Casual water leak in Marylebone

With the New York style weather (bitter cold with clear blue sky and sunshine) we’ve been experiencing recently in London, there is a downside. The effect has been to intensify the drought situation in the UK. With half the country now under a drought order following two dry winters and a relatively dry spring, this is not good news for consumers.

What has exacerbated the situation is the high volume of leaks still occuring on our streets. Above, is an example of one that I recently came across in Marylebone. Having just reported it to Thames Water’s leak line, I’ll be able to see first hand how quickly this gets dealt with. That said, we also have an awful lot of water works happening in Maida Vale & St John’s Wood which largely appear not to be worked on when ever l pass by them.

My anecdotal observations appear to stand up when you realise that Thames Water tops the table of leaks whilst millions face a hosepipe ban. Thames Water is truly in a league of its own with an average of over 600 megalitres per day leaked. Yes it is the case that Thames Water which serves 8.8 million customers met its leakage targets set by OFWAT over the past six years. However its leak rate is five times higher than the 5 per cent that will be saved by the hosepipe ban. Indeed it has led to Fred Pearce, the New Scientist’s environment consultant to comment that “Thames Water’s leakage rates are obscene” .  It’s quite clear that the targets are not sufficiently challenging in the first place.

Source: OFWAT

On top of all this, Thames Water’s customers have had to endure an above average price and above inflation increase of 6.7%  from the 1st of April and a payment of almost £2 million in bonuses ( p 47 ) to it’s top 3 executives.   Thames Water have responded by saying that half the bonuses were incentive plans from previous years paid only after tough financial targets were met by them, and further that the company invests £1 billion a year in improving pipes, sewers and other facilities.  However,  looking at the figures in the table above for Thames Water, their efforts appear not to be making significant impact on the volume of leaks but simply sustaining them at the same level.  So on the day that millions were made the subject of a hosepipe ban,  received bills with record inflation busting price rises for the year ahead, it’s little wonder customers found such bonuses had to swallow.

Others like the Economist magazine suggest that the housepipe ban is a poor solution to a water shortage as it maintains a cap on price whilst reducing the quantity of water.  So if customers can’t pay for it, they will commit their time to finding other ways to obtaining it.  As a result, a considerable amount of effort will be spent on side-stepping the ban by exploiting the loopholes, for example,  pretending the use helps on health and safety grounds or supporting wildlife which the rules permit.  Still others will choose to ignore the ban, as the last time it happened in 2006 some 2 in 7 ignored the rule!

The upshot of these bonus payments, price rises, poor performance and low level targets, is that we appear appear to have the worst of both worlds when it comes to our water industry. We have private utilities, but no competition, in short, regional private monopolies with little incentive to reduce our consumption of our precious water resource.

Some journalists have recently commented on London appearing to have become the home of many crooks and fugitives from around the world. For example,  Marina Hyde in the Guardian suggests London has become a full-blown creep haven as she points her finger to many of  global scumbags now residing in London whom have often very unsavoury allegations against them. Other like Max Hastings have specifically pointed the finger at certain communities like the Russians in London on live TV on respectable shows like the AM Show on sunday morning, suggesting its a result of London having become the libel capital of the world.

Its also been something l have been asking questions about to Mayor, in response to the  some of the things l have noticed in my particular neighbourhood in response more often then not to the rumours l hear along the Edgware Road!  For example  former President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf   whom its rumoured we were spending over £ 25,000 a day on his security in Hyde Park Ward. This when his approach to opponents in Balochistan was to send them body bags of their colleagues. Or Rifaat Al-Assad, the uncle of the present President of Syria Assad who stands accused of being the butcher of Homs in the early 1980s.  And not least, we have some 44 referrals of war criminals to the MET by the Border Agency whom the MET has seen fit not to do anything about at all, by just saying we just have not.  This by of all departments, the anti-Terrorism Section which makes you wonder how come its seen as a terrorism threat!  Finally some journalists have even seen fit to give me some credit for such questioning of the Mayor in his position as the ultimate boss of the MET.

