Caroline's news

Local Liberal Democrat Councillors Lisa Rajan, David Hubber, Paul Noblet, Simon Hughes MP and myself have been inundated with emails from concerned passengers in Surrey Docks about the future of Greenland Pier. This also affects people who use the service and live just over in Lewisham.

We held a meeting on Monday morning with Gill Davies, Southwark Council's Director of Environment and Leisure. Our main aim for the meeting was to get Southwark Council to stop the temporary closure of the pier on 28th February, and instead keep it open for the Thames Clippers boats to use. We know how vital and valued the commuter boat service is and how many people rely on it. We also wanted to ask for a temporary pontoon to be installed if the existing one really does need to be removed for repairs.

We divided the pier issue into two parts - the immediate future, following the official Notice to Quit served on Thames Clippers, and the longer term future of the pier.

As far as the immediate situation is concerned, the Notice to Thames Clippers was, we were told, a legal requirement to enable the pier to be inspected and repaired as necessary. Thames Clippers should be granted a temporary licence to enable them to continue to use the pier until such time as it may be removed temporarily for any works. We have stressed that there should be no discontinuance of the service on 28 February, nor until it is essential for the pier to be closed, and we were led to believe that this would be the case. We also asked that users should be given one month's notice before the pontoon is actually removed.

Caroline Pidgeon joined Brian Paddick and the London Lib Dem team in Wimbledon to launch the Lib Dem campaign on crime and policing for May's elections, with a strong focus on community-based policing.

Brian was pleased to return to Merton, where as Borough Commander between 1997 and 2000 he delivered the biggest drop in crime of any London borough over the period.

Caroline Pidgeon joined Lib Dem mayoral candidate Brian Paddick and London Assembly candidate Munira Wilson in Richmond to talk to local residents about their concerns on crime, and campaign for the London Liberal Democrats' policy to build a community approach to policing, and recruit more Police Community Support Officers.

Caroline Pidgeon, along with Brian Paddick, the Lib Dem candidate for Mayor of London, and local London Assembly candidate John Russell, joined members of the Sydenham Society to campaign against the planned closure of the local police station.

London Liberal Democrat Mayoral Candidate Brian Paddick and Lib Dem London Assembly Member Caroline Pidgeon joined London Assembly Constituency candidate for Lewisham and Greenwich, John Russell and the Sydenham Society, the Forest Hill Society and local residents on Saturday the 18th of February to campaign against any closure of Sydenham Police station.

Commenting on the introduction of six new trams in Croydon - when Boris Johnson had promised ten - Caroline Pidgeon said:
“Instead of visiting Croydon and boasting about six new trams the Mayor should now come clean and explain why he has broken his pledge to deliver 10 new trams.

“Once again we see a huge difference between what Boris Johnson promises and what he actually delivers.”

You can read more here at the Mayorwatch website.