| Topic: | Re:Re:A Congestion Charge for Ealing? | |
| Posted by: | Bassam Mahfouz | |
| Date/Time: | 08/03/10 21:07:00 |
| Thank you George. I am afraid Hugo; you must have been reading the drivel that Cllr Phil Taylor has been writing on his blog (not the first time). At the meeting, and let me set the records straight, I was the only one who raised the issue of the costs of the current proposals for a transport interchange as set out by SEC (it is suggested these are £40-£50m). These figures have now been banded about by the likes of Taylor as if he had shown any interest in the subject before or done any of the homework. I then stated that the council should lead on designing possible (and affordable!) options for a transport interchange at the station. We can then seek funding for such a scheme through planning gain from any development at Arcadia and through the Mayor of London. Important points to note: 1) We must lead on this, it's in the heart of our borough and we are the only players who have enough of an interest and opportunity to listen to local people to be able to do this properly. 2) Funding can be found from the above two sources - Glenkerrin had offered to pay for the previous proposed interchange and there is no reason why, should they submit a new application, they could not make a reasonable contribution to a properly costed project. Also, we should not allow Boris to redistribute transport spending away from Ealing’s projects and services to other parts of London as he has so far done. He claimed to be a Mayor for the whole of Ealing, he claims to have seen the problems at EB station, so he should foot some of the bill for one of the major new Crossrail stations to have a proper transport interchange. 3) Finally, the idea for a “Congestion Charge” came from the floor of the meeting. I simply pointed out that it was possible to introduce one, should the council wish to do so but that I felt it was not the right option for Ealing. I am afraid that Cllr Taylor should perhaps clean his ears out more often, because I am sure this is the reason he has written what he has and it wasn’t some petty attempt to twist the truth beyond all recognition. The council has so far laid back and waited for the plans to come forward, rather that put forward a vision, worked on with local residents for what we want on the town centre. A vision that planners and developers can work to. I appreciate we probably can't get everything we want, but if we don't set out a credible stall, we can expect to continue to get developer proposals that don't meet those needs. Cllr Bassam Mahfouz Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Ealing Central & Acton www.bassam4ealingacton.com |