This trend continues today in the Sunday Telegraph, as we have Gilligan reporting from Dhaka about one particular case we know too well in the Bangladeshi community – Chowdhury Moeen-Uddin. Its alleged he committed war crimes during the liberation of Bangladesh in 1971 which involved abductions and disappearances of leading Bengali intellectuals towards the end of the war. It is likely he will be prosecuted during the summer in Dhaka and the UK government could face extradition requests by Bangladesh government. What ever happens we could do without this albatross around the neck of the body politics of Bangladeshis both at home and aboard to be finally dealt with once and for all. The victims of 1971 deserve to get their justice and their families closer on these horrific events.

I just ask that if London’s going to become more ethical that we deal with these peoples deeds from other parts of the world before letting them into the country in the first place. And those already in the UK who have clearly not been telling us the truth about their past, should have their British nationality removed from them. Lets get rid of all these global scrumbags living in our London and if necessary through the British courts.

At this morning s launch of the Manifesto for London 2012 sub-titled “better off with Ken” in Grenwich Pennisula, we saw him weep at the end of the political broadcast that will be make tonight. He was comforted by the leader of the Labour Party, Ed Milliband as he realised what a responsibility he has taken on if he’s going to make Londoners life easier in our city.

If you want a first hand look at its contents before you read all the political commentary on it, see the attached link  to the Manifesto for London 2012  

If you also want to have a look at what made him emotional this morning, see tonights political broadcast here.

Ed and Ken called on Londoners to vote for Labour policies which will make them better off in contrast to Boris Johnson’s fare increases.

Or a "full-blown creep haven", as she put it. Well it’s because in the capital the authorities don’t just live and let live. They spend an awful lot of money ensuring that dodgy or controversial types feel safe, enjoy the high life, ride happily on Boris bikes etc. To some, this feting has long been a source of real frustration. Credit to London assembly member Murad Qureshi. If the details remain opaque, it’s not for lack of trying. Is it right that it is costing the Met £25,000 a day to protect former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf, he asked back in 2009. Not telling, said the mayor. Forty-four referrals of war crimes suspects to the Met since 2005, Qureshi noted a year later. Why haven’t we arrested them? We just haven’t, the mayor said. Why so many armed officers patrolling the streets where these undesirables live, asked Qureshi last May. We don’t discuss that sort of thing, said Johnson. What about Rifaat al-Assad, the former vice-president of Syria, the alleged "butcher of Hama", all comfy in Mayfair, asked the Labour man last July. Really, replied the mayor, no one’s complained. Why are you not investigating all the war criminals living in London, was the question in December. Well it’s tricky came the reply. "Even where a suspect is present in the UK, it is often the case that sufficient corroborating evidence is not available." And so it goes. If London is fab for ghouls and chancers, this is why.

“¢ To Westminster, meanwhile, the theatre of government, the crucible of debate and a pretty good shop window for product placement. Which is more or less what speaker John Bercow was up to this week. "You have become, to many of us," he told the Queen, "A kaleidoscope Queen of a kaleidoscope country in a kaleidoscope Commonwealth." So spoke the president of the Kaleidoscope Trust, a recently launched campaign organisation lobbying for lesbian, gay and transgender rights around the world. Hope he isn’t linked to Burger King.

“¢ Still, he’s a good speaker. And one result of his clampdown on incivility in the chamber seems to be that the fisticuffs happen elsewhere. This the early day motion tabled this week by Labour MP Paul Flynn. "This House believes that the answer given by the parliamentary undersecretary of state for justice, the hon member for Reigate [Crispin Blunt], to the hon member for Newport West [Paul Flynn], sets a new low standard in evasiveness and vacuity; and calls on the minister to alter his usual conduct and read honourable members’ questions before attempting to answer them." Feisty. But he wouldn’t talk like that to Eric Joyce, would he?

“¢ Elsewhere, there’s Damien Hirst at the centre of conflict in Germany. Monopol magazine ““ like a German GQ but with more emphasis on culture ““ was planning to run a cover story looking at the forthcoming Hirst retrospective at the Tate. Also planned were pro and anti pieces about the artist. They hoped to illustrate it all with images from the exhibition. Nothing doing. The magazine, says Hirst, wanted copy approval. He says the problem was the main writer whose other articles, he alleged, were "characterised by glaring factual inaccuracies". In the event, the feature appeared with strange blank spaces where the pictures were supposed to be.

