Cllr Barrow, leader of WCC - But who knows him? I suspect if he was a directly elected mayor people would know him

In last Friday’s Evening Standard my colleague Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg was quoted as saying that the City of Westminster leadership poll amongst the majority Tory group councillors as an insult to democracy. 

He is quite right to point out that a city which has some 250,000 inhabitants won’t have a say but the 48 Tory councillors in a ballot will at the end of the month, only one of whom opposed the discredited “nightlife tax ” policy. The latter showing quite well how out of touch the majority group was on this issue and why l feel the City needs to consider having a directly elected Mayor, as a means of reconnecting with residents again. What better mandate can you give someone then being directly elected by your residents as leader of the council then through the members of the majority political group in the council. Between elections it would then be up to the Mayor to keep in touch with locals in a way that a council leader does not have to do so.

In many ways the City of Westminster is unique in the governance of London similar to the City of London though much more credible in local government terms, having also the seat of government, monarchy and the vast majority of embassies based within its boundaries. Lets not also forget its residents, wildly diverse and  living in a host of urban villages like Pimilico, Marylebone, Paddington and Queens Park as well.

Interestingly on the 3rd of May, a number of local authorities are having ballots on whether to have a directly elected Mayors in their councils up and down the country with the full approval of the Department of Local Government & Communities (DLGC). Indeed we already have a number of councils in London which already have this arrangement including Newham, Lewisham and Hackney. So l say, if it can work for them why not the City of Westminster? 

More interestly in the Council’s Community Governance Review consultation, the option of a directly Elected Mayor is not put up as an option even though it is incorporated withn the Localism Act for 2011. I think its only right that those responding to this review with its extended deadline now till the 17th of February ask the council why this is the case and get some explanations?

What l am sure about, is that if we had a directly elected Mayor of the City of Westminster, it would be hotly contested. As it would have a profile like no other Mayor of a local authority in London, rubbing shoulders with royalty, diplomats and central government.

Paris launches an electric car hire scheme

The Mayor announced with much fanfare at the C40 Climate Change Summit 2009 inSeoul, how he was going to make London the “electric car capital of Europe”.  His aim was to get 100,000 electric vehicles (EVs) in use on London streets as soon as possible, served by 25,000 plug points and 1,000 electrical vehicles in the GLA fleet by 2015.  As Chair of the Environment Committee, I had the opportunity to examine how the Mayor has done in reaching his own target for electric vehicles to see whether London has succeeded in charging ahead with the electric vehicle revolution we were promised.  The report was published yesterday attracting much media  interest.

 Undoubtedly, there are a number of worthy environmental benefits to be gained from having more electric vehicles on the road.  They do not emit dangerous tailpipe pollutants and they produce much less noise on our roads.  However, we do also need to look at the life-cycle carbon costs for an electric vehicle and ensure that the electricity powering them is derived from a renewable energy source.  This would, without doubt, strengthen the environment case for electric vehicles. 

Yet, despite the obvious environmental benefits, generous government subsidies and perks such as free parking, we still only have 2,313 electric vehicles registered in London, a mere 0.08 per cent of London’s 3 million fleet and way off the Mayor’s original target of 100,000.  At the current rate, it will take the Mayor 665 years to reach his original target of 100,000 EVs on London’s roads!

So, the reality is that it’s been much tougher to deliver than envisaged.  However, lessons can be learned from other cities and towns which are pushing on with their own electric vehicle revolution.  As part of our investigation, we visited Paris and also Sunderland in the North East of England.  What we learned was that a clear strategy is needed to ensure that the locations chosen for the charging points are appropriate for electric vehicle users.  One particular area which was highlighted during the trip to Sunderland was their work to ensure there are sufficient rapid chargers available at key points on major roads to help ease drivers’ “range anxiety”.  This would make electric vehicles much more appealing to longer distance drivers.  The progress in the North East has also been helped by having a Nissan plant producing electric vehicles in Sunderland, although interestingly, they are designed in London.  Nissan’s presence and investment has done much to enhance the North East’s Low Carbon Economic Area status.  We also learned that, in both Paris and the North East, figures for EV charge points per population are better then London’s, therefore, it is not surprising that both regions are making very good progress with their own EV targets.  For example there is 1 charge point per 6000 in London compared to 1 for every 349 Parisians.

