Camberwell Baths reopens

I was chuffed to see Camberwell Baths finally open on Monday.

Despite years of council officers telling us we should close Camberwell baths when the Lib Dems led Southwark Council we didn’t. It’s such an important hub for Camberwell being Camberwell. The specious argument was Camberwellites could go to the Peckham Pulse for a swim or to use a gym.

So we made it a manifesto pledge in 2006 as part of our Lib Dem promise to modernise all Southwark’s leisure centres. We won and allocated over £12M for this. It took longer to make happen than we ever expected with Dulwich Leisure Centre phase 1 completing recently and now Camberwell Leisure centre.

People say whats the point of politics. These are clear examples of where politicians and politics make a difference.

Nights Flights

A new report has been produced by Dutch economists CE DElft analysing the benefits and disbenefits of night flights arriving into Heathrow between 11pm and 6am. The current regime allowing night flights runs out October 2012.

Overall the report finds that the disbenefits out weight the benefits. Pretty obvious result really with millions of people having disturbed sleep under the flights paths contrasting with a few hundred people arriving in London in the middle of night. I suspect those passengers don’t feel that much ‘benefit’ arriving at that time in the middle of the night!

Other research shows that sleep deprivation isn’t just a matter of being a bit grumpy – its a killer drastically increasing the risk of strokes and heart attacks. So night flights isn’t some nimby issue its a public health issue on a vast scale.

Mental health

Over the next four years an extra £400m is planned for talking therapies by the Lib Dem / Tory coalition government. This should mean an extra 1.2 m people suffering from depression and anxiety will be treated rather than prescribed drugs or left with no treatment. Part of this is aim for early intervention with kids where apparently around half of kids who fail to complete secondary education have mental ill health. Amazingly 90% of prisoners have mental health problems.

Sadly this will only translate into around 500,000 people fully recovering with others showing various levels of relief from their symptoms.

It’s hoped this will result overall in £270m in savings to health-care and with people cured around £480m in extra taxes and welfare savings.

This will see another Lib Dem election pledge fulfilled but more importantly so many more people without disability from poor mental health plaguing their lives and the lives of people around them.

Taxicards

London has a Taxicard systemthat provides subsidised door-to-door transport for people who have serious mobility impairment and difficulty in using public transport. Taxicard holders make journeys in licensed London taxis and private hire vehicles, and the subsidy applies directly to each trip.This Scheme is funded by participating London boroughs which includes Southwark Council. London Councils Transport and Environment Committee (TEC) manages the London Taxicard Scheme on their behalf with the Taxicard able to be used anytime, 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year.

The Lib Dem London Assembly Leader Caroline Pidgeon has for some time been campaigning for improvements to the dial-a-ride scheme that together with Taxicard helps disabled people be more independent despite their disabilities. Frankly both schemes need to be fully reviewed and we’ve been calling for this for some time.

The London Councils TEC controlled by Labour and Conservative councillors is looking for drastic savings to the Taxicard scheme by implementing big reductions in the number of trips allowed, pricing rises, etc. These savings are being hastily implemented.  One aspect is a moratorium on new users joining the scheme. This seems outrageously unfair.

This seems doubly unfortunate considering the Taxicard system contract is up for renewal in 2011.

What is needed is a full review of the Taxicard and dial-a-ride schemes. IF a short term expedient is required to save money it needs to be done in a more considered less knee jerk manner. Such a review would then feed into the re contracting.

Less speed more haste to get a fare scheme at the right price is needed. As things stand borough will go their own way and we’ll see more of a post code lottery for this disability support.

Platforms 17, 18 and 19 at London Bridge

Until the 1970’s London Bridge had 3 more terminating platforms.

You can see where they were in this photo taken recently. The station roof is still present.

london-bridge-platforms-17-to-19.jpg

At the local history unit you can see old plans showing 9 terminating platforms.

Under the Thameslink changes at London Bridge 6 through platforms become 9 and 9 terminating platforms become 6. As a result the South London Line is planned to be CLOSED in 2012.

Its clear from the above picture that actually enough space exists to keep 9 terminating platforms – by reopening the three closed in 1970’s.

Hopefully, the London Bridge station redevelopment will need new planning permission at some point and objectors can suggest this solution and KEEP the South London Line open. Apart from keeping all those commuters with direct train services – it keeps three great hospitals joined together.