“¢ Finally, as Mark Thompson plots life after the BBC, memories of his rise come tumbling out. Young Thompson was a researcher on the Nationwide programme three decades ago. Even then colleagues marked him out for advancement. In 1981, another hopeful was given an item to do on the legendary motor cyclist Mike Hailwood, who had been injured in a road accident but had not yet died. The researcher went to lunch, during which time Hailwood passed. As did the item to Thompson, for whom lunch was only ever a theoretical possibility. Is there anything I can do to help, the wretched usurped figure asked on his return. "Yes, you can fuck off," said Thompson. Then as now, a man of notable drive.Twitter: @hugh_muir

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Plane Speaking by the Assembly’s Environment Committee builds on the Committee’s previous work on environmental conditions around the UK’s busiest “” and fastest growing “” airport.

The report raises particular concerns about the significant contribution to poor air quality around Heathrow made by people using private cars and taxis to get to and from the airport: almost two-thirds of the 69 million passengers using Heathrow every year travel by car.

Emissions from road traffic have contributed to the area around Heathrow achieving the dubious honour of being the second worst area in the capital for poor air quality, which can cause serious ill-health and premature death.

The situation could worsen as the number of passengers has the potential to rise to 95 million with the introduction of bigger planes and once redevelopment and construction projects at Heathrow are complete, generating even more road traffic.

Committee Members believe improving public transport links “” alongside the introduction of more greener, quieter planes and ensuring the airport’s on-site vehicles meet the latest EU emissions standards “” is essential to tackling the poor air quality around Heathrow.

“Poor air quality causes the early deaths of at least 4,000 Londoners a year, and it’s time more action is focused on Heathrow as a big player in this serious public health issue," Murad Qureshi AM, Chair of the Environment Committee, said.

“Heathrow airport is of vital importance to London. And this is not just about planes. One of the biggest challenges to reducing emissions around the airport is the volume of road traffic.

“Improvements to public transport are absolutely essential to getting more of Heathrow’s passengers and employees out of their cars.

“We need an integrated solution to surface access to and from Heathrow if we are to start to see air quality in the area improve. This means all the organisations involved – Heathrow Airport Limited, government, Transport for London, and rail operators “” need to make improving transport links a priority.”

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The Plane Speaking report said 66% of 69 million passengers getting to the west London airport used cars or taxis.

It said with bigger planes and the redevelopment of Heathrow, the number of passengers could rise to 95 million.

The report suggests extending the London Underground’s operating hours to Heathrow to cut pollution.

It also recommends introducing incentives to encourage people to use buses and coaches; encouraging airline operators to remove the most polluting aircraft from their fleets; and considering more robust measures to reduce the level of drop-off and pick-up traffic.

Murad Qureshi, chair of the London Assembly’s environment committee, said: "Poor air quality causes the early deaths of at least 4,000 Londoners a year, and it’s time more action is focused on Heathrow as a big player in this serious public health issue."

Click here to view article

Don't expect much upgrading to lines going through the oldest part of the tube at stations like Edgware Rd

At the top of page 13 of the report,  it has some very warm and woolly words about a 21st century tube system but it lacks any radical moves.  As Tony Travers suggested in last night’s ES, its more “steady as it goes”.   Furthermore,  it doesn’t marry up with a response I got from the Mayor this month on the unreliability of the services in Central London, which makes for a very telling admission.

The service along the oldest bits of the tube won’t be improved until 2018; well after the next political term which is now being contested.  Do we really have to wait more then another political term of the Mayoralty before the signal box at Edgware Rd dating back to 1928 is replaced once and for all, and the 1950’s programming of Earls Court station is sorted out?  

Despite this, I’m sure it won’t stop Boris celebrating the 150th birthday of the oldest part of the tube this summer (between Paddington & Farringdon); still, while the younger lines with their new extensions like the Jubilee  line, despite their upgrades still cause problems. 

