Cllr Scott Ainslie lone voice supporting survivors' calls on redress for child abuse in Lambeth care

Cllr Ainslie and survivors' spokesman Raymond Stevenson

Lambeth Council's redress scheme for children who were abused in its care was nodded through by the council's cabinet this week without a formal vote and against the wishes of survivors who say they have no confidence in the local authority to bring out the truth about what happened to them.

Hundreds of survivors who attended a noisy Cabinet meeting held at the Oval cricket ground were unclear what had happened as council leader Lib Peck looked up at her colleagues and asked "Is that agreed then?", before closing the meeting and walking out to the sounds of angry protests.

Have our say on future planning priorities in Streatham

Lambeth Council is asking for people's views on priorities for future developments in housing, transport and the environment in Streatham - and Lambeth as a whole.

Consultation ends 11pm on Monday 4 December.

The Local Plan - which sets out guidelines for local council officers and decision makers over the next 15 years - is an important document, which will affect where developers can build, the density and height of new housing blocks, transport decisions, and how much importance will be given to issues such as traffic congestion and air pollution.

Before drawing up a review of the existing Local Plan, the council wants to understand the priorities of existing residents. It asking for a views on 12 topics through an online survey, here.

Where are the clean buses Streatham was promised?

Nicole Griffiths: 'Where are clean buses?'

A promised ‘clean bus corridor’ through Brixton and Streatham has been delayed, the Green Party has learned.

The plan for either hybrid buses or diesels with top-of-the-range anti-pollutant systems to run along the A23 was due to start in October, cutting nitrogen dioxide emissions by up to 84%. Officials now say they aim for it to be in place “by the end of year.”

The Brixton and Streatham low emission zone was due to cover Stockwell Road, Brixton Hill and Streatham High Road, but at present, it is still served by the old bus fleet.

The delay follows news that Lambeth is the second worst borough in London for action to tackle air pollution, according to a report for the Mayor's office.

Have your say on key walking and cycling routes

Lambeth Council wants to create more safe routes for walking and cycling - to help people stay healthy, and cut down on air-polluting use of cars for local journeys.

So now is the time to have your say on which routes would be most convenient for you - and which you think could be made safer to encourage travelling on foot and by bike.

From a cyclists' point of view, four key

It's official - police stay in Streatham 'til 2024, but front counter to close

Campaigning: Jonathan Bartley, Sian Berry and  Cllr Scott Ainslie

The Greens have secured the commitment of the London Mayor that Streatham's police base will stay open - although Sadiq Khan intends to still close its front counter service to the public on December 14th.

In a written answer to a question from Green Party London Assembly Member Sian Berry, who is deputy chair of the Mayor's police and crime committee, the mayor states: "I can confirm that while the front counter at Streatham police station will be closed - in order to reduce running costs - the building will retain a police presence until 2024."

How would you spend £200k on Streatham Hill?

Streatham Hill is in line for a face-lift, with £200,000 due to be spent making improvements to local streets.

Money from Transport for London and a levy paid by property developers will be spent on 'greening' streets with trees and planters, traffic calming and upgrades of roads, pavements and cycle facilities.

The council wants to hear local ideas and views on exactly where and how the money could be spent. There will be two consultation events: Weds 22nd November and Weds 13th December 6-8pm at St Simon & St Jude’s Church Hall, 5 Hillside Road SW2 3HL.

You can also take part in an online survey here.

The consultation ends on 5th January.

Have your say on plans to change parking bays on Streatham High Road

Earlier this year TfL consultated on proposals to extend northbound bus lanes on Streatham High Road between Becmead Avenue and Drewstead Road. This scheme also included a proposal to inset a loading and disabled parking bay one metre into the footway between Becmead Avenue and Woodbourne Avenue.

Having received 450 responses to the consultation, with 71% in favour of the proposals, they nnow plan to go ahead - but with slightly different treatment of parking bays.

They are asking to hear views on their new proposals for the parking bays by 13th December 2017.

Council fails to tackle flytipping in Streatham

Nicole Griffiths: championing cleaner streets

Only four people have been fined for fly-tipping in Streatham, since the council gained powers to issue fines, Green party campaigner Nicole Griffiths has discovered.

Nicole found that Lambeth has the worst record among south London boroughs for fining fly-tippers, with only 35 offenders fined in 16 months - compared to 36 in Merton, 41 in Bromley, 58 in Lewisham, 268 in Croydon, and 117 in just 8 months in Wandsworth. Southwark did not provide figures.

