This week, I sent out surveys to all Finchley and Golders Green residents to understand what you love, and more importantly, what you want changed about your community. It was wonderful to see so many of you highlighting our green spaces as your favourite thing about the area – it’s something I love about Finchley and Golders Green too. Protecting these spaces is essential.
On what needs to be changed, I’ve heard your message loud and clear – road maintenance and street cleanliness are a main priority for residents. All residents deserve to feel safe travelling around their neighbourhood, whether that’s through fixing potholes, or reducing air pollution.
In the new year, it was confirmed that Barnet Council would receive an extra £1.2 million from the Government for road maintenance. This is the third highest figure across all London boroughs. On top of this, just this week, the Department for Transport announced an extra £500 million would be unlocked from April to fund further road maintenance alongside the Local Government Authority. This will support authorities to fix up to 7 million potholes around the country.
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More widely, it was great to see so many residents involved in Earthwatch’s ‘Tiny Forest’ initiative this week. Volunteers planted 1,800 new trees by the North Circular in Finchley to tackle air pollution in the area. Students from Brookland Infant and Nursery School, Kerem Primary School, Moss Hall Nursery, Brooklands Junior School and Henrietta Barnett School participated in the day. Allowing biodiversity to thrive in the city allows for greener, healthier spaces which we can all enjoy.
I want residents to love their neighbourhoods, so your survey responses are important. Please do continue to send them through to my office, and I hope we can deliver on as many of your ideas as possible.