Whether inside or outside the PPP,  lines like the Circle, District and Hammersmith & City lines have all had a bum deal so far.  Unfortunately this looks set to continue for another political term or so if we have another under Boris administration.

You only have to see a double deck A380 landing at Heathrow to realise the airlines are expanding

With all the talk about the coalition government reconsidering its position with Heathrow in today’s sundays papers, all assume that Heathrow is not expanding and ignores Londoners concerns about noise and air pollution.

While Heathrow may have reached its upper limit of flight numbers to and from its runways, the actual numbers of passengers passing through its terminals is most certainly increasing. You only have to witness an A380 plane land at Heathrow, off-loading 500 plus passengers to realize that Heathrow expansion is a practical reality.  If all aircraft passing through Heathrow were on the same scale, then it would be much easier to contemplate the extra tens of millions more passengers which could potentially use the airport.  Currently, it can handle around 66 million passengers and once the redevelopment and construction of the five terminals are completed it will be able to cope with 90-95 million passengers a year. So whos says Heathrow isn’t getting bigger.

Interestingly its the Arab and Asian airlines who have been bringing in the extra passengers with A380, with them offering connections with other flights in Middle Eastern hubs like Dubai. Clearly responding to the demands of  their customers both business & lesiure, without demanding more slots and thus capacity at Heathrow while offering us the connections still. So while direct flights maybe not on offer by these airlines, you are certainly been offered very convenient connections and the full plane loads suggest customers are happy with this arrangement.

The major concerns is the impact which this increasing capacity will have on the immediate local environmental in terms of air quality and noise.  After Central London, Heathrow airport is the second major hot spot for poor air quality in London particularly with Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2).  Poor air quality is leading to the early deaths of at least 4,300 Londoners a year, and the UK is already facing legal action and fines of £300 million for its breaches of EU air pollution limits.  While much attention is rightly given to this major public health issue in London, little is directed specifically at Heathrow. 

The environmental impact of Heathrow is not exclusive to west London.  Although, it is acknowledged that 28 per cent of all people in Europe affected by aircraft noise live under the Heathrow flight paths, that’s some 700,000 people; this does not account for those affected by operational freedom trials currently taking place in Heathrow, on places like Wandsworth, where some 500 plus noise complaints have been made since the start of the trials last November.  The flight noise problem has clearly spread across London, but before we begin to address these issues, there must be an honest and informed analysis of the status quo and the problems.  Furthermore, this needs to be done before the Government’s consultation on night flights begins towards the end of the year.

In this respect the recent, the Environment Committee report “Plane Speaking – A growing Heathrow &  its noise and air pollution” attempts to begin to deal with these issues in a very significant year for aviation in London.  

The report highlights surface transport concerns in and around Heathrow which can make a major contribution in reducing the local environmental impact. This has to be improved otherwise increased passenger numbers will generate more road traffic, the a major source of the air pollution around the airport. This includes: making better use of the Piccadilly tube line connection; making sure Crossrail offers the service levels to take on the growing numbers of passengers coming into central London; that it’s appropriately linked to the new planned High Speed Rail 2 (HS2) has links to the North in order to minimize long car journeys to the airport.  Finally and fundamentally we must begin to accept that Heathrow is a major transport hub for modes other than air transport alone, attracting as much traffic from ThamesValley, further West as it does from centralLondon.  This clearly has knock-on effects for transport provision planning and infrastructure in London as well as consequences for the environment including air quality and road noise.

So while the current focus maybe on whether we should build new runways in London & the South-East, we should not forget that with the advancement of technology and the steer towards bigger aircraft, in reality, Heathrow is expanding, carrying more passengers with all the side effects this brings.  What we must do is work out how to manage the resulting air and noise pollution without further burdening Londoners living around the area and beyond in Greater London and be consist across the whole of London. 2012 will be a decisive year for aircraft noise sufferers with the publication of the Government consultation on the new night flight regime expected in the spring.  So plainly speaking, Heathrow is expanding anyway by passenger numbers certainly and residents concerns about noise and poor air quality still need to be addressed.

Read this post here.

Traffic jam leading into Heathrow causing air pollution