Category Archives: Transport

Improving the service at Turnham Green Tube

Transport
When I first ran for Parliament in 2005 the issue of the poor service at Turnham Green Tube was one of the key local concerns raised with me by Chiswick residents. My Freedom of Information request at the time simply yielded a litany of excuses. Five years on and the problem remains unsolved by the incumbent Labour MP or Tory Mayor Johnson’s Transport for London.
With increases in population above the London average and many new housing developments in the area there is a real need to improve the tube network. This will help residents in the Hounslow, as well as the Ealing, part of Chiswick.
My view is that too much of the debate so far has taken place through the local print and online media. What we need are face-to-face conversations to unpack the issues and find some solutions.
With this in mind on Saturday, backed by dozens of supporters, Cllr Gary Malcolm and I handed our letter to Mayor Johnson to Lib Dem London Assembly member Caroline Pidgeon – suggesting a meeting with the Mayor and his advisors. Today Caroline sent this to the Mayor with her own cover letter.
Gary said: “The local Liberal Democrats have campaigned consistently on this issue for many years as this is something residents in the area want strongly. If a genie gave me three wishes, I would use one of them to get the Piccadilly line to serve Turnham Green throughout the day. This would benefit many thousands of residents in the locality.”
Interestingly several decades ago when Lib Dem Jim Daly (now sadly deceased) chaired the GLC transport committee I understand one of his achievements was securing a full Sunday service at Turnham Green station — provision that was lost as the Heathrow service was extended.
The solutions that Gary and I have asked the Mayor/ Transport for London to respond to us on are:
1. Consider a trial that extends the early morning and the late evening stops at Turnham Green station, so that the station is served much more often. Then the outcome can be reviewed. This would show that Transport for London are really committed to assisting public transport in this area of West London and would be logistically possible due to fewer tubes running on the line at this time.
2. Consider moving the Piccadilly Line stop from one station (e.g. Barons Court) to Turnham Green station. This would still allow Barons Court station to be served, but by the District line, instead of both the Piccadilly and District lines. This would need no changes to the signalling and is possible logistically.
3. Bring forward the planned signalling and other works so that improvements can be delivered earlier. An early commitment on this would enable planning for the changes to take place faster.
We look forward to the Mayor’s response.
If you would like to support our campaign, please sign our petition calling for a regular Piccadilly Line service at Turnham Green.

Proposed Controlled Parking Zones (CPZs) in Chiswick

CPZ, Transport

Last Tuesday evening I attended the Chiswick local area committee for the first time as an observer. As a Group Leader it is useful to maintain and develop an understanding of how local democracy is working across the borough.

It was a meeting of the local planning committee and the possible Controlled Parking Zones (CPZs) in Grove Park and Strand on the Green were key items on the agenda. Committee chair Cllr Hearn provided a lively, frank and informative introduction to the item and the discussion that followed bore many parallels to our exploration of similar CPZ schemes on the Isleworth and Brentford area committee.

Residents often ask whether CPZs will generate surplus revenue over and above operating costs, which could then keep down council tax (effectively a stealth tax). Cllr Hearn assured residents at the meeting that this was not the case. My understanding of Council finances too has always been that the significant income generator for the Council is parking enforcement. If I was a driver my concern at the moment would be the network of community safety cameras recently installed at some point being turned over to parking enforcement as well to ratchet up this income stream. Fortunately most of the time I cycle!

With the set-up of any new CPZ the inevitable impact is always displacement of cars into neighbouring ‘uncontrolled’ streets. For this reason the committee sensibly accepted officers advice to again include the residential area between the two proposed CPZs in next phase of consultation. These residents may again decide against a CPZ. Were this to happen I would not be surprised if they changed their minds a year later. I could well imagine a petition, at that stage, requesting the committee to introduce controlled parking after all. It is difficult to imagine the additional parking pressure CPZs create on surrounding areas until you experience it first hand.

The surprise of the night for me was that the colourful and Euro-sceptic Cllr Oulds who turns out to be a passionate supporter of small shops and the need for free short stay shopper parking. This is something I have also advocated strongly in Brentford with some success. It is the only way that shopping parades and High Streets can compete effectively with the likes of Tesco. Cllr Hearn was not too impressed though and thought that including this issue in the next phase of the consultation might make it too complicated! A real shame and I hope Cllr Oulds keeps up this fight.

My over-riding disappointment observing the meeting was that there was no opportunity for the public to speak at this second meeting on the issue. At Isleworth and Brentford Area Committee an approach we have adopted on similar issues – to get around the restrictive protocol of planning committees – is that we switch into Monitoring committee mode for a short time, which gives residents the opportunity to speak. Perhaps this would be something from which the Chiswick committee could learn?

The meeting as a whole was entertaining to watch. Whipped into following a party line when they sit on full Council, the local area committee is clearly where Chiswick Conservative councillors let off steam and speak their minds. This made a refreshing change and there was plenty of good spirited laughter as, with a glance in my direction, it was suggested on one planning item that the retail unit could become a KFC and, if so, consideration would have to be given to the welfare of chickens!