RESIDENTS’ PROTESTS IGNORED

Residents protest outside the Town Hall over road closures introduced as part of the ‘Mini Holland’ scheme

The recent protest by over 1,200 residents against the road closures in Walthamstow and Leyton showed that the Council’s Mini Holland plans, including closing local roads, does not have the support of all residents despite the Council saying that they had.

Protesters not against the scheme or cyclists, but against road closures

The protesters went out of their way to say that they were not against the scheme or cyclists, but against the road closures. The Council’s plans have succeeded in causing division and anger across the Borough. The closing of roads has forced vehicles onto the already congested main roads like Lea Bridge, Hoe Street, and Leyton High Road and has resulted in a massive slow down of traffic, increased congestion and increased pollution.

Congestion and pollution bad for all

All of this is detrimental to residents, cyclists, pedestrians and bus users. Focus Team member Bob Sullivan, who was in the Town Hall listening to the Mini Holland debate, was appalled by the Labour Council restricting residents from hearing the debate, as they only allowed 12 protesters in, although the chamber can hold over a hundred. He was shocked by the arrogant, illiberal attitude with which Labour Councillors treated residents’ concerns. They were not prepared to review the Mini Holland plans despite residents’ requests and their own Labour MP’s request.

Council continues to ignore residents

They are, in fact, going to ignore residents and continue to put in similar divisive plans across Leyton, Leytonstone and Chingford!

LOCAL TUBE STATION TICKET OFFICE CLOSURES TO BEGIN

Leyton Station Ticket Office first for the chop!

Waltham Forest E-Guardian 8:01am Friday 27th March 2015

Ticket offices at Tube stations across Waltham Forest will begin to close in the coming weeks.

The office at Leyton Station, scheduled to close in April, will be the first to go, followed by Blackhorse Road, Leytonstone and Walthamstow Central.

Closure works take around a month, except Walthamstow Central which could take up to three.

Labour London Assembly Member Jennette Arnold has condemned the move, claiming the move will leave passengers with less staff support.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson’s plan to close all the capital’s tube ticket offices will cost taxpayers almost £134million, Ms Arnold said.

She described the cost as “staggering”.

The £134million will fund additional ticket machines in 27 London stations, four new customer receptions and the conversion of 181 ticket offices for other uses.

Jennette Arnold said:

This argument isn’t about whether staff are based in ticket offices or not.

It is about whether there are enough staff in stations to provide the good service people in Waltham Forest have come to expect, particularly the elderly and disabled who often rely more on station staff for assistance.

The closures in Waltham Forest are expected to be completed by the end of the year.

LANGTHORNE ROAD FOOTBRIDGE REFURBISHMENT

Works commence Monday 16 March

Transport for London (TfL) has announced that work will include a new enclosureand new lighting to improve visibility and reduce anti-social behaviour. This will incvlude some work to strenthen the footbridge.

Period of work

Work will begin on Monday 16 March and will last approximately 16 weeks, or until the works are completed with the agreement of the local Council. The working hours will be from 21.30 to 05.00 at night and 08.00 to 16.00 Monday to Friday.

The strengthening works, taking place under the footbridge, are due to be carried out at night from 16 March until 3 April.

The surface renewal, enclosure and lighting replacement are to to be carried out during the day from 30 March until 26 June.

TfL says that every effort will be made to ensure that noisy operations are completed berfore midnight, but explain that vehicle reversing beepers are essential safety devices.

During bridge closures pedestrian and cyclist diversions will be clearly signposted.

TfL Contact

For further information or an update while work is underway, contact the Customer Services Department on 0845 305 1234,  or via the web at www.tfl.gov.uk/contact or via vemail at customerservices@tfl.gov.uk

 

LONDON ASSEMBLY LIB DEM PROPOSALS

Improving London’s environment for everyone, building more homes, and making fares much fairer

BY LONDON LIBERAL DEMOCRATS | UPDATED 28 JANUARY 2015

Improstephen_vince_small.jpgving London’s environment for everyone, building more homes and making fares much fairer are at the centre of a radical set of proposals put forward by the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group in their amendment to the Mayor’s budget.

Speaking ahead of today’s meeting at City Hall where the London Assembly will consider the Mayor’s draft budget Caroline Pidgeon AM, Leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group said:

There are real social and environmental pressures facing London as our population rapidly grows. Our proposals are firmly rooted in meeting these challenges.

Our Lib Dem plan will deliver cleaner air and less congested roads. It will deliver a better environment for every Londoner.

Our changes to the Mayor’s budget will also provide more affordable homes, helping to address London’s chronic shortage of homes for people on low and middle incomes, helping to keep families living in the capital.

We will also make London a fairer city. We would reverse the Mayor’s harsh fare hike facing off peak travellers who live in outer London. And in every part of the capital we will drive up the adoption of the London Living Wage and ensure real action is taken against rogue landlords.

