Let’s force a radical re-think of TfL’s bad plans for King’s Cross roads

TRANSPORT For London is reviewing its bad plans for changing some of the worst junctions on the Euston Road after a spate of accidents.

Camden Cyclists Campaign's John Chamberlain (left) and Cllr Paul Braithwaite meet with London campaigners Caroline Pidgeon, Chris Richards and Brian Paddick in King's Cross

We have a chance to get a more radical re-think, not just small tweaks that’ll make no difference  - or even, where Euston Road meets York Way, make things worse. So it’s great that Caroline Pidgeon, the Lib Dem chair of the London Assembly transport committee, came to King’s Cross yesterday to hear what local residents want to see.

TfL, the London Mayor and Camden Council have not been listening. They all support plans that fail to take on board constructive suggestions by the Camden Cyclists Campaign that would mean cyclists coming from Gray’s Inn Road up York Way would not face a battle with HGVs changing lanes.

They have all left pedestrians with crossings that fail to meet the minimum safety standards, forcing us to run across – as a Freedom of Information Act request from Caroline Pidgeon has revealed.

At the meeting last night, Living Streets told Caroline Pidgeon and Brian Paddick, campaigning in the race for London Mayor, that the junction ‘improvements’ planned by TfL use old figures on the number of pedestrians – figures collected before the new St Pancras International terminal opened!

Clearly TfL cannot be trusted to do a good job on its own – whatever Camden Council says. We need to keep up the pressure. Caroline Pidgeon will take this up for us at City Hall and we’ll keep you updated.

Dangerous roads: a chance for real changes

WE’VE been working to make it safe to walk and cycle round here, and there’s news.

The leaders of Camden Council and the London Mayor have been ignoring pleas from cyclists who’ve said that planned changes to the King’s Cross junction where a cyclist died will make it more dangerous for cyclists. Local road safety campaigners are urging the council chiefs and Mayor to think again over the proposals they’ve backed for the Euston Rd/Pentonville Rd/Gray’s Inn Rd/York Way crossing. Work is due to start in January.

That’s why the London Assembly’s transport committee chair Caroline Pidgeon is this week coming to King’s Cross to listen to the detailed concerns of local residents. Ms Pidgeon has called for an urgent review of the ‘improvement’ plans that Camden Council supports and asked the London Mayor to consider removing the one-way system in make our roads safer for pedestrians and cyclists. So if we make our views known, we have a chance to get changes.

If you’d like to join us at the public meeting in King’s Cross on Tuesday evening (6th Dec), let me know because spaces are limited (email me at leebakerlibdem@gmail.com).

Action needed after accidents on King’s Cross roads

AFTER the latest spate of accidents on the dangerous King’s Cross one-way roads, the Mayor of London and Transport for London have questions to answer.

The King's Cross one-way roads speed up traffic

The Lib Dems have been putting pressure on the Mayor of London for a few years now over the dangerous roads bisecting our community. He has at times acknowledged that there is a problem, but offered very little in the way of solutions. Now, it’s been reported that there are calls for TfL to face manslaughter charges after a cyclist died at the junction of Gray’s Inn Road, Pentonville Road and York Way.

We await the investigation into the tragic death of Min Joo Lee. Until then, the Lib Dems will carry on increasing the temperature for the Mayor. He’s admitted that the inadequate measures planned by TfL such as new tactile paving and a couple of advanced stop lines will not tackle the problem of speeding.

As the local Lib Dem for the area north of York Way, Cllr Paul Braithwaite, said last week: “It’s time to press the nuclear button and try to over-turn the rot at the top of TfL, who are seemingly indifferent to cyclist and pedestrian safety.” The King’s Cross Lib Dems couldn’t agree more. Pedestrian safety on roads here is also overlooked, as I highlighted in The Camden New Journal last week.

King’s Cross and Bloomsbury residents shaken by senseless violence

Local residents in Bloomsbury and King’s Cross have been shaken by the riots hitting our city.

Our community is strong and this will help us to weather these senseless attacks like on Marchmont Street

In our area, the Gay’s the Word bookshop on Marchmont Street was attacked early in the hours of Tuesday, an attack at the heart of our local community. Other local traders have had their takings hit as many people stay out of London, working from home if they can.

Our local shops are also having to shut early and are even struggling to get goods on the shelves. Our community-run shop The People’s Supermarket cannot get bread from the bakers it uses in Tottenham. We’re fearful that we’ll get some of the devastation that’s devastated Camden Town up the road from us.

Last night was terrifying for local people who care about their area. This isn’t a time for politics.

We need strong community leadership and we know that local politicians from all parties will want to come together to help residents and businesses rebuild. The sight of people turning up en-masse with brooms up in Chalk Farm and making tea for the police guarding their streets in Camden was heart-warming. Our community in Camden is strong and we will get through this.

Please try to avoid unnecessary trips outside tonight and if you witness any criminal activity, please call 999 or contact the local police on 101 if it does not need an immediate response.

Residents win victory over developers over our quiet oasis

Plans for new office blocks and flats right next to St George’s Gardens have been thrown out after residents had their say at the Town Hall.

