Secret wheeler dealing

it appears that a secret deal has been hatched between Boris’s Transport for London and the Labour Government Department of Transport. Both parties wouldn’t fund the East london Line phase 2. They’ve agreed to slice and cut services. The South London Line linking London bridge via South Bermondsey, Peckham, Denmark Hill to Victoria will be removed. Services via Denmark Hill will be severely cut.

The bare faced cheek to then receive a Labour leaflet campaigning against these cuts that their own government hatched and agreed is exactly the sort of shabbiness that gives politicians a bad name.

By all means campaign but make it clear to the local Labour MP’s that you’re angry that their government is telling their Departmant of Transport to do this and that it must stop.

Air pollution kills at least 3.2% of Southwark residents

The GLA has issued a report about air pollution – available here.

It claims at least 3,000 people die prematurely in London each year due to air pollution. to make matters worse this is based on average air pollution for England. We all know London air quality is some of the worst in England.

– 3,000 amongst 7 million population.
– Southwark’s population is 270,000 people.
– Life expectancy in Southwark is around 75 years.
– QED 3.2% at least of the Southwark population will die prematurely due to air pollution.

Truly frightening.
What is Boris doing to lead and help on this issue….accelerating traffic across London by reducing pedestrian crossing times.

Making Lordship Lane safer to cross

For most of us who live in East Dulwich, Lordship Lane defines our community.  Its importance to East Dulwich as a commercial, social and cultural centre is clear. But it also serves many other purposes too – as a bus route and a through route for traffic.

It is not surprising that everyone has a view about Lordship Lane.

Road safety is always top of the list when we ask people about how Lordship Lane could be improved – what has not always been clear is what should be done to improve the situation.

So we commissioned Living Streets to help us identify the problems on Lordship Lane. The Living Streets approach is simple but effective. They walk up and down the road with a group of local people and a clip board, identifying issues and talking about possible solutions.

This is exactly what a small gang of us did.  We identified loads of things that would improve the shopping experience on Lordship Lane.  But overwhelmingly, the one issue highlighted was that people shopping on Lordship Lane tend to walk up one side of the street or down the other. They rarely cross the street to reach a shop on the other side of the road and when they want to – they find it unpleasant, off-putting and down right dangerous.  That’s not just bad from a road safety point of view. By degrading our shopping experience it threatens the lifeblood of our local shops and encourages particularly the elderly and families to head for the safety of Sainsbury’s or White City. Better crossing points – especially outside Somerfield – was the number one way to improve things.

So that is what we have been working on and we have now got to the point where we have designed and consulted upon new crossings on Lordship Lane – at the Goose Green roundabout and outside Somerfield.

The initial results indicate that the plans are supported by over 80% of people who responded.

There is still some way to go – not least to persuade Transport for London that providing a safe crossing point won’t interfere too much with the bus timetables. I hope that in the end the road safety arguments and the need to promote our local shops in the current climate will win the day.

Why does government blocks anit fuel poverty bill?

On Friday the Labour government blocked a bill to end fueld poverty by 2016. Fuel poverty is wher epeople have to decice whether to eat of heat their homes. Erradicating fuel poverty involves installing lots of insulation. Installing insulation is labour intensive. Saving fuel bills reduce climate heating. People without either enough heat or food are more likely to be ill or stay ill or worse.

The bill has the support of Help the Aged, Friends ofthe Earth and many other worthy organisations.

It seems truly bizarre that a Labour government blocked such a clear anti povery measure that helps prevent people being ill, fight climate heating and creates employment very efficiently.  

E.coli 0157 and children

E.coli 0157 is an infection that can prove fatal especially for children younger than 10 or older people. Those that survive this infection will very often have serious ongoing medical conditions – impaired kidney function, kidney failure and need dialysis.

Children are particularly at risk as their immune system isn’t fully developed. They’re also much more likely to put fingers or toys in mouths, or not wash hands properly. Even family vehicles need to be kept clean if they do near manure, slurry, dung or sewage.

It appears to be much more prevalent than in the past and can be avoided by excellent hygiene.

