Stop expansion by stealth: The Cranford Agreement Bill

Development, Heathrow

The long-standing practice known as ‘The Cranford Agreement’ has avoided easterly departures off Heathrow’s northern runway over Cranford, wherever possible. It means that when the airport is operating on easterlies, most departures use the southern runway and arrivals generally use the northern runway. Alternation is not therefore used on easterly operations.

Stemming from an undertaking given at a public meeting in 1952, the Agreement was designed to protect the residents of Cranford, close to the eastern end of the northern runway, from the high noise levels experienced on the ground from departing aircraft.

In January 2009 the Labour Government announced it was ending the Agreement, which will substantially reduce the quality of life of Cranford residents. Furthermore, by reducing the restrictions on flight patterns (and distributing noise pollution more evenly), more intense usage of the two existing runways will be possible: expansion by stealth.

I hope that a cross party consensus can be formed in the boroughs affected by the loss of the Cranford Agreement and “expansion by stealth” to work together in re-securing The Cranford Agreement through primary legislation and delegating monitoring/ regulatory powers to the local authorities affected. The report I have just published sets out how this could be achieved by using powers under the 1972 Local Government Act. On Tuesday night the Liberal Democrat Group Alternative Budget will including funding for Hounslow’s contribution to such an initiative.

Regenerating Gunnersbury Park, local history museum and mansions – A way forward

Development, Gunnersbury Park
In the past few week’s we’ve had hot air from our Labour MP which clearly really frustrated the Tory Leader of Hounslow Council. I have some sympathy with his view. With just three days until our Budget meeting for the 2010/11 we need solutions, not more waffle.

Over the past few months Joe Bourke and I — with input of several local people — have been working on how the £8.2m funding gap could be resolved. On Friday I shared with other political group leaders on Hounslow Council the short report ‘Regenerating Gunnersbury Park, local history museum and mansions – A way forward’ that is the result of this effort.

The report picks up on our call for substantial investment in these local assets in January and provides the detail behind this element of our Alternative Council Budget announced last week. Our more detailed work set out in this report has concluded that the best model for investment would be to borrow the £8.2m London Borough of Hounslow needs to contribute to the regeneration through ‘prudential borrowing’ and repay the capital and interest over 25 years.

If you have thoughts on the paper and our proposals for a way forward please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Thirteen London Hospitals set to lose services: Big turn-out expected at London-wide rally called by BMA

NHS
Worrying news in this press release from Independent campaign group ‘London Health Emergency’. I will be interested to read the full NW London document…

THIRTEEN LONDON HOSPITALS SET TO LOSE SERVICES: BIG TURN-OUT EXPECTED AT LONDON-WIDE RALLY CALLED BY BMA

Monday 22nd February 2010

EMBARGO: Not for publication before 12.00 noon Weds February 24 2010

AT LEAST THREE of the SIX district general hospitals that are due to see services scaled down or closed in North West London have now been identified in the ‘Integrated Strategic Plan’ drawn up behind closed doors by Primary Care Trusts. This brings the London-wide total of hospitals known to be at risk to THIRTEEN.

The 72-page NW London document makes clear that it seeks to “reduce the level of acute services on the Ealing [Hospital] site” (page 51), while it reports that “the Board of West Middlesex Hospital Trust have recently clarified that they do not believe that their organisation has an independent future”. Central Middlesex Hospital, too is identified as facing further downgrading of services to reduce it to a “local hospital”. (page 51)

With just three “major acute” hospitals to service the NW London population of 1.9 million in eight boroughs, it is clear that three more must be scaled down, raising fears that Hillingdon Hospital, too, and key services at Chelsea and Westminster and Hammersmith hospitals could be scaled back, leaving just St Mary’s, Northwick Park and Charing Cross as “major acute” hospitals, and long journeys for patients from many parts of outer London needing hospital care.

The North West London cutbacks are part of a programme launched by NHS London which it admits could axe up to a third of hospital beds in London. From the most recent Department of Health bed figures from the capital, that could mean a massive 5,600 front-line beds to close from a total of 16,868. Also under threat or facing virtual closure as district hospitals are Chase Farm, the Whittington, King George’s Hospital, Ilford, Queen Mary’s Sidcup and one other hospital in South East London, and Kingston, Epsom & St Helier and Mayday hospitals in South West London.

This could mean tens of thousands of the most seriously ill patients in the capital being obliged to travel much further to access hospital care.

The figures were highlighted last month in a critical BMA report ‘On the Brink’, which links the large scale cuts to NHS London’s goal of cutting over £5 billion from health spending in the capital by 2017 as the growth in NHS funding grinds to a halt.

It points out that NHS London is seeking to divert more than half of all outpatient work in the capital (5 million appointments), and nearly two thirds of A&E activity (almost 2 million) to experimental “polysystems”, few of which as yet exist. This switch of millions of patients from hospital departments to primary care would mean London’s hospital budgets would be slashed by upwards of £1 billion a year, an average reduction of almost £40m for each of the capital’s 26 acute Trusts and Foundation Trusts – easily enough to force many of them out of business.

The NHS London plans are based on controversial estimates contained in a document by US-based management consultants McKinsey which is being kept secret, preventing any scrutiny of the assumptions and the data they have used.

On the Brink author John Lister said:
“Campaigns are springing up all over London as local people wake up to the threat posed to their local health services. Redbridge campaigners have been protesting for months now, as have Chase Farm. The campaign to save the Whittington Hospital is growing rapidly. And South West London campaigners have already joined forces and launched a combined fight to defend all of the local hospitals that are threatened.

“This is a problem that will gnaw away at the support of whichever party wins the election, with a succession of high-profile and possibly chaotic changes and cutbacks in the NHS, tearing the heart out of the existing hospital network, and axing thousands of health workers’ jobs.

“Whenever hospital services in London have been threatened over the years there has been a strong campaign to save them. What we don’t yet know is where many local MPs and councillors stand on the potential closure of local services. They have to decide. Will they fight with local people – or against them?”

NOTE TO EDITORS:

The BMA Public Meeting has been called for 7pm on Thursday February 27, at BMA House in Tavistock Square, WC1. John Lister will be among the platform speakers.