Westminster church goers said NO to proposed weekend & evening parking charges
Following Cllr Colin Barrow’s tip toeing exit from office as leader of Westminster Council, rumours are rife about who can actually lay claim for his departure.
Very few council leaders are subjected to the sort of onslaught which beset him following the fiasco over the proposed parking charges in the West End. Pretty much everyone, cross party, locally and nationally were against the idea. I’m sure even the Pope would have had a word or two to say if asked; which brings me nicely to my point. Because, contrary to popular belief it was not the well run Evening Standard or the flurry of other media campaigns which dealt the final blow. I’m pretty clear it was the churches. Had the ex council leader not messed with the Sunday worshippers, then he may just have got away with it. Thank goodness he didn’t!
This whole episode reminded me of my days as a councillor a few years back when I attended a centennial dinner to mark the formation of the City of Westminster. During the event, I noticed a very strong clergy presence from places like Westminster Abbey & Westminster Cathedral. When l asked why this was, l was politely told that before the Council came into being, the churches ran things for 400-500 years in the City. You only have to look at the primary schools in the borough, to be reminded of their past roles and continuing presence. So, well before the local press, businesses and celebrities jumped on the evening and weekend parking band wagon, it was the churches and their congregations which mobilised to fight the cause.
If there is a lesson to be learned for local politicians, it is, don’t dare to take on the churches on such matters although the whole of Westminster has much to thank them for; bless them.
January 24, 2012
Just when we thought Bangladesh was safe from the military coming back into power as it clearly appears to be in Pakistan, we hear confirmation of the rumours that have been going around over the recent christmas break of a coup attempt.
Senior military officials made their annoucement today and ably reported by Bdnews24.com that middle ranking officers attempted a coup of the civilian government of Shiekh Hasina, Awami League on the 22nd of December. Many of them were members of the banned Hizb ut-Tahrir Islamist group. We also hear allegation of non-resident Bangladeshi (NRB) involvement as well by the senior officers of the Bangladesh army. More strangely, a bizarre facebook page exists amongst the middle ranking officers threatening to bring change very soon. To make things more tense politically, it was noted that Khalida Zia of the BNP opposition during recent demonstrations had made suggestions that army officers should be freed from arrests and court marshall.
It appears Bangladesh can never sleep quietly from the threat of mutineers, assasins & war criminals.
January 19, 2012
Schedule 7 proposed lorry routes
On the last working day before the Christmas break, Crossrail’s planning submission for additional lorry movements was accepted by the City of Westminster for consideration in the new year.
You can imagine the potential nuisance a successful application would be for locals. The application will result in more noise, poorer air quality and not least, a risk to safety in residential neighbourhoods in North Paddington (as well as Harlesden); South West of Paddington station; Notting Hill Gate & Bayswater with up to 70 lorry movements passing daily through these neighbourhoods. All this when Westminster Council were originally led to believe that the scheme would deliver the tunnel lining being constructed at Old Oak Common to the Westbourne Park worksite by rail as they are barely two and half miles apart. This latest application will simply add to the complaints already being voiced by residents about the lorry movements onto the worksite for the tarmac plant.
Furthermore, the proposals will mean that on the northern most route along the Harrow Road, lorries would have to turn right where currently only buses are permitted at the junction of Harrow Rd and Great Western Road. This is already a busy junction for residents and local businesses and therefore, will do little to alleviate existing concerns over safety, as well as adding noise and air pollution along the Harrow Rd shopping parade. There are also concerns about using the Bridge, which many consider is not up to taking such heavy loads. Also, the application makes way for the legitimate argument which is, if heavy goods vehicles are permitted to turn right at the this junction, then why continue a ban for smaller vehicles? Finally, there is the southern most proposed route along the whole length of Ladbroke Grove then around into Bayswater along very tight residential roads like Chepstow Road all of which makes this application unsuitable for the area and a burden on local residents.
