Category Archives: Mayor of London

Sudbury councillors press Mayor of London to act on Sudbury rail services

Posted on August 24, 2012 | Leave a comment

Sudbury’s Liberal Democrat councillors have welcomed the fact that Transport for London has expressed support for improved services at Sudbury’s two stations.

In response to a question from London Assembly Liberal Democrat Leader Caroline Pidgeon, Mayor of London Boris Johnson said he would write a letter to Chiltern Railways expressing his concerns about the reduction in service at Sudbury and Harrow Road Station and Sudbury Hill, Harrow.

Sudbury Liberal Democrat councillor Paul Lorber, who has consistently campaigned for improved rail services for local residents, said:

We need a bit more from the Mayor of London that writing a letter. More frequent trains would make the service from Sudbury to Marylebone much more attractive for local commuters and leisure users alike.

The Managing Director of Chiltern Railways has told me that he doesn’t believe the political will exists to provide improved services at Sudbury’s station. We need a more sustained commitment by the Mayor of London and Transport for London to prove otherwise.

 Cllr Paul Lorber and fellow Sudbury councillor Chandubhai Patel are angry that the previous Labour Government extended the Chiltern Franchise beyond 2020 without obtaining guarantees for a better service for Sudbury passengers.

 Caroline Pidgeon’s question was (Sudbury rail services, Question No: 1828 / 2012):

Caroline Pidgeon: Chiltern Railways are proposing to reduce the number of services that stop at Sudbury station. What representations will you make to Chiltern Railways to ensure that this group of Londoners do not lose their rail services?

Written response from the Mayor: I am very frustrated that a further reduction in service frequency is proposed for the December 2012 timetable change at Sudbury station. While the introduction of a clock-face timetable has some benefits, the reduced frequencies in London that result are unacceptable.

For over two years TfL, alongside MPs, boroughs, London TravelWatch and users groups, has been pressing for improvements and put detailed proposals for enhancements to Chiltern Railways and Network Rail as recently as March 2012. Disappointingly, Chiltern and Network Rail have said they are unable to implement any frequency improvements at these stations because this would risk affecting the performance of their services.

This is an unacceptable situation and I will be writing to Chiltern Railways to voice my concerns about the continuing degradation of services.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Campaigns, Mayor of London, Transport

Tagged , , , ,

Brent residents endure yet another Jubilee Line closure

Posted on June 30, 2012 | Leave a comment

Local Liberal Democrats have condemned the news that the Jubilee Line will be closed yet again this Sunday (1 July) for engineering works. It’s a further broken promise from Mayor of London Boris Johnson.

Transport for London plans to shut the line between Finchley Road and London Bridge to allow for points replacement.

Liberal Democrat transport spokesperson Daniel Brown said:

Jubilee Line passengers had been told by the Mayor that the years of disruption they suffered were over. Now we learn that points need replacing. Passengers deserve an explanation as to why this work is required so soon after the upgrade works were completed.

Local residents are being treated as third class passengers. Points replacement work on the east end of the line has mainly taken place overnight. It is unacceptable that Brent residents have their service cancelled instead.

Jubilee Line passengers are long overdue compensation for the Mayor’s abject failure to provide them with a decent and reliable service.

Next Sunday’s closure is the latest in a long line of broken promises by the Mayor about Jubilee Line closures. The Mayor of London first pledged that weekend closures would end by Spring 2011. He then said they would end by August 2011. In fact the works and weekend closures continued well into autumn 2011. The have been over 120 Jubilee Line closures in total.

In August 2011 Lib Dem London Assembly member Caroline Pidgeon uncovered the cost of the weekend closures which was £15.7 million in lost fares and £13 million on replacement buses since April 2007.

Since then the Jubilee Line has continued to be plagued by problems and unreliability. It is the line that connects more Olympic venues than any other.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Mayor of London, Transport

Tagged , ,

Dollis Hill councillor demands answers on Brent Cross Shopping Centre ‘secret deal’

Posted on June 21, 2012 | Leave a comment

Dollis Hill Liberal Democrat councillor Alison Hopkins has demanded that the Mayor of London comes clean on whether he is preparing to do a secret deal that could result in a massive and virtually uncontrolled expansion of Brent Cross shopping centre.

