Earlier this year, Big Table, in Great Western Road, was told it would have to close after almost 30 years for an electricity substation to be built on the site to power Crossrail trains.

More than three years since he became Mayor, Boris Johnson today published three crucial environment strategies – for tackling climate change, reducing carbon emissions and securing London’s future water supply. But by delaying their release for so long he has left just months for the policies to be implemented before the end of this mayoral administration in May 2012.

Labour’s environment spokesman on the London Assembly, Murad Qureshi, said

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: "To delay such important policies for more than three years simply beggars belief. These are big issues – protecting homes from flooding, tackling extortionate fuel bills, fighting climate change – but we’ve now got just six months for any of the Mayor’s limited ambitions to be realised. It’s too little too late."

Notes

http://www.london.gov.uk/week/publications

On 26 October 2011 the Mayor released three final environment strategies:

Water Strategy

Climate Change Adaptation Strategy

Climate Change Mitigation and Energy Strategy

They can be found here: 

Murad Qureshi is a London-wide Assembly Member and is chair of the Assembly’s environment committee

For further information please contact Alison Marcroft on 0207 983 4363

Is the Metropolitan Police best placed to investigate Cricket?

Whilst it’s no secret that I am an avid cricket fan, l do not hold any specific loyalties to Pakistan. My biggest concern is for the integrity of the game which I wish to see maintained at any cost. 

However, what does strike me about the whole circus surrounding the cheating players is, how it is that the Metropolitan Police find the time to investigate and pursue them through the courts in the first place? This is especially remarkable when we have an organisational body in the form of the International Cricket Council (ICC) which is perfectly able to investigate such allegations and impose the ultimate sanction for any player which is a lifetime ban. 

The case for the ICC to investigate and impose sactions is even more compelling given that the original evidence of cheating surfaced as a result of a sting operation by the now defunct News of the World and given what we now know about the paper’s links with the MET. The emergence of such murky liasons should have been sufficient to transfer the case from the over loaded criminal justice system to the ICC, allowing it to get on with putting its own game in order. 

The MET should be freed up to manage other more pressing issues of law and order in London. After all, do we really want our top police force investigating issues of “delibrate no balls” in cricket? Nonetheless, It seems that allegations of corruption in the game of cricket take precedence even above those  residing in London accused of horrendous war crimes as I failed to convince the Mayor that this is a worthy cause meriting the MET’s time. 

So when the shamed players are sentenced on Thursday at Southwark Crown Court, l for one will be left wondering, was this really the best use of our precious police resources and are the police best placed to investigate matters of cricket?

At yesterday’s meeting of the Environment Committee, Assembly Members heard that while there is an annual cap of 480,000 aircraft allowed to use Heathrow, the number of passengers using the airport could rise from the current number of 66 million to up to 95 million once redevelopment and construction of the terminals are completed. This equates to a third more passengers passing through Heathrow and London. So with passenger numbers rising, capacity at Heathrow airport is getting bigger. This is despite the warnings which the expansionists relay about falling flight numbers and the effect on economic growth.

How’s all this being squared with the maintenance of the annual cap? Well essentially the airlines are bringing in bigger planes. You only have to see the Emirates airbuses at Heathrow to appreciate that while the airlines may only have the same number of slots, they can fly more passengers with the bigger crafts. Naturally the concern is what the local environmental impact of bigger planes for residents of west London’s suburbs will be? We were told by BAA that it is encouraging airlines to use more modern aeroplanes into Heathrow, which are quieter than the older models. Although recent changes to flight paths and operational methods could mean that more people than ever are being affected by aircraft noise, the scale and impact of which is very difficult to evaluate at this point as the Department for Transport begins a mixed mode trial. This did not, however stop BAA spinning the usual line about quieter aircrafts when it came to the issue of noise pollution.

Another major concern is whether we have enough surface transport to cope with the additional air passengers travelling into London by taxi, car lifts and public transport? We were told that of the additional 29 million passengers passing through Heathrow, up to a third would be transfer passengers, namely passengers who are leaving one plane for another without leaving the airport, however this still leaves some 20 million additional passengers coming into London. That sort of number merits another separate meeting on surface transport issues alone when we return to Heathrow issues, particular in West London hotspots like Hammersmith, Paddington & Ealing Broadway where many of the additional passengers will pass through. So while BAA & BA will continue to highlight the cap on flights in and out of Heathrow, this will do little to curb the expansion of actual passenger numbers, of up to one third as airlines introduce bigger planes. Without detracting from the usual objections for wholesale expansion at Heathrow, we should not loose sight of the impact larger planes will have on noise and air pollution particularly for local residents

Evening Standard print Murad’s letter on Mayor Boris Johnson’s poor performance regarding energy efficiency in London’s homes. Murad comments that more Londoners will fall into fuel poverty if urgent action is not taken. You can see the letter here.

Speaking at an air quality event in London last week, Ruth Calderwood, environment policy officer at CityAir, said she would like TfL to alter its payment system, which currently prevents businesses from having corporate accounts with the scheme, similar to the accounts many hold with taxi firms.

Boris Bikes have been a hit with employees and commuters seeking a flexible low-cost alternative to crowded buses and tube trains, and a number of firms are keen to promote the service. For example, investment firm Nomura is working with TfL to locate a bike stand outside its offices.

