At last nights Westminster Living Street AGM, l was reminded of this slide in a presentation made by Jeremy Leach at one of its previous meeting.

The geographical spread of pedestrian & cyclist fatalities in the City of Westminster is shown well, illustrating particularly the black spots like the West End and Oxford St which are not surprising but what really stood out was the Edgware Rd, a shopping area used by residents of the City.

The City has also by some margin the highest number of pedestrians killed and seriously injured (KSI) of any borough in London, with nearly a quarter of them occurring on the Transport of London (TfL) Road Network like the Edgware Rd. Its something l will concentrating on myself over the next year or so.

Progress whilst painfully slow for 20 mph in the City of Westminster is at least making progress in the City of London, where it should be in place on the 20th of July. We trust officials in Westminster are watching the lead taken by the City Corporation. In the meantime, we need campaigners like Westminster Living Street at the vanguard of changing the culture of our street life.

So best of luck for the officers, Chair & Secretary elected last night for another year of campaigning.

The Mayor of London today admitted that he and his team are “seriously worried” over the potential cost of London’s proposed ‘super sewer’ to Thames Water customers. When pressed on the issue by Murad Qureshi AM at today’s Mayor’s Question Time, the Mayor revealed he is looking “very carefully” at the financial terms of scheme.

Thames Water plans to establish a separate company that will own the tunnel, and this company is expected to be owned by a collection of sovereign and pension funds. Investors in the scheme will receive generous returns reported to be between 14.7% and 24.1%, paid for by an 11% increase in water bills, up to £80 per year, over the next ten years.

Responding to Murad Qureshi raising the issue, the Mayor said (we) “need to be extremely wary of the system by which this is being financed and run……it is down to Ofwat and the government to see that (excessive burden on consumer bills) does not happen”. He closed by stating “I am seriously worried there is no disincentive built in to cost overruns”.

Murad Qureshi AM, Labour Londonwide Assembly Member, said:

“The delivery of the new ‘super sewer’ will be one of the biggest infrastructure projects undertaken in London this decade. And at a time when people across the capital are struggling with the rising cost of living, it is crucial that Thames Water customers are not treated as cash cows to entice investors.

“The Mayor clearly shares my concerns over rising costs, but his statement that this is a purely matter for Ofwat and the Government will do little to put Londoners at ease.”

Ends

Notes

1. Murad Qureshi is a Labour Londonwide Assembly Member.
2. The details of the returns to investors were modelled by Bloomberg New Energy Finance in their Water White Paper. 

For more information please contact Research Support Officer Nikki Salih on 0207 983 4400. Number not for publication.

This week at Planning Committee along with an article in Tribune l argued that a Brunelian vision is required at Old Oak Common for HS2, if its not to blight the life’s of  Londoners particularly those in Camden. Please find the full content of the article below;

After the second reading of the Hybrid Bill for HS2 in the House of Common and the overwhelming vote in favour by MPs for HS2 despite all the rumours of revolts by them, you would be forgiven if you thought that would be the end of the matter. But clearly the focus now turns to petitioning for mitigation and compensation against it and London needs to keep a look out here as well.

All this while l still have reservations about it all given the huge expenditure of £ 50 billion plus involved at the same time as major public service cuts by the coalition government, it does appear to be “toys for the boys” as the transport lobby made up of big business, civic leaders of Northern cities and construction professionals and contractors demand it as their new train set.  More over on recent rail trips around the country, l have been struck by the under investment in rail infrastructure other part of the country like the East of England and Cornwall. For example it can take you the same amount of time as going to Manchester from London to Norwich even though its only 120 miles away. And before the floods l went to Plymouth via Dawlish where the leader of Council, Tudor Evans stated that £ 150 million was desperately needed to improve the link with Plymouth & Exeter at Dawlish. Till the floods and the damage to the tracks running along the coastline, this had not really registered as something that needed repairing urgently by the public yet alone the government. So not even on cost benefit basis, does it really stand  up to scrutiny when you compare it with all the other rail infrastructure projects you could have funded with such an amount of money across the whole of the country. More so if you compare it against investment levels required to improve say the internet and efficient broadband speeds across the whole of the UK.

Now limiting the impact in London involves making the most of two locations though neither is going to stop the harm that’s going to be done in Hillingdon and in particular, sites of special scientific interest like the Colne Valley.

The first of them is Old Oak Common, a desolate and long-neglected part of W12, much of which is a rail yard with a canal link and derelict warehouses. Yet it has excellent connections with many tube lines; to Heathrow airport; and into central London via the new Crossrail. From this point we go to the second location where we need to limit the impact at Euston. This must be the most difficult and expensive part of HS2, as it knocks a lot of housing, park greens and centres of small businesses as new tracks lead into the station with additional platforms needed as well. The latter impact would be limited with the double deck down option similar to that in Grand Central in NYC where we have 67 tracks on two levels, which would spare the local park, social housing and small businesses in Camden.  If it can be done there a hundred years ago why not now in London particularly when British architects are doing it for the Chinese today?