Nicole said: "Flytipping is a blight on our community and these figures show that Lambeth Council is not yet taking it seriously in Streatham. Greens will do all we can to keep our streets clean."

The Green Party has set up a shortcode to make it easier to report flytipping to Lambeth Council: http://bit.do/flytipping (This link is now correct - apologies, previous version didn't).

Lambeth's full response, ward by ward, can be seen here.

Greens call on Mayor to rethink police station closures

Streatham dad - and co-leader of the Green Party - Jonathan Bartley is calling on the Mayor of London to stop overriding the wishes of Londoners and rethink the closure of police front counters and stations across the capital.

Jonathan Bartley made the call as he handed in a 1300-strong petition to save Streatham police base at City Hall as the Mayor announced that more than half of London’s remaining front counters will be closed.

Jonathan Bartley said: “The Mayor has the chance to show Londoners he cares about their safety by reversing the decision to close police stations and front counters. 

“This consultation has clearly been a short, shallow and inadequate process. It is clear Londoners' concerns have been side lined, with so few changes made to the Mayor’s plans following consultation it raises serious questions about the adequacy and depth of the consultation. Even more concerning is the fact London’s most vulnerable residents, who will be affected most by these decisions, were given so little time to respond.”

TfL listens to Streatham on St Leonard's Junction

Transport for London wants to hear your views on its latest proposals to improve safety for pedestrians and other road users at St Leonard's Junction.

Its is proposing to remove the pedestrian crossing located between St Leonard's churchyard and the north side of Gleneldon Road, which is not currently heavily used.

Instead a modern, count-down crossing with a 'green man' will be created on the southern arm of the junction - where there is very high demand from pedestrians, but currently no actual pedestrian crossing. 

A new bus lane is also proposed to ease the flow of buses approaching the junction from Tooting Bec Gardens.

Its consultation on these proposals can be viewed here and runs until 29 October.

New community garden gets the go-ahead

Residents meet Network Rail

Land next to the railway between Gleneldon Road and Wellfield Rd that has lain derelict for more than a decade is to be turned into a community garden, thanks to the determination of local residents.

A group of local people have got the go-ahead to lease the land from Network Rail and will form a trust to manage the land for the community.

Site that has been a long time vacant

They plan to transform what is currently a windswept eyesore that attracts fly-tipping into a beautiful oasis, growing organic fruit and vegatables, and encouraging participation from local schools, youth groups and the wider community.

Initially Network Rail had earmarked the land for commercial development, but negotations over the last two years have paid off. 

With two weeks to save our police base, campaign reaches ITV News

With only two weeks until the end of Mayor Sadiq Khan's consultation on plans to close Streatham's police base, Green councillor Scott Ainslie met Lambeth's borough commander Richard Wood and other senior police chiefs this week.

Metropolitan Police Force budgets face cuts of around £1billion since 2010 - and savings are being sought across the capital.

But the mayor's proposals to make cuts by closing almost all the police bases in Lambeth - leaving just Brixton open - are facing strong opposition, especially in Streatham, where the new police base opened less than three years ago at a cost of £500,000.

Campaigners meet police over threat to Streatham police base

Jonathan, left, campaigns Sian Berry and Cllr Scott Ainslie

By Jonathan Bartley

Along with local Green councillor Scott Ainslie and London Assembly member Sian Berry I met with police yesterday at Streatham Police base to discuss its proposed closure by the Mayor. 

Greens are opposed to the police base closure and removal of Streatham's police to Brixton. 

The Mayor of London is proposing to close police stations across London as a result of Government budget cuts. We think that closing Streatham police base is entirely counter productive and an inefficient use of resources. 

Have your say on threatened closure of Streatham's police base

Jonathan Bartley and Cllr Scott Ainslie: keeping police in Streatham

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan is consulting on plans to close all Lambeth's police stations, except Brixton and Gipsy Hill. The police base in Streatham, opened only two years ago at the cost of £500,00 would be lost, under the mayor's plans.

See the plans and have your say here.

 Local dad and Green Party co-leader Jonathan Bartley has launched a petition to save Streatham's police base.

Sign the petition here.

'Make public fire risk reports’ says Cllr Ainslie

Confidence in council home safety will only be restored if all fire risk safety assessments are published, said Green Cllr Scott Ainslie in a motion to Lambeth Council in July.

Labour-led Lambeth has refused to publish fire risk reports online, following the Grenfell Fire tragedy.

In March, it was revealed that disciplinary action was underway against Lambeth housing officers accused of giving misleading information about fire and electrical safety risk assessments in Lambeth.

