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Campaigning in Worcester Park

29 January 2012 - 5:31pm — Administrator

Caroline has joined Liberal Democrats in Sutton, Paul Burstow MP, local Assembly candidate Abigail Lock and other candidates for the London elections out and about campaigning for a new councillor in Worcester Park.

“It has been great on my visits so far to talk about local issues such as the bid for town centre improvements and policing, as well as wider issues such as the Mayor’s increase in fares. Roger Roberts is a superb local candidate with all the experience needed to be a strong champion for Worcester Park” added Caroline.

Helping traders on London Road

29 January 2012 - 5:28pm — Administrator

Caroline joined Sutton's Deputy Leader Cllr Ruth Dombey with local campaigner Roger Roberts to meet traders on London Road to discuss issues with short stay parking on the red route.

The bays by the shops are split between loading ones and 20 minutes parking. Many customers receive parking fines for parking in the wrong part by mistake and in fact local traders and residents would like to see all of the bays as joint loading and short term parking so that it is simple and clear for everyone.

Caroline has taken up these matters with Transport for London with a series of questions:

Carshalton Ponds success

29 January 2012 - 5:20pm — Administrator

At long last, after work with local Lib Dem Councillors in Carshalton and Tom Brake MP, Transport for London has started work to replace the railings around Carshalton Ponds. Caroline saw the problems first hand when she visited Carshalton and looked at a number of transport issues last summer.

Initially Transport for London were refusing to put any temporary bus stops in place whilst the works were taking place, but have since agreed and installed temporary stops to help local people continue to use buses whilst these major works take place.

Campaigning in Sutton

9 December 2011 - 9:04pm — Administrator

Caroline joined Brian Paddick, Tom Brake MP, Cllr Ruth Dombey and Lord Graham Tope out and about in Sutton on Friday 25th November.

The Lib Dem team met up with local residents and Councillors to campaign against the proposed changes to through trains on the Thameslink lines. This will affect many parts of Sutton and mean local residents will have to change at Blackfriars station to continue their journey northwards to St Pancras, the City and Luton.

The team then visited the fantastic BedZed development and heard about plans for a sustainable Hackbridge as well as looking at the area.

Transport issues in Carshalton

3 August 2011 - 9:56pm — Administrator

Caroline Pidgeon joined Carshalton Lib Dem Councillors Hamish Pollock, Alan Salter, Jill Whitehead and Peter Fosdike along with local MP Tom Brake, and former Lib Dem Councillor and Sutton Seniors activist Chris Pennington, to look at a number of transport concerns in the Carshalton area on 19th July. Caroline walked around Carshalton Ponds and Carshalton High Street before attending a Carshalton Local Area Committee discussing a range of transport issues with local residents and councillors.

How can Thames Water create so much havoc for so many people?

2 August 2011 - 9:28pm — Administrator

Thames Water bosses have been severely criticised by Caroline Pidgeon following a water burst that paralysed rail travel across a large swathe of the South-East on 1st August.

An estimated 80,000 pasengers faced hours of chaos and delays after a Thames Water pipe triggered a landslide that blocked a key commuter route in and out of Victoria.

Caroline has now written to Thames Water asking them to introduce some form of compensation for the thousands of passengers that faced what many people have described as nightmare journeys.

Making London's roads safer for cyclists

30 May 2011 - 3:39pm — Administrator

Caroline Pidgeon is continuing to support action to tackle the high number of accidents and fatalities that face cyclists on London's roads. London faces an especially serious problem with accidents involving collisions between lorries and cyclists at junctions.

A recent question asked by Caroline to the Mayor revealed that in 2009 six cyclists were killed on London's roads in accidents involving a Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV), and with a further two cyclists killed in accidents involving a refuse lorry and a cement mixer. In 2010 there were two cyclists killed in accidents involving vehicles and two further two fatal collisions including a skip lorry and a cement truck.

Caroline has already given her full support to the campaign by the London Cycling Campaign (LCC) for better training for lorry drivers and recently received the petition that had already gathered more than 10,000 signatures. Read more information about the campaign here.

Campaigning in Sutton on Fairer Votes and transport

20 April 2011 - 9:07pm — Administrator

Caroline was out and about in Sutton with Paul Burstow MP talking to residents about the Fairer Votes referendum and discussing local issues.

Caroline also took the opportunity to look at some local transport concerns with Paul Burstow MP and London Assembly Candidate Shas Sheehan.

"It was really interesting talking to local residents in Sutton to hear about local concerns. The overwhelming message was the need for a better voting system!" commented Caroline.

Sutton passengers overcharged £132,000

19 March 2011 - 8:59pm — Administrator

The Sutton Guardian has an article about the £132,000 charged to local passengers for "incomplete journeys" in 2010, as revealed in the Mayor's answer to a question from Caroline Pidgeon.

Read Chris's full article here.

And you can read the full data here on Caroline's site.

Thameslink go-ahead is a great day for commuters

29 November 2010 - 9:30pm — Administrator

Caroline Pidgeon, leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, commenting on today’s confirmation that Thameslink will go ahead in its entirety, virtually doubling the number of north-south trains running through central London at peak times said:

“This announcement is a great day for commuters and London’s economy.

“Firstly Crossrail and now the confirmation that the Thameslink project will go head in full means that train capacity across the whole of London will be greatly increased within an decade.

“At a time of such tight public finances and when difficult short term decisions are having to be made in so many areas it is excellent news that long term plans to improve transport in London have not been compromised.”