So as the battle front moves to mitigating the harmful effects of HS2 in London particularly around Euston let us give full consideration to not just double deck at Euston station but also making the most of Old Oak Common, not only as the best way to limit the adverse impact in Camden with a permanent terminus but given the desolate nature of it, as a means of bringing some life back to that part of London. Historically the main rail terminus of London were all built on the edge of an expanding City of London is it proved difficult to go any further. Why not now with Old Oak Common? Which anyway will become a temporally, the terminus to HS2, much like Waterloo had been for Eurostar. Such a Brunelian vision for Old Oak Common would be in keeping with the golden age of the railways and should keep those who want to play with their new train set also happy.

Plaque put up in front of Lisson green Estate to acknowledge second home of Lords.

It is right and proper that Lords is has celebrated 200 years of being in St Johns Wood on the present site of the home of cricket but lets not forget its second home nearby albeit for a few years only.

Like many l went along to Lords on Sunday on its open day for its celebration of being in St John’s Wood for the past 200 years. During the days activities members of the public were allowed to entered the Pavilion without being escorted by a member nor wearing a tie; spectators pinicked in front of the grand stand for the first time in decades; and had a whole load of activities to keep families of cricket fans entertained for the day.

 What is often forgotten is that Lords had a second home between Dorset Square & St John’s Wood for a few years between both sites. The second home of Lords cricket ground would have lied along West of the Park Road near Regents Park mosque going through what is now known as the Lisson Green estate. Lords was here for a few years between 1811 to 1813 where the development of the Regents canal had moved it off to the present third home of Lords.

In 2005, this was acknowledged by plaques put up at both the front of the Lisson Green estate and on Park Road, as its presence is often forgotten.

So as we celebrate 200 of Lords in St Johns Wood, lets not forget this was the third home of cricket after Dorset Square site and then Park Road to Lisson Grove site, the latter more often than not forgotten about altogether.

Figures released this month show food poverty in Westminster continues to rise rapidly as the Government’s cuts hit Londoners hard. The Trussell Trust, the charity running 39 foodbanks in London, recorded an increase in people visiting its food banks in Westminster of 92%. 

In 2009 there were six food banks run by the Trussell Trust in London, and today there are 39, with numbers of visitors in the past year increasing at an alarming rate. Londonwide Assembly Member Fiona Twycross last year published a report on why growing numbers of Londoners are unable to afford enough food for themselves and their families.

Murad Qureshi, Labour Londonwide Assembly Member, said:

“Food poverty in modern Britain is a scandal. And it is horrifying that in London, one of the world’s richest cities, the number of people reliant on food banks has almost doubled in the past year.

“From April 2013 to March 2014 over 95,000 people in London 1,243 in Westminster were fed by a Trussell Trust foodbank. This includes working people whose wages simply won’t stretch and who can’t afford to buy enough food for their families.

“The Mayor has to take a lead in working with partner organisations to help lift London families out of food poverty, and it is astonishing that despite these figures the Mayor has still refused to visit a foodbank in his six years in office. I am calling on him to visit local foodbanks in Westminster so he can hear directly why people are hungry in our city.”

Ends

Notes

1. Murad Qureshi is a Labour Londonwide Assembly Member.
2. You can find Fiona Twycross’s 2013 Food Poverty report here.
3. Figures released by the Trussell Trust this month:

Poyla Boishakhi being celebrated in Dhaka

Bengali New Year occurs around the 14th/15th April, is the first day of the Bengali calendar, celebrated in Bangladesh and in the Indian state of West Bengal, by the Bengali people and also by minor Bengali communities in other Indian states, including Assam, Tripura, Jharkhand and Orrissa. It coincides with the New Year’s days of numerous Southern Asian calendars and celebrated by the diaspora around the world yet only in Tower Hamlets it is celebrated so late after the date. Infact this year in the middle of June, today this year. Why is this so? 

I understand the London Borough of Tower Hamlets have commissioned the Boishakhi Mela Community Trust Ltd (BMCT) to deliver the Boishakhi Mela. It is a significant event for the Bangladeshi community in the UK as well as other arts, cultural and community events.

Its board of Directors are said to be highly experienced professionals from across the public, private and voluntary sector. Their mixed professional experience means they are able to provide strategic project guidance and personnel support and have an array of experience, expertise, skills and knowledge in financial planning, project design delivery and management.