"Businesses would like to be able to issue a card, or a token or something to visitors who come to their premises so they can then perhaps take a bike out," said Calderwood. "The bikes are already very popular, but this is another area that could offer a good way forward for TfL."

Meanwhile, Murad Qureshi, chairman of the London Assembly Environment Committee, said he would like Boris Bikes to be accessible through the Oyster smart card system.

"I think the main issue is it has to marry up with Oyster cards," he said. "Oyster is key and TfL should do something like that, but for whatever reason it’s being kept separate."

A spokeswoman for TfL downplayed the prospect of corporate accounts for the scheme, arguing it would be too difficult to integrate the current payment system with corporate accounts as each membership must be linked to a credit card.

However, she admitted that a number of hotels are getting around the problem by loaning access keys to their guests.

"You can have up to four keys on an account, but it’s not like you can just introduce a swipe key for everyone at a corporate rate," she said.

Click here to view the full article

 At last Wednesdays Environment Committee, the main item of business was the Royal Parks.   This is an area of immense interest and concern to many Londoners given we have eight royal parks covering 5,000 acres providing some of the biggest green spaces in the capital for around 37 million visitors each year. 

At the meeting, the chief executive of The Royal Parks, Mark Camley together with representatives from the Mayor’s Office, Jeff Jacobs and Sir Edward Lister were in front of us to discuss the change for the Royal Parks which has transpired more into a quasi devolution to the GLA. 

However, what struck me more, having been told about the plans for the half hearted transfer, was the lack of vision and ambition being conveyed.  This is given the enthusiasm orginally shown by the Mayor’s office last summer in his “The Mayor of London’s Proposals for Devolution”.   

In June last year, the aim was to have responsibility for the Royal Parks devolved from Whitehall to the Mayor of London. This would have meant more democratic accountability to Londoners.  Indeed, there was a statement published by the Department for Culture Media and Sports(DCMS)last January, in which its stated objective was to “transfer The Royal Parks to the GLA to ensure clear democratic accountability and have the Mayor as a visible champion for the Parks and to deliver management which is more responsive to the needs and expectations of park users and local people”.  This would have meant the Royal Parks no longer being an Executive Agency of the DCMS but instead it would have become an integral but distinct part of the “GLA family” to include bye-laws conferring powers on the GLA to cover trade and business in the parks and the conduct of visitors to their grounds.

 What we have ended up with is something very different. The Mayor has instead been given powers over a new Royal Parks Board, to which he has powers to appoint half of the 12 member board including the Chair.  Of  the remaining six, three are to be appointed by London’s local councils, one must be a member of the Royal Household with the final two seats held by the agency’s Chief Executive and a second executive.  So the parks will remain in Crown ownership with City Hall merely gaining “a voice in the parks’ management”.  Crucially, the Mayor does not control the budget for the Royal Parks.   So as Sir Edward commented, we have ended up with a “half-way house”, which we will almost certainly have to return back to in a few years to reform further.  Jeff Jacobs also conceded that the original ambition for the Parks had been compromised during the lengthy legalisative process of the Localism Bill. 

As for vision, we got very little of this, as we were told that in essence, very little would change. However, even with the quasi devolution which we ended up with, I would still have preferred to see more ambition and vision expressed by the Mayor’s office.  For example, ideas for allotments perhaps?, playing fields? or possibly a discussion on changes in the horticulture so as to inspire Londoners to use their Royals Parks a lot more.  Instead, the meassage was no change on the horizon.  This is disappointing, because whilst hoping for a “Londoner’s Park”, we ended up with a “half-baked Mayor’s Park” which obviously has yet to inspire the Mayor and his office to provide Londoners with a new vision for one of our most valued assets.

Mark Camley was answering questions from Murad Qureshi, Labour’s environment spokesman on the London Assembly. Murad probed the chief executive about the possibility of more pitches in Hyde Park to counter the loss of playing fields across London and to help increase sports participation. 

But Mr Camley said the Royal Parks already host a variety of pitches and sporting provisions. “More formal sports would mean less informal sports”, he said.

Environment spokesman for the London Assembly Labour Group, Murad Qureshi said: “We are all in favour of retaining the general character of the Royal Parks but we should capitalise on their potential for providing more sporting facilities. London needs more playing fields and the changes to who runs the parks gives us a perfect opportunity to look at this again.”

Murad has long been a supporter of more playing fields and pitches in the Royal Parks having led an Assembly investigation into the loss of playing fields in 2006.

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Notes

Murad Qureshi is a London-wide Assembly Member and Chair of the London Assembly Environment committee.

Earlier this year, the Department for Culture Media and Sport set out  its objective to transfer control of the Royal Parks to the Greater London Authority. But in July the Heritage Minister, John Penrose MP, announced that he now intended to create a new Royal Parks Board giving the Mayor power to appoint the Chair and other members of the Board.  More details about the new governance structure were released today.

It emerged only this week from the charity London Playing Fields Foundation that at least eight fields around the capital were in danger of being lost due to a change in planning laws which would make it easier to build on them.

For further information please contact Nikki Salih on 0207 983 4363