 
“More than 30,000 Lambeth council tenants need to know corners have not been cut with their safety” said Cllr Ainslie.

'Extensive financial mismanagement' at Lambeth council condemned

Lambeth's financial claims questioned by report

Green Party councillor Scott Ainslie has called for a fundamental change in the culture of Lambeth Council after a year-long investigation by Lambeth Peoples’ Audit revealed “extensive financial mismanagement and failings in financial governance potentially costing millions of pounds.”

The full report, which can be seen here, reveals details of mismanagement across the borough including:

• Lambeth selling Streatham council estate plot to developer for £335,000 below market value
• Over-paying building contractors for work on council estates
• Appearance of price-fixing in building contracts
• Doubling of costs of ‘Your New Town Hall’ development
• Behind-the-scenes deal over library closures
• Huge numbers of invoices and records missing
• ‘Industrial scale’ ignoring of rules on competitive tendering

One in six drivers speeding on Streatham Hill

Green Cllr Scott Ainslie monitoring speeds at another event

One driver in every six on Streatham Hill was breaking the speed limit, during a 24-hour survey by Transport for London.

TfL monitored speeds for both northbound and southbound traffic in early February at three sites: north of the Arriva bus garage, south of the junction with Wavertree Road, and at the junction with Cricklade Avenue.

Collisions increase on A23 in Streatham

Collisions on the A23 through Streatham have increased, according to latest statistics from Transport for London.

In the period November 2013 to October 2016 there were 403 collisions, including 5 fatalities and 31 serious injuries on the A23 between the South Circular in the north and the junction of Streatham High Road and Hermitage Lane in the south. This is an increase of 13% on the previous period (May 2012 - April 2015). Fatalities rose from 4 to 5, and serious injuries rose from 24 to 31.

Introducing Green MP candidate Nicole Griffiths

Green Party MP candidate Nicole Griffiths

Streatham mum of two Nicole Griffiths is the Green Party candidate for Streatham in the 2017 general election.

She combines work as a school arts support officer with being a mum and studying at Goldsmiths University for a degree in Applied Social Science, Community Development and Youth Work.

Nicole grew up in Stockwell, and attended St Martin's School in Tulse Hill before enjoying a 17-year career working in theatre in London. For nine years she lived in Portugal and France, where she ran a small business.

She is a familiar face around Streatham, where she has lived since 2003, and is an active campaigner for clean air, a Safer A23, and defending local schools against threatened cuts to their budgets. 

Calling for lifts at Streatham Station

Six caught speeding in just over an hour on Streatham Hill

Nicole Griffiths out with police in Streatham

A police speed enforcement operation in Streatham last Friday recorded motorists doing over 50mph in what is a 30mph zone - and issued six speeding tickets in just over an hour.

The Green Team's Nicole Griffiths and other members of the Safer A23 Campaign worked with traffic officers to identify stretches of the A23 through Streatham where speeding is a particular problem.

Longer term, campaigners are calling for a re-design of the road through Streatham to deter motorists from driving at dangerous speeds and a reduction in the speed limit.

The risk of death from being hit by a car rises massively with speed of the vehicle.

Catching those who put lives at risk

At 40mph the risk of death is 90%.
At 30pm the risk of death is 50%.
At 20mph the risk of death is 20%.

According to collision figures for 2015[i], Lambeth has the highest number of road casualties on TLRN roads (821) and the most collisions resulting in death or serious injury (56). TLRN roads account for 58.6% of all road casualties in Lambeth and 56.6% of all fatal and serious injuries.

Nicole said: "It's tragic that Lambeth currently has the highest number of casualties on main roads in London.

"We need to change our thinking about how we move traffic through highly-populated areas like Streatham and the top priority must be preserving human life. We shouldn't have to take our lives in our hands every time we need to cross the road."

---

[i] https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/publications-and-reports/road-safety

Have your say on Estreham Rd closure trial

Cllr Scott Ainslie helping to inform motorists

The closure of Estreham Road to northbound traffic as part of the Quietway 5 cycling route is coming to the end of its six-month trial periods.

Lambeth Council and Sustrans want to hear your views on the scheme.

Click here to have your say.

Have your say on Ultra Low Emission Zone

Mayor Sadiq Khan is seeking Londoners' views on his proposals to bring forward the dates of  Ultra Low Emissions Zone to improve air quality in the capital.

Click here to see details of the proposals and take part in the consultation.
 