A recent newspaper report has linked the Conservative MP for Croydon Central, Gavin Barwell, with suggestions that Boris Johnson could permit Brent Cross shopping centre to double in size. The deal is said to involve Hammerson withdrawing plans for a development in Croydon in return for Boris Johnson relaxing conditions associated with the planned Brent Cross expansion. The Croydon MP is due to meet the Mayor later this month.

The losers would be local residents in Brent, who would lose what little protection the existing conditions provide and suffer from the congestion and pollution caused by thousands of extra cars on local roads each day.

Sarah Teather MP and former Lib Dem councillor Alec Castle speaking at the Brent Cross planning meeting with Alison Hopkins in the background

Alison Hopkins (in the background) worked with Sarah Teather MP and former councillor Alec Castle on the Brent Cross planning application

Councillor Hopkins, who has a long record of campaigning with the Coalition for a Sustainable Brent Cross Cricklewood Development, said:

It is crucial that Boris Johnson clarifies his position and makes public the content of his discussions with Croydon MP Gavin Barwell. Brent residents deserve better than to be the collateral damage of a stitch-up designed to spare Conservative blushes in Croydon.

Cllr Hopkins has written to the Mayor of London and briefed Liberal Democrat members of the London Assembly.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Environment, Mayor of London, Planning

Tagged , , , , , ,

Cricklewood drops off Brent Labour’s map

Posted on February 16, 2012 | Leave a comment

Councillor Sami HashmiMapesbury Liberal Democrat Sami Hashmi wrote to the Wembley and Willesden Observer about the successful Cricklewood Outer London Fund grant:

Dear Editor,
 
Has Cricklewood dropped off the map? As far as Labour politicians at Brent Town Hall are concerned the place might as well not exist, going by the recent comments of George Crane and other Labour councillors.
 
I share his disappointment that the Outer London Fund bids he made failed. But I am shocked that he failed to give any credit to the residents of Cricklewood who successfully gained £1.6m from the Fund to invest in our community on both sides of the A5 borough boundary.
 
Admittedly, at first he and his Labour colleagues were not supportive. But when the Liberal Democrat Mapesbury ward councillors put down a motion calling on Brent Council to back the bid, we were delighted that all sides of the council chamber agreed with us. As a result the bid gained the formal backing of Brent Council – a key step in making it successful.
 
The £1.6 million will make a big contribution to revitalising  Cricklewood by supporting local buisinesses and young people, enhancing shop fronts,  and making other physical improvements requested by residents such as tree planting and improving access for cyclists.
 
How sad that instead of celebrating this achievement Labour have chosen to ignore it completely, because of their original preference that Cricklewood should miss out on the money.
 
Yours faithfully
 
Cllr Sami Hashmi
Lib Dem, Mapesbury

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Community, Environment, Liberal Democrats, Mayor of London

Tagged , , , , ,

Local Councillors and residents in Sudbury welcome Bus Stop back!

Posted on May 16, 2011 | Leave a comment

Local residents and councillors have welcomed the news that a bus stop which was mysteriously moved last year will be placed back at its original locations following a consultation with residents.

A number of residents in Watford Road, Sudbury were angry that a bus stop was moved without any consultation in July last year.  The bus stop, which used to be outside the parade of shops in Sudbury Town at 36 Watford Road for many years, was moved further down the road and then disappeared completely.

This meant many residents with mobility problems faced a longer walk to the stop and the residents of the houses outside which the new bus stop was placed, faced problems of obstruction when trying to get in and out of their driveways. Local residents and councillors called for the bus stop to be reinstated in its original place just 50 metres down the road outside the shops.

Liberal Democrat Councillors for the area, Cllr Paul Lorber and Cllr Chandubhai Patel, called on London Buses to take action to resolve the problem and move the bus stop back to its original locations familiar to local people.

