Caroline Pidgeon

On Saturday 26th June, Caroline joined Lib Dem candidate Felicia Taiwo in the Goresbrook ward in Barking. The team knocked on doors talking to local residents about issues from the state of the economy to the need for a strong representative for the area.

“Given that every other councillor in Barking is Labour, local residents clearly felt they need a strong local Champion from their neighbourhood to stand up for Goresbrook. Felicia Taiwo lives locally and is a really energetic person. I hope local residents will back Felicia on Thursday 8th July.”

Photo: Caroline joined Felicia Taiwo and the local Lib Dem team in Goresbrook

The London Assembly Transport Committee has launched a new report, questioning the sums Londoners are paying for the Crossrail project, and criticising the way compulsory purchases of businesses and homes have been handled.

In the report, 'Light at the end of the tunnel', the Committee recognises the value of the £16bn rail link project, which will bring an extra 10% capacity on London’s overcrowded rail and Tube network, thousands of new jobs and a massive boost to the national economy.

However, it questions the fairness of Londoners contributing the majority of the funding, when 8 of the 37 stations are outside Greater London, and the project is expected to generate £22bn for central government over the next ten years. It also points out Crossrail's poor handling of displaced businesses and residents whose premises are compulsory purchased to make way for construction work, especially in Soho.

On Wednesday 10 June, Caroline spoke on behalf of the Liberal Democrat Group on a motion about the proposed super-prison in Dagenham.

The proposal came out of the blue for local residents who were led to believe that the London Riverside regeneration area would lead to new housing and local community facilities.

"It was unbelievable that the Government announced this site for a super prison, even though it had not even featured on a list of possible sites obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. The local community needs to be properly consulted on this and to decide if a prison should feature at all in the plans to regenerate this site owned by the London Development Agency," commented Caroline Pidgeon AM.

While London Mayor and Transport for London (TfL) Chair, Boris Johnson, refused to travel on the overcrowded, TfL-run, London Overground Barking–Gospel Oak rail service when invited by London Assembly Chair Jennette Arnold, Caroline Pidgeon, Liberal Democrat Vice-Chair of the London Assembly Transport Committee, was made of sterner stuff. She travelled with members of the Barking – Gospel Oak Line User Group (BGOLUG) on a crowded morning peak train from Barking last Friday (27th February) in order to see the overcrowded conditions for herself.