In our first councillor’s column since May’s poll, newly-elected Arnos Grove councillor Paul Pratt discusses the key issues affecting the ward

Adrian Grumi and I are both newly-elected Conservative councillors to the brand new Enfield Council ward of Arnos Grove.

Firstly, let’s address the elephant in the room: low-traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs)! In our manifesto, we pledged to remove them, but to do this we needed to bring the council into overall Conservative control. Instead, we are now at an impasse.

Having listened to residents and business owners in the ward, it is clear that LTNs remain a contentious issue and a matter of much distress and concern. It is our objective, along with the wider Conservative group, to effectively communicate this to the council. It will then be better positioned to consider how to engineer modifications and offer concessions with respect to LTNs across the borough.

Adrian and I stood for election to represent the people living in Arnos Grove, who are also our neighbours. It is our aim to hold the council to account and secure the services for which the residents and business owners pay their council tax and business rates. Arnos Grove deserves better!

As new councillors, we are keen to get to work and as such have picked up a significant amount of casework which we are relentlessly working our way through. With the help of local businesses, I have been assisting a person in need with food and access to welfare facilities, as the council’s out-of-hours service hasn’t been able to get to them. Outreach work with local communities is something that has always been of great importance to both of us. Ward surgeries are an extension of this, where matters of all kinds can be brought to our attention.

Our surgeries and forums will be commencing from September, with dates and locations to be published soon on our councillor web pages. Even if you can’t attend these, we are always available by appointment to attend to issues in Arnos Grove as they arise. To keep up to date with what we’re working on please check out my Twitter feed, @ttarpluap.

Other key issues in Arnos Grove which we will be looking to have oversight of, and intervene where necessary, are anti-social behaviour, crime, support for local businesses, public safety and wellbeing, and planning and development.

We look forward to serving you over the next four years and hopefully beyond!

Paul Pratt is a Conservative councillor for Arnos Grove, alongside Adrian Grumi who is also Conservative. If you are a ward resident you can get in touch:
Call 0204 534 2697
Email [email protected]

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