London-wide + Richmond stories

Step-free access to half London's stations is not enough

Caroline Pidgeon AM, Leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, commenting on today’s announcement that half of TfL’s rail and Underground stations will be step-free by 2018, said:

“Any progress on making more TfL rail and Underground stations step-free is obviously welcome.

“However we can hardly be complacent when the reality is that in three years’ time half of all TfL rail and Underground will still be permanently inaccessible to disabled people and the many other people who require step free access.”

Out and about in Twickenham

Caroline Pidgeon AM joined her colleague Stephen Knight AM and other local Lib Dem campaigners in Twickenham to campaign to re-elect Vince Cable MP.

The team enjoyed a sunny day out on the streets in Hampton and had a good response on the doorstep.

"Vince is so respected as both a local MP and as a national political figure. It was lovely to talk to local people about their concerns and to get support for Vince" commented Caroline.

Police must properly engage with the public on body camera trial

As a Freedom Of Information request revealed that just one person has given feedback to the Metropolitan Police's consultation of the use of body-worn cameras by officers, Caroline Pidgeon said:

“The technology should make the police more accountable to the public and help route out police malpractices committed by a very small minority of police officers.

Against Heathrow expansion

Caroline Pidgeon AM joined Vince Cable MP speaking at a rally organised by HACAN against expansion at Heathrow on Tuesday 3rd March.

"Given that there are 725,000 people affected by noise from Heathrow – no other airport in Europe comes close to this figure. AND a new runway would mean an additional 150,000 people under the flight path. It is simply unthinkable that a third runway could be built at Heathrow" commented Caroline.

Other key messages from Caroline's speech include:

"Existing capacity in the south east must be used more effectively. In summer 2012, 47% of runway slots at Stansted weren’t used, 51% at Luton, and 12% at Gatwick. Instead of a new runway at Heathrow, we should be prioritising improved rail links to the airports that already have spare capacity. It’s good to see that the line to Stansted will be four-tracked in the not too distant future."

"Even at Heathrow, though it is full, we know the terminals can handle a further 20 million passengers a year. Heathrow could look to shift to more long-haul flights or larger aircraft to increase passengers."

Cycle incident analysis exposes TFL's failure to invest in safe cycling infrastructure

Caroline Pidgeon AM, Leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, commenting on a report by the insurance company Aviva which has analysed police road traffic collision data between 2009 to 2013 on London’s roads, said:

These figures confirm that cycling around many gyratories and especially roundabouts such as the Elephant and Castle is nothing less than a Tour de Danger for cyclists.

Victory for Twickenham residents as footbridge is saved

Caroline Pidgeon has congratulated Twickenham MP’s Vince Cable, Liberal Democrat ward councillors and local residents for ensuring that Transport for London have abandoned their plans to remove a footbridge over the A316 Chertsey Road.

When TfL’s plans were first announced last June they met with huge outrage.

However, after an extensive local campaign and a massive response from local residents to the TfL consultation, it has been decided to keep the bridge for at least two years.

Out and about in Twickenham

Caroline Pidgeon AM joined Vince Cable MP, Cllr Stephen Knight AM, Baroness Dee Doocey, Lord Monroe Palmer and many other Lib Dem Councillors and activists out and about in Twickenham on Saturday 6th December.

Caroline joined Vince knocking on doors, talking to local residents about key issues that are affecting them. Transport, Housing and jobs were the key issues that were raised and discussed.

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