Caroline Pidgeon

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.

Caroline Pidgeon AM joined Enfield Liberal Democrats at the Enfield Town Show on Saturday 5th September. The local Lib Dems are campaigning hard to persuade the Mayor of London, to sort out the derelict homes on TfL land on the North Circular.

“So many people stopped by the stall for a chat and to sign our petition, as well as to support our One Hour Bus ticket campaign” commented Caroline Pidgeon AM.

She also highlighted the local rail travellers' petition to have pay-as-you-go Oyster cards accepted at Enfield’s overground stations.

Caroline said:

In his transport manifesto, the Mayor stressed the importance of holding an 'emergency' train summit with the train operating companies (TOCs) to ensure that Oyster was available at every train station.

One year later the harsh reality is that no train summit has been called and every promise the Mayor has made about Oyster extension has been delayed again and again. Quite frankly Boris Johnson has seen more train delays than Reggie Perrin.

Research by Caroline Pidgeon, Leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, has revealed London Underground are planning to close ticket offices across the underground by 7458 hours every week.

Responding to London Underground’s defence of the reduced hours and their repeated claim that all tube stations with a ticket office will continue to have one, Caroline Pidgeon said:

“London Underground and the Mayor are playing with words when they keep peddling the claim that no ticket office will actually close. The harsh reality is that if you can’t access a ticket office for most hours of the day it is effectively closed.

“Ticket office staff carry out many tasks to help customers, with their duties going far beyond just serving tickets. If staff numbers are severely reduced at 9 out of 10 stations it will become far more difficult for staff to help disabled and vulnerable customers and other people who need assistance including visitors.

“London Underground's simplistic portrayal of many ticket offices being quiet places where few tickets are actually sold overlooks the vital service and safety that staffed ticket offices provide. If the plans were to allow ticket office staff to go in and out of the office, depending on the needs at a station, and without a reduction in staff numbers that would help to improve customer services. But to simply cut ticket office hours and take away so many frontline staff makes no sense. In the end it is passengers who will lose out.”

In an article for the Liberal Democrat Voice website, Caroline Pidgeon warmly welcomes the new London bike hire scheme as a "tremendous idea", while pointing out that Boris Johnson and Ken Livingstone are eager to take more credit for it then they deserve:

Despite its launch being associated with quite a number of problems – including a highly complex registration process, and a number of cyclists being overcharged – no one can deny that the scheme is proving incredibly popular. And let’s be realistic, no major scheme ever starts without at least some minor teething problems. Of course I will be chasing hard until these glitches are resolved, and they certainly must be, but the bottom line is that the bike hire scheme is a tremendous idea. Especially if the scheme is expanded it has the potential to help reduce congestion and pollution as well as making it easier for Londoners, visitors and tourists to get around the capital at very little cost. Most significantly it could play a vital role in transforming the status of cycling...