Caroline's news

Caroline Pidgeon AM, leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, is challenging the Mayor over the latest consultation for the proposed Northern Line extension to Nine Elms and Battersea.

After criticisms of last year’s consultation on the proposed extension of the Northern Line Transport for London are now running another consultation exercise until 10 August 2011. The consultation sets out four possible route options, despite the fact that Transport for London and the developers Treasury Holdings have stated that two of the four options are not feasible.

A whole year after Caroline Pidgeon criticised the GLA's wasteful spending on two "business lounges" in City Hall, the Mayor has decided after all to remove them.

Caroline told the Evening Standard: "Spending £25,000 on setting up and furnishing business lounges that are then removed some 12 months later is an extravagance that London council taxpayers can ill afford."

The London Assembly’s Transport Committee, led by Caroline Pidgeon has written to Southeastern trains seeking an explanation for the severe delays yesterday evening, and how passengers – some of whom left the train and walked along the tracks to escape the sweltering conditions – will be compensated.

A broken down train in Dartford caused significant delays to Southeastern services during the evening rush hour, and left passengers on one train stuck just outside Bexleyheath for almost two hours on the hottest day of the year.

The need for real assurances about the future facing the independent businesses that operate under the arches of London Bridge was the number one message that came out of a key meeting held today (Monday 27th June) between local businesses, Network Rail and politicians.

At the meeting Network Rail met with representatives of local businesses including Team London Bridge, Arch 897, Platform SE1 bar and restaurant, Southwark Playhouse and Arch Climbing Wall, as well as planning officers from Southwark Council and local Riverside Councillor Anood Al-Samerai, leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on Southwark Council. The meeting was hosted at City Hall by Caroline Pidgeon AM, leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group and Chair of the London Assembly Transport Committee.

Caroline recently joined Ian Shacklock (Chair of the Friends of Regent's Canal), Caroline Russell (Chair, Islington Living Streets), Del Brenner (lifelong canal campaigner, Secretary of Regent's Network) and Michael Rosenbaum (Angel Canal Festival committee member, local resident) to walkabout the Regent’s Canal in Islington and Hackney to look at a number of issues including:

• cycling (and measures to deter or calm the few anti-social cyclists),
• illegal mooring,
• freight opportunities and threats,
• the Danbury ramp,
• policing.