With easter coming up, if you have plans to visit farms, the countryside, zoo or other leisure facility with animals then do use the following advice:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/publications/2003/06/17334/22401

Equally if you’re planning to rent a holiday cottage that has private drinking water supplies then check it has no livestock within 50m as this infection has been found in springs or boreholes especially on farmland.

3rd runway at Heathrow

I wrote to our local MP Tessa Jowell about the Labour Governments appalling decision to approve a third runway at Heathrow Airport.

Air travel and to a lesser degree road building are the only areas this government predicts the increase and the associaited increase in pollutuion and then provides it. If you want to produce any other pollution in any other industry you eiher are not allowed or must pay extra e.g. Carbon Credits.

If you want to read the reply she sent me and see all the platitudes then please follow the following link – clearly a stock answer for the many thousands who have written in across:

http://www.tessajowell.net/uploads/fdecc393-b238-3644-1d5b-779f340f2499.pdf

 SHAME.

East London Line – phase 2

Today the phase two extension fo the East London Line to Clapham Junction was finally announced. This will create a route from Mile End to Calpham Junction via Canada Water, Peckham, Camberwell (Denmark Hill) to Clapham. great if you don’t want to get into central London. Unfortunately this is probably a sop to recompense for the closure of the South London Line which did link two parts of central London via Peckham and Camberwell/Denmark Hill. Getting the former and keeping latter would have seen a real transformation for South Londoners travel options. Recently trains via East Dulwich and North Dulwich to East Croydon, where users could change for a variety of services, were stopped.

So Southwark rail users find thing worse  in the short term. Longer term we instead get a kind of stasis – swapping the South London Line for East London Line phase 2.

The one thing that would change the game would be extending the Bakerloo line to Denmark Hill……

Dulwich Leisure Centre – complete renovation approval

Tuesday night the culmination of three years hard work from East Dulwich councillors and council officers, planning permission for the complete renovation of the council Leisure centre in East Dulwich was given. Phew.

The original recognition came during the East Dulwich campaign in January 2006 that the centre was sub standard and unacceptable. It hadn’t had major investment in over fifty Labour years. On the door steps and in resident surveys many had expressed dissatisfaction. Our own personal experiences bore this out.

So the new renovated leisure centre will have a new DDA compliant entrance on Crystal Palace Road. The swimming pool will have more space around the actual pool making circulation easier and only for actual swimmers. It will also have a proper viewing area so parents can see their kids learning to swim. The pool will be changed from 27m to competition sized 25m. The main gym will be revamped. New dance studios and a cafe.

Overall it is anticipated that the numbers of users will increase to around 50,000 a year. Over half already walk to the centre. 8/9 schools that use the centre walk already.

Wherever possible insulation to modern standard will be installed. New air recycling and heat exchangers and plant. Overall a dramatic reduction in the energy used and CO2 produced to run the centre.

Cllr Richard Thomas and I persuaded the planning committee that the plans needed to have added roof insulation above the swimming pool and gym hall.

This scheme is one of the reasons I enterred local politics. Making sure local services are something we can all be proud of.

Heathrow – Government gives up on the environment

Today the Labour government announced a third runway at Heathrow. It has decided to sacrifice carbon emissions, noise pollution and the huge detrimental impacts on millions of residents in London and South-East England.

I often travel through London’s airports on business. I much more often use voice conference calls and video conference calls. If I have to travel my company pays the market price. I have all the flight connections from London I could need. I’m spoilt for choice and can time my flights out and return easily.

So why do we need to increase the number of flights from Heathrow from the current 480,000 flights to 720,000! 

But the majority of people using Heathrow and other airports are travelling for leisure. This is ridiculously cheap. Expanding Heathrow will make air travel even cheaper as its doesn’t pay for the noise pollution, carbon emissions it causes. Air travel also pays little tax compared to other forms of transport.

It will mean more flights flying over Southwark epseically Camberwell and East Dulwich. The Government hasn’t even announced an end to night flights as a tiny compromise.

More fundamentally why does a Labour government want to ensure air travel becomes cheaper and easier so that wealthier UK residents can travel abroad to spend money and create jobs abroad. We want this money spent in the UK creating jobs in the UK. Truly bizarre government policy.

Do you think air travel should be expanded or limited?

Should we encourage UK residents to spend money in the UK creating jobs or abroad?