An alternative does exist between Old Oak Common and Royal Oak portal for transportation via water freight. We have a canal link between the two sites which means you could move the tunnel linings/segments by canal without causing the disturbance which lorries will cause. It is something Crossrail have considered when they commissioned a feasibility study, however, since letting the contract to Bam Ferrovial Kier (BFK), Crossrail have seemingly backed away from its own suggestion of how this could be achieved.
In the meantime, in another part of London (as shown below), it has already been demonstrated that using the canals to move tunnel lining/segments is extremly plausible, practical and a huge benefit for the local neighbourhood.
If Crossrail are serious about minimising the disruption to local residents which its additional lorries will create in the North Paddington & Notting Hill Gate neighbourhood, then it should consider the water freight option in earnest before beginning the main tunnelling works.
Finally,you can make your views known to this application by visiting this link.
January 5, 2012
As l joined Ken’s campaign for a “Fare Deal” this morning, I was reminded of his “Fares Fair” initiative back in 1981. I for one, benefitted from Ken’s revolutionary campaign back in the early 80s to significantly reduce the cost of travel. The deal was to introduce a very welcome 30% reduction in tubes fares, enabling me to travel to school by tube for the first time. At that time, there was spare capacity on the tube, even at peak times.
In the early 80s, it was about getting “bottoms on seats” and the scheme proved to be a highly successful policy, increasing public transport use across the day and reducing car use. The scheme cut all bus and underground fares by a third, introduced the “Just the Ticket” initiative which brought about the now indispensable travel card. It also introduced the concept of off peak fare travel. Unfortunately, a legal challenge by Bromley Council culminating in a House of Lords ruling put a stop to the initiative. The premise for the challenge was that areas, like Bromley with no underground service would only be able to take advantage of the resulting reduction in bus fares, not underground fares, therefore the Fares Fair policy was deemed not so fair for Bromley rates payers.
This time the Fare Deal campaign is just as radical but for different reasons. There are of course obvious parallels to be drawn between now and then, such as another Tory administration, painful cuts, rising inflation and unemployment. However, this time Ken’s proposal to cut fares by 7% and freeze them next year is necessary in order to reverse an untenable above inflation rise in public transport costs imposed by the current London administration. The motivation is no longer to encourage commuters to use public transport as they continue to be torn between spiralling fuel prices and rocketing fare increases. Any public transport system has a captive audience right now. Ken’s scheme is radical because it dares to suggest the unthinkable in today’s climate, coming against a tsunami of austerity measures and daring to suggest another way. As passengers continue to be forced fed the idea that there is no alternative but to keep piling on the pressure, forcing them to pay more and more for their travel, Ken has come up with a credible and workable alternative. This, don’t forget is from the man who brought us the travel card and off peak fare travel, this should count for a lot.
Finally, passengers can be assured that the likes of Bromley council won’t be able to challenge Ken’s “Fare Deal” in the same way Ken’s previous scheme was, because, this time, the whole of London stands to benefit , not just those who have access to tubes in their boroughs. So rest assure that when Ken gets in, his Fare Deal initiative won’t be fought out in the courts in the same way.
January 3, 2012
At the last full authority meeting of the London Fire Brigade, l asked the chairman Cllr Brian Coleman AM whether he is planning to privatise the fire service, given he is on record as saying all public services could be undertaken by the private sector. In my verbal supplementary we had an exchange which strongly suggested the chairman is not for turning from his ideological position, to use his own chosen words.
So it was with much interest that l watched the exchange between the mayor and a fellow Assembly member Darren Johnson at the very end of the questioning of the mayor on this same subject at the last Mayors Question Time ( MQT ). The mayor gave a considered response to the question on privatisation of fire service and clearing stated l do not want to privatise the fire service.
So it appears that the political boss of the fire chief of london has completely different views from the mayor on the privatising of the fire service. So the mayor has clearly hand bagged the Fire chief from his ideological stance as an end of year reminder of whos the boss.
December 29, 2011
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