We have today formally withdrawn from the Haringey Labour council candidate selection process. We feel privileged to have had the opportunity to represent Crouch End for the last three and a half years. Though our journeys to become Labour councillors … Continue reading
This year has been another busy one for Crouch End Labour Cllrs with much of our focus having been on Hornsey Town Hall. We have seen good progress on affordable and social housing, details on £30m+ being spent on the … Continue reading
On August 9th, we published an open letter to FEC. The letter was cc’d to Emma Williamson, the Assistant Director of planning at Haringey. Emma has sent the below response to our e mail confirming that the consultation period has … Continue reading
It has become increasingly clear to me that the Liberal Democrats on Haringey Council have been too fast to talk our area down and too slow to put together an alternative sensible, strategic and relevant policy platform for local people as we fight against this Tory government.
Park Road Leisure Centre is one of four local leisure centres in Haringey. It is well used and valued by a large number of residents in Crouch End, which is why in 2014 we made improving it one of our five key election pledges. Two years later, over £8million has been invested in the centre. Users can now benefit from:
However, despite the investment, many residents have told us that improvements still need to be made to the Centre, particularly in three key areas:
Last week we met with council officers and managers from Fusion -a registered charity that works in partnership with Haringey Council to run the borough’s leisure centres. We shared your feedback, both on areas of strength and areas that require urgent improvement. Officers and managers have now provided responses on each of the three key areas of concern, outlining what currently happens and what will change:
1) Cleanliness and Hygiene
Cleanliness and hygiene levels are a key priority for the Park Road management team and more will be done to improve standards. Pool vacuuming has been introduced twice a week to deliver a higher standard of cleanliness, along with daily cleaning and maintenance regimes with regular backwashing.
The centre has 2 lifeguard teams – one for the inside pools one and for outside. Lifeguards for the outside pools rotate every 20/ 30 minutes. Once they have done a full rotation, they then commence site checks, checking the toilets and cubicles. This gets done every half an hour. When the lido closes at 1pm for an hour, centre staff will use that time to litter pick and scrub down the cubicles and showers.
The inside team rotate every 15 minutes and they will now walk through the inside changing rooms litter picking and cleaning where necessary. This will enable staff to check every 30 minutes the wet changing village and female and male changing areas. However if there are any issues, users are encouraged to raise this with the manager on duty in the first instance.
2) Accessing the swimming pool and lido
The Swimming Schools and Haringey Aquatics are protected bookings as they are fundamental to supporting the Council’s drive to increase participation and reach children whose families would not be able to afford private lessons. In terms of the current availability of the pools:
Diving Pool:
Main Pool:
However, council officers and Fusion recognise there is a shortage of water space in the borough and this adds to the pressure on Park Road Leisure Centre. It was therefore agreed that a separate meeting with local councillors would be held in September to have further discussion on pool timetabling and water space availability.
The Lido
Managers and council officers are aware of the issue of the lido paint at Park Road, which results in the pool water becoming cloudy during periods of high use. It is a defect from the refurbishment that Fusion are managing at an operational level. This issue is likely to be fully resolved once they are able to drain the lido and re-paint it at the end of the summer season. In the meantime, Fusion are managing the visibility of the Lido water on a regular basis and the duty management team and lifeguards are trained to close the pool if they are unable to see peoples feet or the bottom of the pool.
Swimming-Only Memberships
Fusion are constantly reviewing our membership offering but by nature of the facility, it would be operationally challenging to facilitate a swim only membership due to accessibility of other facilities once in the centre.
Lifeguard provision
When we review our requirements for our lifeguard provision for the lido this is risk assessed in accordance to HSG 179 guidance for swimming pool safety. With this in mind we are confident that we meet the requirements set out and have the correct volume of lifeguards to effectively manage the session type on the day.
3) Poor Communication
Management action
To assist with improving communication to customers, we now operate a communication board for customer that is present on reception. Managers were disappointed hear negative feedback in relation to the staff as it is their aim is to always give great customer service and are constantly training staff through our customer engagement programmes. More focus will be put in this area and the Management team are always keen to hear feedback, good or bad, so that this can be acted on.
The manager holds a “Meet the Manager” session every month. The timing of these varies to allow people that work to attend. Customers can discuss any issues that they have or give suggestions on improvements to the centre or things they would like to see change/implemented.
