The London Assembly’s Transport Committee has heard from Danny Alexander, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, about the next opportunity for funding the electrification of the Gospel Oak-Barking line.
No details were provided in last month’s Budget, despite an announcement delivering £3 billion a year on infrastructure, but his letter suggests that the proposal may be reconsidered in the next spending round in June.
Action to address the wider traffic problems at the entrance to Rotherhithe Tunnel and its approaching roads have been promised by key officials at Transport for London (TfL) at a meeting held this week at City Hall, with Caroline Pidgeon AM, Simon Hughes MP and local Southwark councillors.
Caroline Pidgeon, Leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, commenting on the news that construction work has now started on the south west expansion of the bike hire scheme, said:
“It is great news that by Christmas the bike hire scheme will be operating in new areas in Wandsworth, Hammersmith and Fulham, Lambeth and Kensington and Chelsea.
Earlier this week Caroline met with Cllr Graham Neale and local residents off Old Kent Road to discuss the impact which motor traffic is having on local air quality.
Despite a growing body of evidence suggesting that spending long periods of time in close proximity to busy roads can cause or exacerbate childhood asthma and lead to permanently reduced lung function, the Mayor has been reluctant to publish smog alerts during recent air pollution episodes.
Caroline Pidgeon, leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, commenting on the Mayor’s Police and Crime Plan said:
“These proposals are a return to the bad old days of policing.
“The Mayor is planning to decimate dedicated Safer Neighbourhood Teams and return to ‘sector’ policing which failed so many communities across London.