St George's Gardens is not a backdrop for developers' schemes, it's our quiet oasis

On Thursday 30^th residents including local Lib Dem Lee Baker went to the Town Hall to tell the politicians their concerns about the bulky new building planned for the Old Dairy site. It would have been too high, with too many balconies and windows, intruding into our gardens.

St George’s Gardens aren’t a backdrop for development: they’re our quiet oasis. Most residents here live in small flats and don’t have their own gardens, so deserve some privacy in our public park.

After residents had their say, councillors threw out the development. This shows that these things don’t just go through if we tell the Town Hall what we think.

The developers will be back, but we’ll be waiting. Together, residents can stop plans that aren’t right for our area.

Local people come together to save our day centre after big Labour let-down

Local people are coming together to save the Great Croft day centre on Cromer Street for elderly people living round here.

The Labour Council has decided to give no money to this lifeline local service in the future. They said they’re taking the money away because of the mess the national finances are in. They said they’ve no choice.

It’s true that the Labour Government left us spending more on debt than on caring for our elderly. But the council does have a choice. We urged them to save the Great Croft by not wasting over a million pounds on luxuries. A Lib Dem budget would have done this, chopping money for communications and Camden cabinet jobs.

Labour refused to listen. They refused to save our day centre. They said that jobs for politicians and publicity for the council are more important.

This means that the Great Croft will get less money from the council this year, then no council money at all from autumn 2012. So Age Concern and volunteers are fundraising to save our day centre. Local residents can help.

The next fundraiser’s on Tuesday 26^th July, 10am to 3pm at the Great Croft. Local residents are coming together in the face of Camden Council’s cuts.

Residents must have a say on new secondary school

WE’VE been keeping residents up-to-date about the plans for a new secondary school for this area, and there’s some news.

Residents must have a say over plans for a new secondary school for our area.

Labour has said it wants a secondary school for the children round here for 40 years but there are no signs of it.

Parents have now taken matters into their own hands, and put together a plan for their own school. The just off Gray’s Inn Road – in between Wren Street and Cubitt Street – would be run with the Institute of Education.

The Labour council is now deciding what it thinks of this plan. They say they want a secondary school here, but we’re not sure if they like the idea of residents coming up with ideas themselves.

They should not make this decision behind closed doors. The Lib Dems held several public meetings on the idea of bringing a school here. Under Labour, residents have had no say.

Write to your councillor, copying me in, asking that you can make your views known before decisions are made. If residents agree it’s a good idea, then we need to make sure that this proposal works for our area.

Council to decide behind closed doors what goes next to Town Hall?

WE’RE writing because local people, like us, are concerned about the Labour council’s plan to press ahead with the sale of the Town Hall annexe.

Labour warned over impact of development on Argyle School and residents before election; now they are silent

In opposition, the Labour councillors told people living close to the annexe that they’d stop the plans. Before the election they scared people by saying that a building over 30-storeys high would go here when the annexe is sold.

Labour said that if they couldn’t stop the plan, they wanted a planning brief to allow residents to tell developers what they can and cannot build on the site – before they hatch any plans. We agree.

But the Labour council has been silent on whether there’ll be a planning brief for the annexe site and they’ve not held a single public meeting on the plans. They’ve only had an invitation-only discussion about this. That’s not good enough. The Lib Dems held meetings to fill everybody in.

We encourage you to write to the Labour councillors asking for tough rules on what developers can and cannot build on this important site. There should be no deals behind closed doors.

Labour letting our elderly down as it wastes everybody’s money

The Labour council is suggesting closing the Great Croft community centre for elderly people living round here.

Elderly people living in King's Cross rely on the Great Croft Centre

The council says the cut has to be made because of the mess the national finances are in. They say that they’ve no choice.

It’s true that last spring the Labour Government announced the biggest cuts since World War II. They built an economy on banker greed and getting the poorest heavy into debt. That economy collapsed. The nation was left spending more on debt than on council housing.

But they do have a choice. Other things could be cut. They tried to save £1m by sharing a council boss with Islington Council. Now they have given up, saying it’s too difficult. That £1m would have kept Great Croft running for years.

Meanwhile, they spent £150,000 on adverts on bus stops to tell people that the cuts aren’t their fault. This didn’t fool local people. But they feel let down by Labour wasting money that could have helped save our Great Croft centre.

Labour not going to do up every tenant’s home

We alerted residents in the spring about the Lib Dem-led council’s plans to do up every council home, with a new kitchen and bathroom for everybody needing one.

Most Cromer Street flats are still waiting for improvements - after 13 years of Labour letdowns

The Lib Dems raised money to replace thousands of ageing bathrooms and kitchens by selling 50 empty, derelict council properties.  Labour said it would stop raising money to pay for this work. The Labour council now admits this “could lead to fewer kitchens and bathrooms being replaced”.

They have also “decided to slow down the work”. And they haven’t even stopped all the sales. We think this is unfair.

Tenants have waited too long to get these improvements. The Labour Government refused to give any money to do up our homes for 13 years. So we are telling the council to not put the brakes on this work. Tell the council what you think.

Times are tight, but we are asking the Lib Dems in Government to find money to do up all our council homes. The money Labour never gave – even when the country was rolling in money.