Caroline has started work on her report looking at making walking in London easier and safer. The report will be reviewing the Mayor’s funding for walking schemes ahead of his 2011 year of walking in London and how he can best achieve his aim to get more people walking. Caroline is out and about throughout August meeting many walking groups, visiting some good examples of pedestrian schemes across the capital.
Caroline Pidgeon, leader of the Liberal Democrat Assembly Group and transport spokesperson, commenting on Transport for London’s sudden decision to cancel most weekend closures on the Northern Line during the month of August after their review of required weekend closures, said:
Lib Dems Caroline Pidgeon AM and Simon Hughes MP joined politicians of all parties at a Save the South London Line campaign event at Clapham High Street station on 28th July.
The event was to highlight the future plans to axe this vital service between Victoria and London Bridge stations, via stations such as Clapham High Street, Peckham Rye and South Bermondsey.
"When we were promised the extension of the East London Line to Clapham Junction, it was never in place of our existing South London Line service. We need both services to meet the demand for transport in South East London and for the hospital workers and visitors who go between Guy's Hospital at London Bridge and King's or the Maudsley down in Denmark Hill. I do not want to see any of the stations on this route left with a worse service" commented Caroline Pidgeon.
Caroline Pidgeon AM gave evidence on 27th July to the Planning Inspector who is currently assessing Southwark Council’s planning document known as the Core Strategy.
Caroline has asked for the old police station garden on the Walworth Road/Carter Place to be protected as Borough Open Land so that it can become a pocket park for local people.
“I have looked back over old maps and the site has never had any building on it – maps back to 1893 show this. We have also found wonderful pictures which clearly show a garden on the site at the front of a house and then the old police station”
“I hope the inspector will agree that the site is a green lung on the busy Walworth Road and should be protected from any development”
The inspector will report in a few months' time.
Caroline Pidgeon, Liberal Democrat London Assembly Leader and transport spokesperson, commenting on the Mayor’s plans to introduce a one-off £10 fee for Zip Card concessionary travel for children, teenagers and students, said:
”I understand that TfL have to look at cost savings but any change needs to be fair. Given that two fifths of children across London live in poverty TfL should exempt this charge to children and young people who are entitled to free school meals."
The MayorWatch website covers the story here.
The London SE1 website reports on the scheme for a "London Promenade" along the south bank of the Thames, which would give pedestrians a wide path all the way along the waterfront from Butler's Wharf to Gabriel's Wharf.
Caroline Pidgeon is leading the London Assembly Transport Committee's investigation into encouraging more walking in London, which includes this scheme.
You can read the London SE1 story here.
The Mayor has declared his intention to make 2011 the ‘year of walking’ and allocated millions of pounds to the cause, but will his proposals see more Londoners making their journeys on foot?
Caroline Pidgeon AM will lead an investigation on behalf of the Assembly’s Transport Committee to assess the effectiveness of current plans to get people walking and look at what more could be done.
Almost a quarter of all journeys in the capital are made on foot – nearly 6 million trips every day – making up nearly a third of the total time Londoners spend travelling. The Mayor’s Transport Strategy states that he wants to see the share of all journeys made on foot increase to 25 per cent by 2031 – an extra million journeys a day.
To help meet this target, the Mayor and Transport for London have allocated over £200 million over the next three years to ‘Better Streets’ - which includes schemes ranging from de-cluttering streets to pedestrianisation - and ‘Better Green and Water Spaces’ to improve access to London’s parks, rivers and canals.
Caroline Pidgeon AM said:
“The Mayor wants 2011 to be the ‘year of walking’ but to encourage more Londoners to make their journeys on foot he will have to carefully tailor his proposals and investment.
Caroline Pidgeon, commenting to the Evening Standard, has sharply criticised the Mayor's plans to drastically reduce ticket office services at Tube stations, costing up to 450 jobs and leaving many stations with ticket office staffing for most of the day.
Caroline said:
The Mayor was elected on a clear commitment to keep ticket offices open. His plans to have many closed for most of the day flies in the face of his election commitment. This is an absolute sham of a consultation. If the Mayor really thinks he is consulting Londoners he obviously needs to look up what the word actually means in the dictionary.
You can read the full story at the Evening Standard here.
Caroline Pidgeon, the Liberal Democrat group leader in the London Assembly, has criticised Conservative Assembly members for staging a walkout from the Assembly in order to prevent a vote against heavy cuts in ticket office services at London Underground stations.
Caroline Pidgeon AM, Leader of the London Assembly Lib Dems, and Southwark councillors David Noakes and Mark Gettleson, joined senior Lib Dems including Lynne Featherstone MP, Sarah Ludford MEP, and party president Ros Scott, at the Pride London event on Saturday 3rd July - the UK's largest annual LGBT event.