Westminster Council’s parking policies have made the headlines for all the wrong reasons not least because I’ve recently found myself defending the imposition of a parking fine by them! Proposals to introduce parking restrictions during the evenings and weekends have been met which much hostility by local residents and businesses alike with a meeting this evening by the full council facing an 8000 strong petition against the proposals.

 So, not only have I been confronted with this issue in my capacity as a London-wide assembly member, I’ve also been clobbered as a local resident. With my assembly hat firmly on, I was interested to hear what the Mayor of London had to say about the issue of evening and weekend charges which is why I submitted a question to him asking “How does the City of Westminster’s new parking policy affect your policies in central London?”. He gave a muted response against the proposals but his response spoke louder about the impact on local businesses (which is of course very good) but not enough about the impact on local residents. With recent price hikes in the cost of transport and the relentless poor service at weekends, those who may not oridinarily have travelled by car are being lured, some would argue forced back into their car. It would not be too cynical of me to suggest that there is a strong element of revenue raising behind the proposals. Residents have wholeheartedly spoken out against the moves and the proposals are also bad for business. For these reasons, the Mayor should be much bolder and vocal in his response. I hope that my recent question to him will prompt him to speak out for the Londoners most affected.

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. “To delay such important policies for more than three years simply beggars belief," said Qureshi. "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."

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The pace of measures to combat dangers for Londoners is a matter of concern, said the chair of London Assembly’s Environment committee.

Heathrow is owned and operated by BAA.

“Pollution is a major problem in the capital and Heathrow has a role to play in helping clean up London’s air, particularly for people living around the airport,” said Murad Qureshi.

“Action must be taken as quickly as possible to reduce the damaging effects of pollution on Londoners’ health.

”Aircraft noise is another major concern for Londoners. BAA is encouraging airlines to use more modern aeroplanes into Heathrow, which are quieter than the older models.

“However, 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.”

BAA was hailed at City Hall for measures currently in place, under which only two monitoring sites at the Britain’s biggest airport currently exceed EU levels for nitrogen dioxide.

Independent air quality consultant Professor Duncan Laxen said: “The issue is not a disagreement with the overall approach which BAA has adopted, but it would be a requirement to ensure that what is done is being done thoroughly and being done fast enough.”

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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

Ends

: "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.