The Website
A new website for the leisure centre is due to go live this month. The new website will also link to Fusion’s internal booking system for increased functionality. It will automatically tell users if a class is full or if there is a space to book, and is more simple and easy to use. It will also be easier to search for a class and if users attend a class regularly, it will be saved on the homepage. The website will also allow the Centre to increase communication to customers with a live commentary on upcoming activities and any facilities that maybe affected on the day.
Phoning reception
Fusion recognises that their telephone system needs significant improvement. Therefore they are currently reviewing the system to ensure that customers receive the correct information. This includes improving the automated system. Fusion are also revising the back office phone system to ensure all calls are answered, especially during peak times when reception may not be able to cope with the volume of calls coming through.
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We will continue to work with council officers and Fusion managers to improve users’ experience at the centre. It’s important that Fusion and the Council build on the excellent facilities that exist following significant investment over the last two years. We will also work with officers to publish the Council’s targets for Fusion, so that there is greater transparency on the performance of the partnership.
If you have any further feedback, either positive or negative, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us (you can get our contact details by clicking on our names below).
Since the EU referendum result was announced there have been alarming reports of increases in the number of hate crimes taking place in Britain. As your local Labour councillors in Crouch End we totally condemn such hate crimes. That’s why … Continue reading
When we were elected in Crouch End it was as the first Labour councillors in the ward since 2002. And in the two years since our election we’ve seen: Hornsey Town Hall open again with progress made towards finding a … Continue reading
It’s been a busy few months since we were elected. Here is an overview of what has been going on. Hornsey Town Hall reopens One of our main pledges in the election campaign was to get more happening in the process … Continue reading
Melanie and Kasha, Indish, Crouch End
“We’ve been running Indish in Crouch End for 18 years and are very proud to be part of the community. Local businesses, especially the independents, are important for this community to continue to stay vibrant, and to this end we give our support to Jason, Natan and Lourdes to make sure Crouch End carries on being the exciting cultural hub of this borough” Melanie and Kasha, Indish, Crouch End
Linda Grant, novelist, journalist, winner of the Orange Prize for Fiction, Crouch End resident
“Jason Arthur, Natan Doron and Lourdes Keever represent the best of Crouch End, its vitality and diversity, creativity and passion for social justice. They will make superb councillors committed to representing the best interests of our community on Haringey council.” Linda Grant, novelist, journalist, winner of the Orange Prize for Fiction, Crouch End resident
Tad MacDonald, Musician, Crouch End resident for 26 years
“I recently ran the London Marathon raising money and support for Shelter, because I care about helping those less fortunate than myself. Crouch End needs politicians who feel the same. That’s why I’m supporting Jason, Natan and Lourdes to make Crouch End Labour again.” Tad MacDonald, Musician, Crouch End resident for 26 years
Doreen Jones, retired, Crouch End resident for 48 years
“I’ve lived in Crouch End for almost 50 years. I know that Jason, Natan and Lourdes are hardworking local people and I think they would make excellent councillors for Crouch End.” Doreen Jones, retired, Crouch End resident for 48 years
These are just four of the many people in Crouch End who are getting behind Jason, Natan and Lourdes’ positive vision for Crouch End. You can join them by using all three of your votes in the council elections for Labour tomorrow.
This election is about people in Crouch End and their hopes for the area. Over the last year Jason Arthur, Natan Doron and Lourdes Keever have been listening closely to residents to understand the issues they care about. Jason, Natan and Lourdes are incredibly passionate about Crouch End and would be honoured to serve as local councillors.
Jason, Lourdes and Natan pledge to work hard for Crouch End
Jason, Natan and Lourdes been out in every season listening to residents – and they will continue to do so as Crouch End councillors. They believe that only by working together with residents can they continue to make Crouch End one of the best places to live in North London.
By electing Jason, Natan and Lourdes Crouch End residents will have three councillors who will work tirelessly to ensure that their views are at the heart of the Council’s decisions. They pledge to work with residents to deliver a positive vision for Crouch End that strengthens the community.
Our pledges
The people of Crouch End deserve a strong voice at the decision-making table on Haringey Council.
Our local team campaigning in Crouch End with Douglas Alexander MP
Crouch End Labour 