Chocolate boycott

I was saddened last year to hear how Cadbury’s had been left to be swallowed up by Kraft in a mega chocolate takeover. Clearly the business policies of the last Labour Government was anything goes – even the US would’nt be that laissez faire about such takeovers.

This disappointment turned to anger over the weekend when I read that Kraft is planning to rearrange asset ownership so that the Cadbury brand will be owned from Swizterland side stepping circa £200M of yearly UK taxes. This also puts pressures on economies to be out compete each other on ever lower taxation and public spending – a world of the lowest possible denominator.

For me this means I’ve stopped eating Cadbury chocolate. As Cadbury own Green & Blacks I’ve also stopped eating their chocolate. IF you think not paying UK corporation taxes through such accountancy and legal shenanigans – then don’t eat their stuff. It’s made doubly worse by Nestle being Cadbury’s main competitor and Swiss based. So this boycott generally means no more chocolate. Anyojne who knows me this is a real sacrifice!

Jon this boycott it might also do me, you and the nation some good!

Southwark social care

The latest assessment of Southwark Councils social care for financial year 09_10 when the Lib Dems led is that Southwark was performing ‘well’. This is clearly a big step up from the previous years performing ‘adequately’. Which without change followed the previous ‘outstanding’ which was decided under a different regime.

How this grading can oscillate so much with fundamentally small change I think says more about the bodies measuring the performance than it does about Southwark Councils social care.

Either-way, well done Cllr David Noakes who politically led social care during 09_10 and all the officers, volunteers and residents this performance relates to.

Fuel Poverty

Fuel Poverty is when someone needs to spend over 10% of their income after tax to keep warm. The point at which they have to start deciding whether to eat or keep warm. Clearly the Winter Fuel and Cold Weather payments help and will remain.

In the last five years the proportion of homes in Fuel Poverty rose from 2.8million households in 2007 to 4.6million households in 2009. This is largely from energy price rises but also where home insulation has taken place its not sufficiently reached the most vulnerable.

A few weeks ago the Green Deal was announced which energy companies will support via Energy Company Obligations aimed at poorer customers. This will initially target poorer homes and undertake the hard as well as easy insulation e.g. solid wall insulation. This will take time to implement on all UK homes. While the Green Deal takes effect, and from April 2011, by law energy companies will have to give rebates to more of their most vulnerable customers – the Warm Home Discount. This discount is expected to help 2million households a year to the tune of £1.1billion a year.

That clearly leaves a gap so the speed of the Green Deal implementation will be crucial to end Fuel Poverty by 2016.

 

Greener health

The new Southwark Labour led administration is about to approve its Tree Strategy.

As a Lib Dem we were planting 400 centrally funded trees a year – roughly the replacement rate – with other Cleaner, Greener, Safer funding for new trees. So overall we were making the borough greener.

Anyway, this new Tree Strategy decision comes at the same time as some research about how people, but especially kids, living in greener areas are healthier and less obese. The American Journal of Preventative Medicine vol 35, P547 reported that children living in greener urban areas compared to less green urban areas were on average 6 kgs lighter with less depression, back and neck problems, lung problems, asthma, migraines, diabetes. You name it they were not just lighter be healthier. Even more amazing was that this effect was independent of socio-economic backgrounds.

So does the new Southwark Tree Strategy look to green our urban areas?

Nope. At best it looks to maintain the status quo with real risk of slipping back and not even planting new trees at a the renewal rate. But Southwark is exactly the place where we need huge expansion in street trees for a step imprvement in health we now know can happen by greening our areas.

Noise kills!

A new study has found that living under a flight path increases the risk of having a heart attack. The Swiss study discovered that people exposed to a daily average noise levels of at least 60 decibels are 30% more at risk of dying of a heart attack than those exposed to less that 45 decibels. Among those exposed to the higher decibel levels for 15 or more years, the risk was 50 per cent higher. Up to 200,000 people under the Heathrow flight paths experience noise averaging out at over 60 decibels.To read more about the report: Living under a flight path ‘can increase your risk of heart attack .

The report, ‘Aircraft Noise, Air Pollution, and Mortality from Myocardial Infarction’ can be read in Epidemiology, November 2010, Volume 21, Issue 6, pp 829-836. doi:10.1097/EDE.0b013e3181f4e634

But this study has potentially far reaching implications. Many homes are close to roads and railway lines with 60dB noise contours. More often than not poorer people live along such noise corridors. Perhaps this research will start to explain why poorer people more heart attacks and other illness.