Liberal Democrat Leader Cllr Paul Lorber also sent a petition to Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, signed by local residents demanding a return of their bus stop in Watford Road, near Vale Farm Sports Centre and Sudbury Neighbourhood Centre.

The bus stop outside the shops at 36 Watford Road, Sudbury had been in position for over 30 years without any problems, however last year it was relocated to outside numbers 62/64 Watford Road without any consultation with local people or local councillors.

Thankfully, the Council and Transport for London have now seen sense after a public consultation on the road way along Watford Road and have decided to move the stop back as part of road improvements in the whole of Sudbury Town. They promise to have the bus stop back in its original location in August 2011.

Speaking about the issue, local councillor Chandubhai Patel said,

“This has taken far too long to sort out. There was no reason to move the bus stop in the first place and now the Council and TfL have just caused a lot of upset and wasted a lot of effort. I’m pleased residents have managed to be victorious however, it’s a victory for common sense!”

Local resident and Chair of Pensioners’ Forum, Vi Steele, added,

“Many elderly residents were quite concerned by the bus stop move. It meant they had to walk much further than necessary. I’m glad that local people have been listened to and the bus stop is being put back to its original place which is the best for local people. Our thanks go to Councillors Lorber and Patel for all their help.”

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Campaigns, Liberal Democrats, Mayor of London, Planning, Transport

Tagged , , , , ,

Less than half of Brent’s bus stops are properly accessible, say Liberal Democrats

Posted on April 18, 2011 | Leave a comment

Liberal Democrats in Brent today slammed the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, for allowing shocking standards of accessibility in the borough’s transport system, with less than half of the borough’s bus stops meeting accessibility standards. Liberal Democrat Councillors are joining campaigners Transport For All in calling for more accessible bus stops and are urging Brent Council to help remedy the situation.

Only around 43% of Brent’s bus stops are accessible for people with reduced mobility and a shocking 21 out of the borough’s 27 tube stations have no step free access, meaning the vast majority of public transport access points are not accessible for disabled people in Brent.

Liberal Democrats and Transport For All are calling on Brent Council to take note of the situation and to fix it when they develop their ‘Local Implementation Plan’, which explains how the borough will implement Mayor’s Transport Strategy in the borough.

Speaking about the problem, Cllr Daniel Brown, Liberal Democrat Spokesman for Transport said,

“This is just outrageous. It’s difficult to believe that in this day and age we can still allow such poor services to be delivered. The fact that less than half of Brent’s bus stops are not accessible to people in a wheelchair or with walking difficulties is just beyond belief. Brent Council needs to get together with TfL and put in place a sensible plan for how they’re going to going to fix this.”

Lianna Etkind, Campaigns Coordinator at Transport for All added,

“Bus stop kerbs which are too steep, high or broken for a wheelchair ramp make bus travel difficult or impossible or wheelchair and scooter users. Every bus in London has a wheelchair ramp, but these are useless if they cannot be relied upon to work at more than half of bus stops. It’s high time that the council showed it is taking the independence and mobility of Brent’s disabled people seriously and fixed these bus stops”

More information about Transport For All can be found here: http://www.transportforall.org.uk/

Brent’s Local Implementation Plan (LIP) is a statutory document that sets out how the borough proposes to implement the Mayor’s Transport Strategy (MTS) in its area.  It takes into account the wishes of local politicians and stakeholders, regarding its geographical and policy context. The plan sets out detailed policies and programmes for every aspect of transportation, directed at achieving the sustainable and effective management of its street network. The plan represents a progressive approach to transport policy which the Transportation Service Unit is confident will deliver, on balance, the wishes of the majority of local people.

Brent’s local Implementation Plan is here: http://www.brent.gov.uk/transportation.nsf/Local%20Implementation%20Plan/LBB-50?OpenDocument&pp=200107

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Community Safety, Mayor of London, Transport

Tagged , , ,