The Cricklewood Nine call for common action to improve Cricklewood

10.38.40pm GMT Tue 3rd Nov 2009

Cricklewood Broadway - Lib Dems are calling for cross Borough action to improve Cricklewood town centre

Barnet Liberal Democrats are demanding that Barnet Council join with neighbouring Camden and Brent to encourage closer cooperation in Cricklewood.

The proposal is put forward by Cllr Jack Cohen, Leader of Barnet Liberal Democrat Council Group and Ward Councillor for Child's Hill, which includes Cricklewood. The nine Councillors for the three Wards in Barnet, Brent and Camden covering Cricklewood are all Liberal Democrats. They are working together to make Cricklewood a better place to live. They have named themselves "The Cricklewood Nine "

The Liberal Democrats are proposing that Barnet collaborates with its neighbouring Boroughs to provide a holistic approach to providing services to the residents living in and around Cricklewood.

Cricklewood and in particular Cricklewood Broadway straddle three separate Boroughs. Cllr Jack Cohen believes that local people find it difficult to know where the responsibility lies for particular services across Cricklewood. Cllr Cohen says there are many examples where there is confusion. No one is quite sure who is responsible for keeping the streets clean. Each Council seems to go its separate ways when it comes to planning and licensing. There is a lot of anti social drinking in the area. It is patrolled by three separate neighbourhood policing teams.

Cllr Cohen says "Cricklewood is a community that so often seems to be sidelined by the arbitrary local government boundaries. I suggest we investigate some kind of "Special Policy Zone" that would cut across Borough Boundaries so that we coordinate our approach to improving services to local residents"