The Board claims to includes long standing members of the community who have previously been involved in planning the Boishakhi Mela as well new members who have a vast array of cultural knowledge and expertise that add new ideas and impetus to the Boishakhi Mela. So why it is unable to have the celebrations much near to the actual date of Boishakhi around the 14th/15th of April annually? Surely the expertise of the Board should be such to say that its a spring festivity and needs to happen much nearer the actual time that everyone else celebrates it. 

So shubho noboborsho to all that celebrate today in Victoria Park today but it should really have happened several months ago as Tower Hamlets never seem able to celebrate it at the right time.  

At Mayor’s Question Time yesterday Murad Qureshi AM urged Mayor of London Boris Johnson to drastically improve his approach to tackling air pollution in London. Murad Qureshi challenged the Mayor over his failure to improve air quality in London, which causes over 4,000 deaths a year in the capital. 

This spring London faced two of its most serious air pollution incidents of recent years, during which the London Ambulance Service saw a 14% increase in incidents of people reporting breathing problems. The Mayor was challenged over the handling of this crisis, during which he claimed that levels of pollution were “perfectly fine”.

Mr Qureshi also pressed the Mayor to bring forward the implementation of a new Ultra Low Emission Zone from 2020 to an earlier date and to issue Londoners with formal “smog alerts”.

London Assembly Labour Group Environment Spokesperson Murad Qureshi AM said:

“One of the main problems London faces is the scandal that over 4,000 people die prematurely every year due to poor air quality. Today the Mayor refused to apologise for his unhelpful comments during the last incident which gave a false impression of the danger the smog posed.

“Air pollution is a silent killer, and Boris’ failure to get a grip of this problem is lamentable. Despite having been in office since 2008, Boris Johnson has an inexcusable record on tackling a problem which he acknowledges is one of the top environmental concerns of Londoners. The end result is Londoners suffering some of the worst air pollution of any capital city in Europe.” 

Ends 

Notes

1. Murad Qureshi is a Labour Londonwide Assembly Member.
2. According to a study commissioned by the Mayor’s office, every year around 4,000 deaths per year in London occur due to poor air quality.
3. London Ambulance Service Press Release on 14 per cent increase in emergency calls for patients with breathing problems.
4. Murad Qureshi AM’s question can be found here.
5. A recording of Mayor’s Question Time can be found here.

Palestine is still occupied

While we condemn the forced annexation of Crimea by Putin, we should not forget the crippling chronic annexation of Palestine by Israel illustrated by the settlements in the West Bank and their menacing presence in the daily lives of Palestinians.

Several stark reminders of this reality were apparent to my colleagues and me during our recent visit to Palestine organised by Labour2Palestine.  During a tour of Greater Jerusalem, we saw first-hand the impact on Palestinians of the illegal settlements and house demolitions.  Taking just one example of basic utilities services; water consumption is some 200 litres plus for residents of the settlements but only 90 odd litres for Palestinians. Most Palestinians would be lucky to get a rubbish collection but they are regular in the settlements; even though the Palestinians are still paying the same.  The house demolition programme is at the sharp end of a targeted campaign to eliminate properties of families being dispossessed, often on dubious legal grounds and sometimes very cruelly in the middle of the night.  Refugee camps surrounded by the separation wall in Jerusalem like the one in Shafut, have 70,000 residents and receive limited emergency services from the occupying Israeli administration and yet construction of the wall of separation is relentless as highlighted during the recent Papal visit.  The aim is clear, and that is to isolate Palestinian villages like Abu Dis from the rest of Jerusalem.

I was also struck by the ghost town in the middle of the City of Hebron immediately surrounding the Abrahamic mosque which has become a military zone. Palestinians are banned from walking down the road in Hebron. If ever there was a potential flash point, this was it, because of the religious significance afforded by all sides to this site. It felt like a ticking time-bomb.

In Hebron, we witnessed Palestinian children detained by Israel security for nothing more than throwing stones, with two shot dead in the last week alone. We discovered children from the settlements were dealt with by Israeli civil law whilst Palestinian children have military law applied. There are currently over 200 Palestinian children being detained in prison by the Israeli government, often arrested from their beds. There are also another 200 Palestinians in “administrative detention”, held without charge. When we met some of their relatives, we discovered many were on hunger strike demanding an end to the use of administrative detention.  This is a procedure that allows the Israeli occupation to arrest any Palestinian, any time without charge or trial based on “secret information” that neither the lawyer nor the prisoner can see. Interestingly it’s a practice which was introduced by the British, so we have a responsibility to try and end this.  Our delegation also experienced some of this aggressive treatment when we joined the wall protest in Bil’in.  The Israeli military responded in their usual way by dispersing tear gas aimed at the protesters.