If EV ownership does not take-off soon, adopting the Parisian approach may be a good alternative.  They recently launched their Autolib EV car hire scheme.  This is designed to diversify the transport on offer inParis and surrounding towns and it’s estimated every 3,000 electric vehicles will see 22,500 polluting cars withdrawn from the roads.  In the past, we’ve followed Pariswith their Velib bike hire scheme with our very own version. We may do well to follow their lead again but this time with a version of their EV car hire scheme forLondon.  I believe we should all be watching the progress of the Autolib in Paris with great interest.

Route of the dust suppressant along Marylebone/Euston Road

One of the short term measures used by the Mayor in response to EU threats of legal action and massive fines against the UK Government are dust suppressants.  This is, in essence, a form of glue applied to roads in priority locations around London with the aim of reducing the amount of dust particulates in the air around roads.  Transport for London themselves are clear that the dust suppressants, less commonly known as Calcium Magnesium Acetate (CMA) is only a short term measure aimed at improving London’s air quality.  However, for many like myself living near these priority locations such as the Marylebone Road and Euston, we’ve been slightly mystified when and exactly where these trials have been taking place.  Following a number of questions to the Mayor, we now have some clarity and we know that the Marylebone/Euston stretch is treated during the first corridor of treatment between the hours of 9pm-6am daily.

Many, including the campaign group Clean Air for London  quite rightly argue that these trials are merely dealing with the symptoms of poor air quality in London without taking the tough decisions to deal with the route causes.  Black cabs for example are one of the biggest polluters, the roll out of hybrid buses could be stepped up and only today, a report by the Environment Committee; “Charging Ahead?”  highlights the fact that the Mayor has a considerable distance to go if he is to deliver on his aim to see 100,000 electric vehicles on the streets of London as soon as possible.

So, we may have established the route taken by the dust suppressant trial, what is less clear is where exactly the Mayor is taking us with his air quality strategy for London.

Hope this is not a bad omen for Chinese investment into Thames Water

Gung Hey Fat Choy to you all.

As we have been  celebrating the New Chinese Year of the Dragon in the West End today at another end of the West End, we have just recovered from Oxford St flooding chaos.  How these two events related?

Well now the Chinese are investing in our infrastructure with the purchase of 8.7 per cent of Thames Water holding company by China Investment Company (CIC), l just hope Oxford St flood is not a bad omen. As its part of water and sewage infrastructure that Thames Water has in London that the Chinese have just brought a major stake into.

This all apparently happened soon after a trip before Davos by George Osborne, kowtowing in Beijing to sell our infrastructural projects to Chinese authorities who seating on huge trade balances and saving of their own people are looking at investments around the globe.  So not surprisingly the Chancellor hailed China’s state-run investment fund’s decision to buy a share of Thames Water as a ” vote of confidence in Britain” as a place to invest, so soon after his trip. The reality is that the CIC stake in Thames Water had been  negotiated over many months but it made for a good news story in the FT weekend for the Chancellor, last weekend.  

 Who knows what else had been offered to the Chinese for them to invest into our infrastructure but l won’t be surprised if HS2 and even Boris fantasy island had been as well. HS2 would clearly be something the Chinese authority would feel comfortable investing into with their vast experience of delivering similar schemes on mainland China. It may well be that the Chinese are in the future more then just the banker of such future ventures but actually delivering and running these services, once its got the planning approvals.

So we certainly have to watch this space but its clear as hell the Chinese are here to stay for the long run with such investments and its clearly just an indication of the future sharpe of things to come, with their preference for low risk physical assets that carry steady returns.  

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.