0%
Local issues: Taxation, 'Static screening unit for Finchley Memorial hospital' campaign, Post office closures

Previous election results

2005 General Election:

Turnout 61.9%
Rudi Vis L 17,487 40.5%
Andrew Mennear C 16,746 38.8%
Sue Garden LibDem 7,282 16.9%
Noel Lynch Green 1,136 2.6%/Jeremy Jacobs UKIP 453 1.0%/Rainbow George Weiss Rainbow Dream Ticket 110 0.3%

2001 General Election:

Turnout 57.3%
Rudi Vis L 20,205 46.3%
John Marshall C 16,489 37.8%
Sarah Teather LibDem 5,266 12.1%
Miranda Dunn Green 1,385 3.2%/John de Roeck UKIP 330 0.8%

1997 General Election:

Turnout 69.7%
Rudi Vis L 23,180 39.7%
John Marshall C 19,991 39.7%
Jonathan Davies LibDem 5,670 11.3%
G Shaw Referendum 684 1.4%/Ashley Gunstock GreenPlaid Cymru Alliance 576 1.1%/D Barraclough UKIP 205 0.4%

Expensive area?

An article here reveals that the borough in which I live (Barnet) boasts five of the country's most exclusive streets. Mouseprice street rankings make Ingram Avenue (Hampstead Garden Suburb) second most expensive in the country (average house price c £6 M). Nearby Winnington Road is sixth (average house price c £5.4 M) and Bishops Avenue is 16th (a mere £4.75 average). Third in the UK is Courtenay Avenue, which actually falls into Haringey. All three are situated between Highgate and Hampstead golf courses, which according to Mouseprice makes it “one of the most exclusive places to live in the country”.
Of most interest to us in Childs Hill are Eden Close and Elm Walk, "which border leafy Hampstead Heath in Childs Hill" eighth and 11th respectively (with average prices £4.9-5.1 M). I hasten to add that nearby are flats at £175-185 K or £195 K for two bedrooms - still not cheap but indicative of the variations in the area.

What a day may bring

The above picture shows the sheltered housing complex Garth House next to the church here in Childs Hill. A fire broke out in the early hours of Sunday morning and more than 30 mostly elderly people, including a member of our own congregation, have been made homeless by the devastation. It was a fierce fire around 20 or so fire vehicles were involved in dealing with the blaze. The fire appears to have started in the roof and thankfully there were no injuries as far as we know. Some people will have lost everything, however, as most of the top floor has been badly affected. The firemen and policemen seemed to do their job well although a little officiously at times, turning some people away from church at times and making others take circuitous routes. Barnet seemed to be very well organised in looking after those affected. We are all praying for them.

Barnet Bank Holiday

I was up and out fairly early this morning even though it was a bank holiday. And what should I see on the pretty deserted Finchley Road but a traffic warden booking cars parked on the single yellow line there. I pay £40 a year for the privilege of simply parking on my street. They (or was that tfL) also had £40 off me when one bank holiday I strayed into a bus lane. I have long suspected that Barnet (like others) are mainly interested in making money. Evidence like this only confirms my worst fears.

On their website they say that they do enforce parking restrictions on Bank Holidays but they also say

The council introduces various parking management measures such as parking places and waiting restrictions in order to:
ease congestion caused by inconsiderate parking
help with road safety
assist disabled users of vehicles
provide parking for specific users (such as residents, businesses, or blue badge holders)
increase the turnover of parking to help visitors, clients of businesses, and shoppers to park
provide facilities for loading and unloading

I think it is pretty obvious that none of these purposes were being served in this case.