During the Mayoral election campaign Boris Johnson campaigned to keep permanently staffed ticket offices at every station. The promise was in his manifesto and he even signed a petition in 2008 against Ken Livingstone’s plans to shut ticket offices. However the Mayor has now announced that from February 2011 nine out of ten London Underground stations will have their ticket office opening hours reduced, including all four tube stations in Waltham Forest.The reductions in hours were strongly opposed by local Liberal Democrats when the idea was first proposed in March.At the time TfL said that ticket office staff would move out from behind their glass screens to help passengers. But now the Mayor has confirmed that the jobs will be axed instead. Consultation on the proposals has been poor with the information hidden away on TfL’s website.Any reduction in ticket office opening hours is likely to hit those most vulnerable such as the elderly, disabled and tourists the hardest. Across London, Liberal Democrats are stepping up the campaign to protect ticket office opening hours.
Boris’s plans put pedestrians at risk!
Transport for London is proposing the removal of pedestrian crossings at two busy locations in Waltham Forest as part of Boris Johnson’s attempt to increase traffic speeds.§ Forest Road by Hill Crest Road (Hale End and Highams Park ward)§ Hatch Lane by Ashwood Road (Hatch Lane ward)The Forest Road proposals seem particularly odd as the crossing forms part of the roadworks currently being carried out along Forest Road towards the Waterworks roundabout.TfL is consulting London boroughs at the moment so there is still time to campaign and influence the decision.
London City Airport – Noise campaign update!
Following residents protests and the Liberal Democrat led campaign about aircraft noise, Cllr Farooq Qureshi has been advised by the Town Hall that Waltham Forest has been granted membership of the London City Airport Consultative Committee.
Leyton and Wanstead Liberal Democrats and your local Focus teams say: “We hope that our membership will help us represent the concerns of our residents. Through this membership we should be able to make a case for our residents who have been adversely affected by the air noise pollution connected with London City Airport.”
Draper’s Field – Update
As you may have read the Labour Cabinet has agreed in principle to close Drapers Field for 16 months from September 2011. The Guardian archives show that over £1.5 million was spent installing the all-weather pitch (the only one in the borough), and upgrading the other sports facilities.
The Council Leader is reported to have said: “We would be able, through the compensation package, to completely refurbish Draper’s Field … we could turn it into a very special park.”
Leyton and Wanstead Liberal Democrats believes that we should not be closing a valued sports facility, which is used by 100,000 people a year, including Norlington School, which uses it 4 days a week.
If you believe that, as an Olympic borough, we should be cherishing our sporting facilities. Please sign our on-line petition at:
http://ourcampaign.org.uk/DrapersField
Lib Dems Push the Government to build new schools in Waltham Forest
Liberal Democrat councillors are pressing the Government to provide the money for new school buildings for our local children.
“Anyone who has visited schools such as Leytonstone, Norlington, Connaught and George Mitchell knows how much new buildings are needed. We owe it to the children of our borough to do all we can to provide them with the high quality education they deserve. This includes making sure that they can learn in decent surroundings,” said Liberal Democrat and Forest Ward Councillor Farooq Qureshi.
The Liberal Democrat group is hugely disappointed that the cancellation of the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme has hit local schools so badly. It is an enormous shame, but if Labour had made faster progress with the BSF schemes since 2003 we would not now be in the situation where more Waltham Forest schools have been stopped compared with other boroughs. However Lib Dem councillors believe the most important thing is what happens next.
Local campaigner Samina Safdar says: “BSF was a cumbersome, bureaucratic and expensive way of funding school buildings which funnelled money into the pockets of consultants and private contractors. The government has pledged to continue to invest in school buildings and the Liberal Democrats will be at the forefront of the campaign to make sure that Waltham Forest schools get their fair share of this spending.”
Olympic facelift for High Road
You may have read the news a few months ago, that Leyton High Road and the Ruckholt Road area are due to be given a facelift thanks to the Olympics.
Cllrs Sullivan, Smith and Qureshi from Leyton ward were invited to a meeting recently; to take a look at the changes that are being proposed to parts of Leyton High Rd over the coming years as we build up to the Olympics.
Almost £5 million is set to be spent in the area. Changes that are being proposed include new seating areas, shop frontages and lighting along the High Rd, in particular.
Although they are in their initial stages and subject to a consultation (which I am told is going to take place very soon) , some of the planned changes will, transform the area and give it a much needed facelift. Leyton and Wanstead Liberal Democrats have reservations, about a few proposed changes around the Leyton station area. The problems around Drapers Field and redevelopment are seperate from these proposals.
The officers concerned, visited the Leyton & Whipps Cross Community Council which took place last month and outlined initial plans to the members of the public who were in attendance.
Error in poll, Liberal democrats challenging the result
Leyton and Wanstead Liberal Democrats are challenging the result of the local election in High Street Ward. The council has admitted that it may have made an error when the votes were counted, because the number of votes recorded in the result was bigger than the number of votes actually cast.
Liberal Democrat Group Leader Councillor Bob Sullivan said:
”If a mistake at the count led to the wrong councillor being elected it is a very alarming error. The Liberal Democrats have consulted solicitors with experience in this area with a view to challenging the result. It is vital that residents can have confidence in the integrity of the local democratic process.”
Labour councillors vote to avoid scrutiny of their policies
Labour councillors at the Councils AGM voted to duck close examination of their policies by excluding Liberal Democrat councillors from six key council committees.In a cynical move the Labour Party voted to reduce the size of each scrutiny sub-committee to just five members, each consisting of three Labour councillors and two Conservative councillors but no Liberal Democrats.
“Labour is running scared of proper scrutiny,” said Liberal Democrat Group Leader Bob Sullivan, who also used the meeting to raise questions about primary school places, the EMD cinema and the Arcade site.“It is a bad sign that the first act of the Labour administration is to close down debate and discussion. They don’t seem to realise that residents expect councillors to work together on the many difficult challenges facing our area. Despite the problems caused by Labour’s actions the Lib Dem group will continue to speak up for local residents and fight for their interests.”Until last night’s Annual Council Meeting seven councillors served on each scrutiny sub-committee. This would have given the Liberal Democrats one seat on each committee. A Liberal Democrat attempt to halt the change was defeated by the Labour majority.The six scrutiny sub-committees deal with:
- Children and Young People
- Health, Adults and Older People
- Performance Improvement
- Community Safety and Housing
- Environment
Labour Councillor’s get rid of Chief Executive at enormous cost to local council taxpayers.
Leyton and Wanstead Liberal Democrats responded to the need to find savings at Waltham Forest council and Labour councillors’ decision to get rid of the council’s Chief Executive. Lib Dem Leader Bob Sullivan said:Gordon Brown’s economic legacy means that all levels of government have to make tough choices. Labour in Waltham Forest has got off to a bad start by seeking to get rid of the serving Chief Executive at enormous cost to the local taxpayer.The Liberal Democrats will campaign to protect crucial services that affect people’s lives. We will support measures to improve efficiency and cut out waste, bureaucracy and unnecessary spending.The council spends hundreds of thousands of pounds each year on marketing and communications and could save more if it employed fewer interim staff and consultants. It must make progress on the Arcade site and other projects where every delay costs local taxpayers money.It is vital that the measures announced by the council are considered properly by councillors and I will ask for full details to be submitted to the relevant scrutiny committee.