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CLLR IAN CLEMENT WRITES
When I heard about the decision by Transport for London to scrap the extra lane of northbound traffic through the Blackwall Tunnel in the morning rush hour, I was as amazed as everyone else.
The Council wasted no time in making clear our opposition to the change and asking for the decision to be reversed.
Our campaign is gathering momentum. We’ve joined forces with local MPs David Evennett and Bob Neill, who is also our local representative on the London Assembly. We written to the Government and TfL and we’ve organised an online petition giving local people the chance to back the campaign.
If you support us please sign the petition at www.petitionthem.com and ask your family and friends to do the same.
TfL has argued that it had to make the change because having traffic running in opposite directions through one of the tunnels is a danger. If this is true, why has it taken them 29 years to identify the risk? And why didn’t they consult anyone before making a change that would hit thousands of road users?
We think TfL is using safety as the pretext for a change that has slowed traffic through the tunnel even further – which will give them an excuse to introduce tolls.
We oppose tolls on our local river crossings because people and businesses in Bexley need to use them. We don’t have the Underground or fast rail services into London, so tolls are simply another tax on long-suffering road users.
That’s why we have also been campaigning on the Government’s plan to extend tolls on the Dartford Crossing. Offering discounts to Dartford residents, but not to people living in Bexley is blatantly unfair.
All these developments add fresh urgency to our call for the public inquiry into the Thames Gateway Bridge to be reconvened. Events have moved on since the original inquiry and it is vital that the effects of recent decisions on transport movements across the river are reconsidered before any decision is made on the Bridge.
It’s not easy to persuade the government or the Mayor of London to change their minds, but we are determined to do everything we can to speak up for local people.
MP John Austin Writes
I know people rarely trust statistics but all the evidence points to the fact that crime levels are down. Our streets and town are actually safer; there are more police on the streets than ever before and we are fortunate to live in the safest borough in London. Nevertheless the fear of crime exists, particularly for elderly and vulnerable people and many citizens lives are blighted by anti-social behaviour.
Only last week, I received further complaints of anti-social behaviour around Belvedere Station. I have asked the police to increase patrols at particular times of the day but this may just move the nuisance from one area to another. The police can help to alleviate the problem but many of these anti-social youngsters are known to local people and some pressure needs to be exerted on parents.
In extreme cases, anti-social behaviour orders and contracts have worked successfully. There have been a number of local examples but there is a lack of facilities for young people in the area which the council should be addressing.
The recent reports elsewhere in London of knife crime and gun crime have hit the headlines and masked the fact that most crime has reduced. Violence against the person is down 7.6%; Residential burglary is down 6.6%; Criminal damage and Motor vehicle crime are down 6.9% and 5.8% respectively. Our congratulations are due to our local police – let’s hope the trend continues and let’s hope we have some success in tackling the yobbish behaviour of some of our young people.
The future of local health services is causing some concern. There is of course the good news that waiting times for operations is down to its lowest level; more patients are being treated than ever before and most treatments are more effective than ever before with markedly lower rates of death from heart disease and cancer. I welcome plans to provide more services in the community but discussions about “reconfiguring” services cause much concern. I have had talks this month with Queen Mary’s hospital. There are different ways of providing accident and emergency services. People with minor injuries do not need the full services of a hospital A&E department and there may be better ways of providing this service. But we do need to retain the A&E at Queen Mary’s. I believe lives would be in danger if people had to go to Queen Elizabeth in Woolwich or Bromley. Queen Mary’s have assured me that there are no plans to close Queen Mary’s A&E. I have told them they will face major opposition from me and other MPs as well as the local community if they try to do so.
This May marks ten years of Labour in power. I can’t imagine that any of us could have imagined during the bleak Thatcher years, that one day our party would have been in Government for three successive terms in office and building the platform for a fourth election victory.
Walking round Erith, Belvedere & Thamesmead the physical changes are easy to spot. The Sure start centre in West Street that has given young families the best start in life. The new health centre in Erith and another under construction in Thamesmead. The refurbished schools with lower class sizes and the better exam results. And Erith Town centre that was once dead and desolate revived and prospering – thanks to the longest period of economic growth for more than a century.
But it’s not just the new buildings and things you see that have changed. No longer are our teenagers facing a life on the dole as their only career opportunity. And in employment people have greater rights. I remember staying up all night to get the minimum wage introduced against sustained conservative opposition.
I am proud that as a Labour MP in a Labour Government Erith & Thamesmead and the UK have changed for the better.
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The Jacobean Barn has been given a £400,000 facelift and reopens to the public on Wednesday 11 April. One lucky reader can win a £100.00 dining voucher along with one runner up prize of a £50.00 dining voucher.
Click here for for more details |
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