The proposal is for ULEZ to start on 8 April 2019 - approximately 17 months earlier than the current start date on 7 September 2020 and for it to include limits on Particulate Matter (PM) as well as Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) emissions.

Congratulations to Potters Lane litter pickers

Results of litter pick

Congratulations to the volunteers who turned out to clean up Potters Lane alleyway and footbridge neaer Streatham Common station at the weekend.

They managed to fill 13 black sacks of garden waste/rubbish, 2 large green garden waste bags and 10 bags of recycling (beer cans & bottles).

Nicole Griffiths lends a hand

The Green Team's Nicole Griffiths was part of the small group led by local resident Joanna Pascoe.

The area, which is owned by Network Rail, is blighted by fly-tipping and anti-social behaviour. The litter problem has worsened since bins were removed.

Streatham Green councillor Scott Ainslie is this week raising the issue with the officers responsible  for rubbish collection and fly-tipping and will report back.

Cllr Ainslie has requested bins are reinsituted and regular sweeps made by rubbish collectors, to avoid residents having to undertake this potentially hazardous work in future.

Volunteers in action

After the Clean Up

+16Cases are referred to court, where offenders can be fined up to £50,000 in magistrates' courts, an unlimited amount of fines in crown courts, as well as community punishment orders or prison sentences of up to 5 years.

Greens support residents over water tanks eyesore

The Green Team's Nicole Griffiths and Cllr Scott Ainslie are supporting residents in Conyers Rd, who have been shocked by the size of new water tanks errected opposite their homes.

The size of the new storage tanks at the Thames Water treatment plant on Conyers Road are much bigger than residents had been led to expect from drawings shared with people before their construction.

With the residents, Nicole and Scott have been looking at the latest proposals from Thames Water to plant green screening around the site.

Scott is also working with other ward councillors to propose that Thames Water should fund a wider tree-planting programme in the area to compensate for the eyesore caused by the new water tanks.

Crash survivor joins campaigners to petition Mayor over A23 road danger

Nicola Wilding: survivor of a crash on A23

Crash survivor Nicola Wilding today joined Safer A23 campaigners to petition London Mayor Sadiq Khan for action to end the high level of deaths and injuries in Streatham.

Mum of one, Nicola, aged 40, who was born and brought up in Streatham, suffered permanent injury to her arm in a crash on the A23 in May 1999.

Today she joined Michelle Hammond, whose brother Francis was killed at St Leonard’s Junction in Streatham in May 2014. Together with campaigners from the Safer A23 campaign, they demonstrated outside City Hall before a meeting of the Greater London Assembly (GLA).

At the meeting there was a strong demonstration of political parties working together.  Florence Eschalomi (Labour) presented the 3,000-strong petition on behalf of the campaign, supported by Transport Committee chair Caroline Pidgeon (Lib-Dem) and transport committee member Caroline Russell (Green).

Sister pays tribute to her brother - killed on the A23 in Streatham

Michelle Hammond, dad Martin and step-mum Shirley

Francis Hammond was known at work as the Big Friendly Teddy Bear - a young, caring man who had overcome childhood difficulties to become a trusted and much-loved carer in a nursing home.

It was 6.30am on Saturday May 31^st, 2014 that Francis, aged 27, crossed the A23 at Streatham’s notorious St Leonard’s Junction – on his way to work in Wandsworth - and was killed by a motorcyclist.

His death was one of seven serious or fatal collisions at that junction in less than three years.[1]

Bus garage blames drivers for hazardous parking on Streatham Hill

UPDATED SINCE FIRST PUBLISHED

The management of the Brixton Bus Garage on Streatham Hill has replied to complaints about hazardous parking of buses on the A23 - by blaming drivers for not following the rules.

Up to 25 buses regularly park on the Red Route, forcing cyclists and sometimes pedestrians into the busy traffic - and blocking visibility for cars turning into Streatham Hill from Telford Avenue and Wavertree Road.

The junction is a hot-spot of collisions, including a number resulting in death and serious injury over recent years.

Police promise to act on bus garage parking hazard

Hazardous parking by buses outside the bus garage at Streatham Hill is to be addressed by the police, after Streatham's Green Team raised the issue.

The problem of buses parking on both sides of of Streatham Hill near the junctions with Wavertree Road and Telford  Avenue has been endangering pedestrians and other road users for over a year, but has worsened in recent months, affecting all those who travel into Streatham from Brixton direction.