But the first sign of Israeli policy is demonstrated by the reception which the Israeli border control at Tel Aviv airport affords their visitors.  Quite apart from the fact that in order to get to the West Bank you need to pass through the occupiers points of access (even though Gaza has its own airport strips left behind by the British). they then embark upon a torrent of aggressive questioning and intimidation.  They seemed obsessed with my family lineage, asking me repeatedly for the names of my father and grandfather.   Several hours of repeated questioning and interrogation, waiting around and an approach designed to make it clear to me in no uncertain terms that I was not welcome made a very bad start for my trip after which, l can only imagine what the Palestinians must go through on a daily basis each time they have to pass through check points like Qalandia where you see 18 year old soldiers treating them appallingly.

If there is hope, then we saw it in two guises. In Nablus we saw an amazing lively Palestinian city giving us a glimpse of what an unoccupied Palestine could be like. And also the emergence of some very impressive Palestinian female politicians as their unity government is put in place and is increasing recognised by the world. Both Hannen Zoabi MP in the Knesset and the Mayor of Bethlehem, Dr Vera Babon caught my eye in particular.  Strong women, with a clear and positive outlook bode well for both the future administration of Palestine and its political culture.

My trip was an eye opener. It is one thing to see these images of segregation, mistreatment and suffering on a television screen but quite another to experience them.  The international kowtowing to Israel needs to end now as it only understands the language of power and punishment.  In fact the entire approach to Israel needs to change, to one of boycotts and sanctions which are always preferable to bloodshed.

Is the Mayor petitioning HS2 only to try and get Crossrail 2?

In the lead up to the Local Election 2014 in London on the 22nd of May, both the Mayor and the London Assembly jointly put in a GLA petition for the HS2 hybrid bill going through the Commons for very different reasons. It didn’t draw attention as it came in under purdah and thus the rules of local government restricting publicity on such submissions. What is for sure is that both the Mayor & the London Assembly made the joint submission for very different reasons.

The Mayor clearly supports the principle of a new High Speed ” rail line with new stations at Old Oak Common and Euston. However  his concerns  are that the proposals do not sufficiently maximise the regeneration and development proposals for these important parts of London and thus he is making this the petition to ensure a better quality outcome for London, in his mind. Whilst for the London Assembly its to address many of the issues again that have been raised by our Transport & Environment Committees. For example we agree that the proposals for the redevelopment of Euston as HS2’s London terminus are insufficient. Under my chairmanship of the Environment Committee, our response to the draft Environment Statement, highlighted the significant impacts on the area including the demolition of homes, loss of businesses and community buildings, and the loss of green space in this densely developed area. Local stakeholders also felt the proposed new station offers little compensation for this damage. The petition has given us another opportunity to reinstate this again. Whilst the Transport Committee concentrated on the missed opportunity to improve the passenger experience at London’s sixth busiest station.

Additional passengers from HS2 in Euston may well exacerbate existing transport congestion in the area, with Euston Underground already overcrowded at peak periods. Figures provided to the Environment Committee suggest that morning peak passengers from Euston will double requiring onward travel by car, taxi and public transport when HS2 is fully operational. Thus its not difficult to conclude that construction of HS2 should not proceed without Crossrail 2 is ready for the opening od the second phase of HS2.

With Old Oak Common we have frequently expressed concerns that the plans for HS2 failed to show how it sufficiently regenerate OOC. Thus we support the specific measures outlined in the petition, including a new London Overground station, that will enhance the transport infrastructure in the area and ensure it is fully integrated with the wider transport network.

The huge HS2 construction impacts means that we need to ensures appropriate mitigation measures are in place to sufficiently minimise impacts during the construction on London’s economy, residents and transport networks. Specific construction impacts that give cause for concern include air pollution. The Environmental Statement before Parliament suggests that air pollution in many locations affected by HS2 is, even without the scheme, projected to remain in breach of national and EU limits, in some cases as late as 2026.

So as you can see there is plenty to play for in the third reading of the hybrid bill for HS2 where we may see a lot more horse trading on these key issues yet.

NatWest Maida Hill Branch will shut on the 25th July 2014

I was sad to hear about the proposed closure of my local Natwest bank along Edgware Rd known as their Maid Hill branch. It is where l set up my first bank account before l left London for a few years for University but I sensed that I was not the only one who felt this way having become a regular user on Saturday mornings and getting to talk to other local users.  So after writing to Ross McEwan, CEO of The Royal Bank Scotland PLC to express my disappointment, I received the following response.

The reality is the face of banking is changing.  We are going on line more, using Apps, telephone banking and ATM machines at our local supermarkets although interestingly, the response also highlights the reliance on post offices to deliver local banking services.  This is why I’ve campaigned in the past to keep open local crown post offices which provide a plethora of services to the local community.  Like pubs and post offices, banks are a vital component in sustaining a vibrant local community.  Natwest point out that the Maida Vale branch is not far off but for me it will still mean a tube ride away to a branch which is much smaller (and generally not as nice!) then the Maida Hill branch.  I may consider taking my local banking somewhere else!