Blogs

The Mayor's plans to close 12 fire stations, which is more than one in ten of London's fire stations, have been strongly opposed by Liberal Democrats across London.

A petition to the Mayor against the closure of Downham fire station in south Lewisham has already gathered more than 4,300 signatures.

The petition, which has been organised by Lewisham Liberal Democrat councillors, was presented to Assembly Members Caroline Pidgeon and Stephen Knight by Councillors Chris Maines, Julia Fletcher and local campaigner Janet Hurst. The Lib Dem team have now presented this to the Mayor through the Fire Authority.

The London SE1 website reports on Caroline Pidgeon's suggestion to the mayor to turn the Bricklayers' Arms flyover in Southwark into an elevated park like New York's High Line.

Boris Johnson has said that Transport for London have no plans to close the flyover to traffic, but has asked TfL to review ways of reducing the environmental impact of the flyover.

The London Assembly has called on Mayor Boris Johnson to take action on road safety by introducing more 20mph limits on the capital’s roads. The Assembly asked him to set stricter limits – where appropriate – on the London Road Network (TLRN), following calls from councils, schools, pedestrian groups and cycling organisations, and to require TfL to provide evidence to justify its position when it rejects a Borough’s application to reduce a road’s speed limit.

The London Assembly has called on the Mayor to take steps to improve the consultation process for the Police and Crime Plan, after residents in Lambeth and Southwark did not receive relevant documents until the day of the consultation meeting.

A motion agreed by the Assembly meeting said that while it may now be too late to rectify the problem in those two boroughs, the quality of the consultation for other groups across London could still be improved.

Caroline Pidgeon AM, leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, commenting on the Mayor’s response today to her questions about the future of Safer Neighbourhood Teams (SNTs) across London, where he failed to recognise that there would be a reduction in dedicated police officers for each safer neighbourhood team, said:

“The Mayor should come clean with Londoners and admit that he is decimating the current and successful model for safer neighbourhood teams.