Some evenings in February more than 20 buses have been counted parking illegally on the Red Route.  This causes hazards by:
* blocking the entrance to the garage, forcing pedestrians out onto the busy A23
* forcing cyclists to move into the outer lanes of the carriageway
* blocking the view of motorists emerging from side roads onto the A23

Streatham air pollution breaks legal limits again

Pollution levels in Streatham broke EU legal limits in December - according to data from air quality monitors being organised by Green Party members and other local volunteers.

The levels of poisonous nitrogen dioxide gas were even worse than those recorded in November, when two of three Streatham monitors broke legal limits.

Local campaigner Chris Holt, who is helping to monitor air quality outside Streatham and Clapham High School in Daysbrook Road, Streatham Hill, said: "Even on these quiet side streets away from the busy main road, the pollution caused by diesel engines was dangerously high in both November and December."

Plans for new bus lane on Streatham High Road

Proposals for a new bus lane northbound on Streatham High Road have been published. Transport for London (TfL) is seeking local views by Tuesday, 14th March.

The proposal is a bus lane operating Mon-Sat 7am-7pm, starting north of Becmead Avenue and ending near Drewstead Road. The lane would be open to buses, coaches, motorcycles and scooters, as well as cycles and taxis.

The pavement at 148 Streatham High Road (outside New Look, Poundland and Nationwide) would be narrowed by one metre to make way for a loading and disabled parking bay.

NEW GREEN WHEELIE BINS THROUGHOUT LAMBETH

With money saving and an increase in recycling rates in mind, from mid-January 2017 Lambeth Council will be delivering green recycling wheelie bins throughout the borough over a period of 6 weeks.

You should receive your green recycling wheelie bin by 3 March 2017, if not contact the call centre on 020 7926 9393.

The same recyclable materials as before will be collected from your green recycling wheelie bin. Please ensure that bottles, cartons and tins are rinsed before placing them in the bin.

· All paper – including magazines, newspapers, telephone directories

· newspapers, telephone directories, envelopes and junk mail

· Clean food and drink cartons – Tetrapak type containers

· All cardboard – including boxes, toilet and kitchen roll tubes, greetings cards and eggs boxes

 · Plastic bottles, pots, tubs and trays

· Glass bottles and jars

· Tins and drinks cans

If you want to check further information on what can and can’t be recycled, please check www.lambeth.gov.uk/recycling

No food or green waste should be placed in the green recycling wheelie bin

Lambeth are changing the way rubbish is collected to provide:-

● Easier recycling. Your green recycling wheelie bins will make recycling much easier for you. You won’t have to store recycled waste in your house until collection day, you no longer have to worry about sacks tearing or being too heavy, you don’t have to wait for clear recycling sacks to be delivered in order to dispose of your recycled waste.

● Clean streets. The green recycling wheelie bins will keep your recycling tidy. Clear recycling sacks were able to be ripped open by foxes or other animals; with a bin there is less chance of mess.

● Capacity. The standard sized 240-litre green recycling wheelie bin that most residents will receive can hold the equivalent of five clear recycling sacks.

● Saving. Supplying the clear recycling sacks to all residents in the borough costs around £600,000 a year to supply and deliver. The green recycling wheelie bins will replace the need to reorder and supply clear recycling sacks to each property and will last a long time. This makes them a more economical and environmentally sustainable approach than single-use clear recycling sacks

If your bins are not collected, or if there’s a mess on the street please report problems such as 

fly- tips, missed collections or street cleaning by calling 020 7926 9000 or 

email at streetcarecallcentre@lambeth.gov.uk

Only people who have been identified as continuing to use the clear recycling sacks service will be able to order them online or from the call centre from March 2017. A roll of sacks will be delivered three times a year to these properties. We will no longer be providing bags at libraries from March and once you receive your green bin you will not receive the regular deliveries.

Q & A’s

Q: Will my collection day change?

Approximately 80% of residents will experience a waste collection day change, although there will be no change to the frequency of your collections which will remain weekly. We will notify you by letter nearer the time of the changes and when these changes will take effect. Until this time there will be no change, refuse and recycling collections will continue to be collected on your usual day on a weekly basis.

Q: Can I put my house number on my green recycling wheelie bin?

Yes. We encourage you to put your house number on all of your bins, this can help you to locate your bin should it go missing and help stop it from being stolen. Please use stickers or a stencil if you can. Alternatively, white paint will stand out well.

Q: Why is my green recycling wheelie bin bigger than my black refuse wheelie bin?

