Hounslow + London-wide stories
Ealing and Hounslow Lib Dems put Turnham Green's case to TfL
19 July 2010 - 9:30pm — Administrator
Liberal Democrats from Ealing and Hounslow met with two senior transport advisors from Transport for London this week.
The meeting came after the request by Ealing Lib Dem Leader Councillor Gary Malcolm, and Caroline Pidgeon, Lib Dem leader on the London Assembly, who want to see the Piccadilly Line tube stop permanently at Turnham Green.
The items discussed at the meeting included:
- Extending or trialling extensions to the current early and late stopping service at Turnham Green
- The possibility of introducing a Sunday service
- Signage and announcements at Turnham Green tube station
- Replacing the Baron's Court stop with Turnham Green on the Piccadilly Line
- Signalling of the Piccadilly and District lines
Caroline joins Lib Dems from across London and the UK at Pride 2010
19 July 2010 - 9:21pm — Administrator
Caroline Pidgeon AM, Leader of the London Assembly Lib Dems, joined senior Lib Dems including Lynne Featherstone MP, Sarah Ludford MEP, and party president Ros Scott, at the Pride London 2010 event on Saturday 3rd July - the UK's largest annual LGBT event.
Caroline campaigns with Ealing and Hounslow Lib Dems for better Turnham Green services
1 April 2010 - 9:56pm — Administrator
Caroline Pidgeon, Lib Dem London Assemly Member, joined local Liberal Democrats for a large 'demo' outside Turnham Green Tube Station, continuing the Lib Dems' their campaign to get Piccadilly Line tubes to stop there all day.
Councillor Gary Malcolm handed a document to Caroline Pidgeon, which she will pass to the Mayor of London asking for a meeting to discuss the possibilities of a 6 month trial to extend the short early morning and late evening stops at the station (which are often unannounced so customers either get to the wrong destination or miss out).
Caroline backs court challenge over Heathrow third runway
24 February 2010 - 10:38pm — Administrator
Caroline Pidgeon has backed a High Court action launched by local authorities, green groups and residents' groups, challenging the government's decision to approve a third runway and sixth terminal at Heathrow Airport.
The coalition’s lawyers will be claiming in court that the consultation process was fundamentally flawed, that the decision to expand Heathrow is at odds with the UK’s overall climate change targets, and that the number of measures introduced to pass the plans through Parliament mean the expansion is fundamentally different to the proposals on which the Government consulted the public in 2007. The Transport Department’s lawyers are now claiming the new measures were not part of the decision to expand Heathrow.
If the coalition wins, the decision to proceed with the runway may be overturned.
Has Boris backed down on a promise?
18 September 2008 - 10:23pm — AdministratorCommenting on Mayor Johnson’s pledge to intervene on the issue of the possible closure of South West Trains’ ticket offices, Caroline Pidgeon AM, the transport spokesperson for the Liberal Democrat Group at the London Assembly, says: “I’m extremely disappointed to see Mayor Johnson hasn’t personally got involved in this matter when he quite clearly said he would.
“Getting his minions at TfL to do his work simply doesn’t have the same impact as if the Mayor of London gets involved. I want to see the Mayor sticking to his promises.”
Poorest children in London must not be penalised by new Oyster fees
25 July 2010 - 6:56pm — AdministratorCaroline 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.
Are plans to get Londoners walking on the right track?
25 July 2010 - 6:25pm — Administrator
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.
Mayor's cuts to Tube ticket offices - "an absolute sham of a consultation"
19 July 2010 - 10:34pm — AdministratorCaroline 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.
Conservatives try to silence criticism of Mayor's ticket office cuts
17 July 2010 - 12:46pm — AdministratorCaroline 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 chairs World Sickle Cell Day event
10 July 2010 - 4:23pm — Administrator
Caroline Pidgeon AM chaired a special Sickle Cell Society event to celebrate World Sickle Cell Day on Friday 18th June.
Held near Westminster, the event had a number of superb speakers talking about the development of awareness of Sickle Cell and services for those with the condition, as well as hearing about the work of the Sickle Cell Society.
“I was honoured to be able to help out by chairing this important event. The work of the Sickle Cell Society is very important in raising awareness of this condition that affects many Londoners” added Caroline.
Photo: Caroline Pidgeon AM with Dr Philip Nortey and other members of the Sickle Cell Society at the celebrations
© Caroline Pidgeon 2010. Printed (hosted) by Tsohost Ltd, 3 The Meadows, Worlington, Suffolk IP28 8SH. Published and promoted by Caroline Pidgeon, c/o Liberal Democrats, 4 Cowley Street, London SW1P 3NB. The views expressed are those of Caroline Pidgeon, not the service provider.