Tag Archives: london development agency

Haringey Heartlands

Posted on by

Plenary session of the London Assembly with two lots of witnesses before us – the LDA (London Development Agency) in the form of Chief Exec Manny Lewis and Chair Honor Chapman, and the Thames Gateway lot with five witnesses from various partnership bodies.

I was not supposed to be doing anything on the LDA bit – but opportunity knocked suddenly at my door. At our previous LibDem council group meeting in Haringey we had had a presentation by local residents who felt they had been ignored by Haringey Council in the development of proposals for the Haringey Heartlands scheme.

These residents and their associations had invested all their time and energy in trying to work with the Labour MP and the local Labour council administration. When finally they realised they had been ignored, they had come to us as a last resort.

So I’m sitting in the Assembly chamber and the Chief Exec of the LDA – which is funding some of the Heartlands scheme – is wittering on about sustainability being the absolutely vital condition of their funding and that this is paramount.

Yet many of the residents’ concerns over the scheme are precisely about sustainability – e.g. there is no plan for education and skills, no clear idea where jobs would be created and there is a poor transport scheme which will turn the new area into one big rat run.

As I said, opportunity knocked, and I asked Manny Lewis if residents unhappy with the proposals on the grounds of sustainability could come to anyone at the LDA with their problems. He said the man to see was Tony Winterbottom, Director of Regeneration. So I went on ask could they come and see him directly and, of course, he had to say yes.

So at last, a chink in the armour – a breakthrough for residents to at least be heard. You can’t guarantee the outcome – but at least now there will be an opportunity for residents to be heard.

London's Olympics bid

Posted on by

Barbara Cassani, who has been appointed to lead London’s Olympics bid, came in to the full London Assembly meeting this morning to answer our questions. The Mayor, Tony Winterbottom from the LDA and Barry Broe from Transport for London accompanied her to aid her with any questions which she could not answer.

Very impressive woman. She set the background to her role in the bid very ably and the questioning, at least to her, was generally supportive. The bid being very important to London, no one wanted to particularly rock the Olympic boat.

But then, life happens. In the Transport for London brief for the Olympics, they state that London rail, tube, etc will have a single control and command structure . Now we have all been fighting for this since the establishment of London Government – but the Train Operating Companies (TOCs) and the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) won’t play ball. The TOCs are a law unto themselves and their interest lies only in their long haul profitable train journeys. Try and persuade them to stop and put some service into the London commuter end and they virtually tell all and sundry where they can stuff London.

I am hugely supportive of our Olympic bid. I think it will be a fantastic coup and a catalyst for all sorts of good things to happen in London. BUT – a tinge of reality has to make our package believable to the International Olympic Committee. So I asked if Barbara was aware that the ‘single command and control policy’ might be a ‘pigs might fly policy’? I want Barbara to be armed with the facts so that she can make sure our bid is a winning bid – not a pie in the sky bid.

The current Mayor leapt in, and whilst admitting that the TOCs and the SRA were impossible to deal with – stated that if they couldn’t reach an amicable agreement on this, the Government would step in and legislate to force compliance.

Well – I hope he is right. But just in case that is another one of his unsubstantiated claims, I am asking Simon Hughes to table a question for Prime Minister’s Question Time asking the government to commit to guaranteeing that this is the case – and in writing!

Far be it from me to doubt Mayor Livingstone’s word…