We want you to be able to recycle as much as possible, diverting as much waste as you can from your black refuse wheelie bin. We have therefore deliberately made the standard green recycling wheelie bin offered, larger than your black refuse wheelie bin. The majority of items used in the home are recyclable (paper, glass, tins, plastic, cartons) and so it makes more sense to have more space for these items.

Q: I don’t want a green recycling wheelie bin as I don’t recycle/Why is recycling important?

In Lambeth the vast majority of residents regularly use our recycling service, this is because they know that if you throw something away, it is no longer useful, in Lambeth it will end up being incinerated. However if you recycle something, it can be recovered and become material for a new product. The benefits to our environment are clear, however there is also a sound financial argument to recycling, it cost the council almost six times as much to treat a tonne of general rubbish than recycling. We need to increase the amount of rubbish we recycle as it’s more sustainable than disposing of waste by burning. 70% of your household waste is recyclable so the majority of your waste should go into your new green bin. The majority of residents use the recycling service and we need all residents to recycle as much off their waste as possible and having the new green recycling wheelie bin makes recycling easy. 5 Recycling also saves us money. The government has cut the council’s money by 56%. Most of our money goes on our most vulnerable residents through things like Adult Social Care and Children’s Services and they remain our priority. Dealing with a tonne of recycling is more than £100 cheaper for us than dealing with a tonne of normal waste! This frees up money we can use to protect other services. You can read more about the #ToughChoices we are having to make at www.lambeth.gov.uk/ToughChoices.

Q: I have an assisted collection; will my bin still be collected?

Yes, if you currently have an assisted collection for your other refuse and food bins this will also apply to your green recycling wheelie bin.

 Q: Do I have to put my recycling into the clear recycling sacks before I put them into the green wheelie bin?

No. Please place your recycling loose directly into the green wheelie bin. Clear recycling sacks are no longer needed to bag up your recycling. We also cannot accept black bags or any other type of plastic bag. You can return any unused bags to Lambeth Libraries.

Q: When can I start using my green recycling wheelie bin?

You can start using your green recycling wheelie bin as soon as you receive it. If you have already got recycling bagged up in clear recycling sacks ready for your next collection please empty these out into the your new bin. You do not need to use clear recycling sacks in the green recycling wheelie bin, please place items loose into the bin. Please do not place any black bags or food in the green recycling wheelie bins.

Q: The clear recycling sacks were really useful for storing recycling inside between collections.

You can use a reusable bag or box to store your recycling in and then empty the contents into your green recycling wheelie bin. Providing and delivering clear recycling sacks costs the council around £600,000 each year; considerable savings are being made by moving to wheeled bins and it’s also much more sustainable to take these additional single use clear sacks out of the system.

Q: What size is my green recycling wheelie bin?

The standard provision green recycling wheelie bin will be 240-litres per household (your black refuse bin is 140- litres). This size is enough to hold all of your recycling over a week and is in line with what other London Boroughs provide. Some residents living in houses of mixed occupancy will be allocated 240-litre or 360-litre green recycling wheelie bins to share to reduce the amount of containers to store while ensuring adequate capacity to recycle. Shared bins will be indicated by a white sticker. Where space is tight, some residents have been identified to receive a 140-litre green recycling wheelie bin to make storing the bin on your property easier.

Greens accuse TfL of favouring out-of-town commuters over Londoners

Greens campaign for Crossrail 2 at Streatham

Transport for London’s ruling out of Streatham as a stop on a proposed Crossrail 2 is based on flawed data and analysis – and favours the needs of out-of-town commuters over congested & disadvantaged Londoners, says the Green Party

In answer to a question to the London Mayor by Green London Assembly Member Caroline Russell, Transport for London rules out a Crossrail 2 route via Streatham on the grounds that it would add 4.5 minutes to the route into central London by travellers coming from the southwestern outer suburbs: Kingston, Hampton, Chessington, Epsom. 

It appears to be giving more weight to the needs of these commuters than the rapidly rising numbers of commuters from Streatham, who currently suffer much longer journey times than areas better served by public transport.

The TfL report claims Streatham is currently “well-served by rail”, a statement dismissed by Streatham Greens as a fantasy.

Engine idling action in Streatham, 18 January

Giant snakes and ladders with a life-saving message

The dangers of sitting in a car with the engine running will be highlighted in Streatham on Wednesday 18th January.

Volunteers will spread the messsage that air pollution kills nearly 10,000 Londoners each year.

Leaving engines running while stationary is an unnecessary source of air pollution. And combating this is particularly important in locations where there are high numbers of idling vehicle engines, such as schools, outside hospitals and by bus stops.