Leading blogger states: "Praise be Pickles: Pity about your party activists"

Link to David Hencke web site

"Citizen journalists have as much right as anyone to attend and to share their views, and council ‘monitoring officers’ shouldn’t hide behind bogus concerns about ‘data protection’ or ‘human rights’."

Will Barnet Council now allow meetings to be recorded?

Link to the web site

"Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Eric Pickles said today:

"Local Government Minister Bob Neill has written to all councils, urging greater openness and calling on them to adopt a modern day approach, so that credible community or 'hyper-local' bloggers and online broadcasters get the same routine access to council meetings as the traditional accredited media have.

"The letter sent today reminds councils that local authority meetings are already open to the general public, which raises concerns about why in some cases bloggers and press have been barred."

New, Green Jobs at Mill Hill East?

The Economist: "The Little Society"

Link to The Economist

"The lowest tier of government in London is its 32 borough councils, serving an average population of around 250,000. But activists are hoping to set up new representative bodies, at a much more local level."

Barnet Times: "Residents in Mill Hill call meeting for showdown with Saracens over Copthall stadium plans"

Link to Barnet Times

"Dozens of people living around the stadium in Mill Hill are expected to attend the two-hour forum on 15 February, aimed at talking through a range of issues."

"The Spectator" comments on Barnet Council

Link to 'The Spectator'

"Barnet, which revealed last week that it was thinking of doing away with school crossing patrols ..., voted last year to increase its leader’s allowance by 55 per cent, to £54,000."