Key aspects of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly budget amendment include:

  • Tackling London’s appalling air pollution and also reducing congestion on our roads, which is currently a huge burden for London’s businesses. Specific proposals include smart congestion charging; the introduction of a workplace parking levy in central London and real action to reduce diesel vehicles entering central London.
  • Reversing the immense fare hike on off peak travel for people in outer London. Other key fare changes include the introduction of a one hour bus ticket and lower fares for people travelling on all Tube, DLR and TfL Overground services before 7.30 am.
  • Making London a more attractive city to travel around by foot and on bike, including expanding the cycle hire scheme into south east London and better provision for cyclists across the whole capital
  • Creating a new £2 billion housing investment fund – funded by prudential borrowing – more than doubling the number of affordable homes delivered across London
  • Cutting waste in the Metropolitan Police Service such as the provision of chauffeur driven cars and flats for senior police officers, but strengthening Safer Neighbourhood Teams and putting extra resources into the teams that investigate rape and sexual assault against children.
  • Making London a fairer place through real action against rogue landlords and the wider adoption of the London Living Wage.

CITY AIRPORT WANTS MORE FLIGHTS – MORE NOISE?

London City Airport

Waltham Forest E Guardian – 28 January 2015

An airport has refused to attend a public meeting as it plans to go ahead with flight path changes which campaigners claim will cause a “noise ghetto” for those living under it.

London City Airport is planning to implement new technology to enable a much narrower and concentrated corridor over Wanstead, Leytonstone and Leyton.

Campaign group HACAN East believes this will increase the noise level for people living in these areas and wants the plan scrapped.

The airport will submit its proposal to the Civil Aviation Authority by the end of February, and if the plan is passed, it could be implemented in early 2016.

In a letter to the airport from deputy leader of Waltham Forest council, Cllr Clyde Loakes, he requested a further public meeting on March 2.

He said:

“I remain concerned that a significant proportion of residents are still unaware of the introduction of the RNAV technology and the impact that this will have on the quality of life of those living under the flight paths.

“I think it would therefore be useful if residents were able to hear from you directly about the next steps that will be taken and how the technology will be rolled out.”

But in reply, Jeremy Probart of London City Airport, ruled out attending a public meeting in the near future.

He said:

“There is very little that we can add to this currently, and feel that a public meeting, such as the one you suggest, would actually be counter-productive.

“We know that some people are opposed to the proposals (and the objections received have been incorporated in the report to the CAA) and a meeting in March would not be able to offer anything in the way of further information, which may simply serve to inflame, rather than to assuage.

“Therefore we will respectfully decline the opportunity you have outlined. If such a meeting were to take place, it would make sense to hold it after the CAA’s decision on the proposals and slightly before the replicated flight paths take effect.”

To sign the petiton:

https://www.change.org/p/city-airport-stop-the-current-proposal-to-concentrate-departures-from-city-airport-over-a-narrow-corridor-of-south-london-catford-dulwich-brixton-stockwell-and-vauxhall-east-london-bow-hackney-wick-leyton-leytonstone-wanstead-barkingside-colliers-row?recruiter=9107754&utm_campaign=twitter_link_action_box&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=share_petition

BUSES W11 and W15 – RETURN TO PALMERSTON ROAD

Transport for London (TfL) has announced that works on the railway bridge in Palmerston Road have now finished, and they expect that the Palmerstone Road will re-open on Monday 8 December.

As a result routes W11 and W15 will return to their original route via Palmerstone Road from the first bus on Saturday 14 December.

There were requests from residents and businesses to keep route W15 on its temporary diversion once Palmerston Road was re-opened. This was looked at in detail, but keeping W15 on the temporary diversion and returning W11 to the original routeing could lead to overcrowding on route W11. Furthermore, route W15 is currently experiencing reliability issues on the diversion. Therefore returning W15 to its oeiginal route is seen as the preferred option.

TfL say that they will continue to look at some of the opportunities that were created by the temporary routing of W15, and the Liberal Democrats will keep you in touch with any developments.

RUCKHOLT ROAD – goes Dutch!

Waltham Forest Council is one of the few Councils, successful in their bid to Transport for London for ‘Mini Holland’ funds to radically improve cycling in the borough. One of the areas for improvement is Ruckholt Road.

At a consultation meeting in Leyton Library, Lib Dem Focus Team member, Bob Sullivan had a chance to discuss the plans with officers and residents. Overall the scheme looks innovative and will assist safer cycling in the area. Bob outlined many small changes that would improve the scheme for cyclists and residents. The main one was allowing a left turn from Oliver Road into Ruckholt Road. Blocking the left turn would only encourage vehicle rat running.

He also said that the present bus stop in Ruckholt Road by the library should not be moved to Warren Road. The area in Warren Road is constantly used by motorists to park and shop locally in the High Road.

He also felt that the two current CPZs need to be combined and the times of operation extended.

Bob says: My full list of comments and suggestions has been sent to the Council. This website will keep you informed of developments.

LEA BRIDGE ROAD – FAULTY BUS STOP INDICATOR – update!

The Lib Dems have been chasing Transport for London (TfL) for an update on progress for the repair and reinstatement of the Countdown indicator on the shelter, in Lea Bridge Road,  for buses going towards Whipps Cross.

TfL has advised that they currently have a problem with the power supply at this stop which they are seeking to resolve. At the moment they are not able to estimate the completion date.

They offer apologies for the delay and are seeking to restore this useful service as soon as possible.