Caroline's news

Newington Lib Dem Focus Team, working with local residents, is campaigning to transform the old police station garden, on the Walworth Road, into a community garden or park.

After years of standing empty, the old police station on Carter Place off the Walworth Road has been turned into flats. But the front garden area has now been sold to another company who want to build shops and flats on this open space.

Lib Dem Councillors and local residents put in strong objections and just before Christmas the plans were thrown out by Southwark Council. However, we fear that further applications will be submitted to build on the garden.

Caroline Pidgeon AM has joined Liberal Democrat councillors in Brent in expressing deep disappointment at the news that Boris Johnson has refused to act to provide more buses in the Brentfield Road area.

A huge petition from local residents was submitted to the Mayor by Liberal Democrats at a formal Question Time session last month.

Brentfield Road runs between Brent Park Tesco and Harlesden Station and is also home to the prestigious Neasden Temple, but is currently served by only two buses, the 206 and the PR2.

Transport for London also admitted recently that the frequency of buses on the PR2 route had deteriorated significantly in recent months.

Nevertheless, Mayor Boris Johnson replied to the Liberal Democrat-organised petition with a letter concluding: “TfL consider that Brentfield Road is adequately served by these routes and there are no plans at present to provide further bus services here.”

Lib Dem assembly member Caroline Pidgeon, the Chair of the Assembly's Transport Committee, said:
"There is clearly a huge demand for a bus in the Brentfield Road area and it is very disappointing that the Mayor refuses to listen to local people."

Replying to a question from Caroline Pidgeon AM, Lib Dem chair of the London Assembly's Transport Committee, Boris Johnson has refused to commit funds to fund a rail service from Victoria to Bellingham, which would ease the impact on South London Line passengers when their line is closed in 2012.

With the currenct economic situation, there is no way that funding could be allocated to the Victoria–Bellingham service without cutting back on services or projects elsewhere.

Read the Mayor's full letter here.

The London SE1 website reports on Transport for London's announcement that it will finally provide replacement bus services to Waterloo during weekends when the Jubilee line is closed.

Caroline Pidgeon, who raised this issue with the Mayor several months ago, commented:

I welcome TfL's long-awaited replacement bus service which includes Waterloo. Despite the Mayor's previous claims that this was not possible it clearly can be done.

It is just a pity that such poor excuses were previously made by the Mayor. It is local people who have continued to suffer unnecessary inconvenience.

The full story is here.

The Disability Now website has an article on the scrapping of plans to introduce step-free access at over 20 Tube stations.

The article quotes Caroline Pidgeon:

Transport for London, which the Mayor of London chairs, has shown incredible incompetence in starting work on step-free access at six Underground stations and then cancelling the work before completion.

The full article is here.