Subject: Questions To The Mayor Report Number: 4 Report to: London Assembly Date: 14/09/05 Report of: Director Of Secretariat 1555 / 2005 - Crossrail Jenny Jones Are you concerned that Crossrail will stimulate long distance commuting to the City from counties to the West of London and generate new pressures for housing developments in these rural localities? * 1556 / 2005 - Crossrail use of Eurostar Depot Jenny Jones Has the Crossrail team considered using the soon to be redundant Eurostar depot at North Pole (west of Paddington) or depot facilities at Oak Common (if the Heathrow Express moved to North Pole) as an alternative to the proposed depot at Romford, which is meeting considerable local opposition? * 1557 / 2005 - Crossrail Jenny Jones The Crossrail Bill provides for no significant new capacity on existing parts of the rail network (Maidenhead/Paddington and Shenfield/Liverpool St) which are close to capacity now (with only 2 tracks in each direction). A joint representation on the Bill from the rail industry, including freight operators and the Rail Freight Group, says that Crossrail represents a great threat to existing passenger and freight services in technically giving primacy to Crossrail over other services. Do you agree that if rail freight is to be protected and expanded the only long term solution is to provide additional tracks where possible , and that, the current Crossrail Bill poses a threat to rail freight and existing passenger services, by giving Crossrail control of one set of tracks? * 1558 / 2005 - Crossrail and Allotments Darren Johnson Given that Great Western Allotments next to the Shambles Sports Field north of Acton Main Line and the allotments at Noel Road have both been referred to as potential construction/storage sites for Crossrail, and given your stated support for the protection of allotment sites, will you intervene to find more appropriate alternative sites? * 1559 / 2005 - Chernobyl Darren Johnson Will you agree to host the Spring 2006 joint UK and Irish nuclear free local authorities conference on the theme of ‘Chernobyl 20 Years On’ at City Hall? * 1560 / 2005 - Bus journey times Darren Johnson Does TfL’s monitoring show whether bus journey times in the New Cross area have got better or worse in recent months? * 1561 / 2005 - Dr al-Qaradawi Darren Johnson What is your response to reports that Dr al-Qaradawi has called for Crown Prince Tameem Bin Hamad Al-Thani of Qatar to be stoned to death after he was spotted at the London gay night club, G.A.Y? Do you think it is ever acceptable that anyone should call for people to be stoned to death for visiting night clubs and is it ever possible to have rational dialogue with anyone who holds such barking mad views? * 1562 / 2005 - Road safety in Hounslow Jenny Jones Have Hounslow Council put in a bid to TfL for a pedestrian crossing outside Feltham Hill Infants School on Bedfont Road? * 1563 / 2005 - Road safety in Redbridge Jenny Jones Are you aware of the serious rat-running problems along Redbridge Lane West as traffic diverts away from the A12/M11 link road? Is TfL doing anything to address this problem? * 1564 / 2005 - Boroughs and local road safety Jenny Jones Are you concerned that boroughs (such as Hounslow and Redbridge) are frequently ignoring requests from local residents for road safety and traffic calming measures and failing to submit bids for funds to TfL for measures to address the problems? * 1565 / 2005 - Redbridge infrastructure Jenny Jones How will Redbridge’s public services and infrastructure cope with the expected large increase of housing in the Borough? * 1566 / 2005 - London Cycle Network, Battersea Darren Johnson Will you ask TfL to carry out an immediate review of the work currently being undertaken on the LCN+ route along Queenstown Road in Battersea, following objections from local cyclists that pinchpoints have been created that are dangerous for cyclists and, moreover, that the work has been undertaken without any consultation with local cyclists or through the CRISP negotiations and that the established guidelines for the design of cycle routes not been observed? * 1567 / 2005 - Pest control Darren Johnson Was it sensible for Barnet to scrap its pest control service? In view of the fact that vermin tend not to be aware of borough boundaries does this have wider environmental and public health implications for London? * 1568 / 2005 - Trafalgar Square ‘ steel bands Darren Johnson Can you reconsider your decision to charge the British Association of Steel Bands for using Trafalgar Square for the “Pan in Trafalgar Square” steel band events, as the organisers say that the prohibitive cost of hiring the square has meant they will not be able to host any more events here? * 1569 / 2005 - Hackney Allotments Darren Johnson The Manor Gardens Allotments in Hackney face closure because of the Olympics development. Will you intervene to explore alternatives which could safeguard the future of this site? * 1570 / 2005 - Recycling targets Darren Johnson Given that London currently has a recycling rate of 13% and the Government’s statutory target is for 25% by 2005, when do you think we will actually meet this target? * 1571 / 2005 - Olympics park and ride sites Darren Johnson Will the brief for the Olympics park and ride facilities specify the use of previously developed/ brownfield sites and rule out the use of green space? * 1572 / 2005 - London Gateway (Shell Haven) container port: freight routes Darren Johnson This container port is likely to be approved by government provided road capacity in the region is increased. The same money could fund rail upgrades to provide sufficient freight capacity between the port and main national freight routes. Do you agree that money should be spent on rail, not roads, to avoid extra heavy lorry traffic, extra pollution and serious climate change impact? Will you make the case for this to government? * 1573 / 2005 - Thames Gateway Bridge Darren Johnson Will traffic levels rise in the Thames Gateway area as a result of the Thames Gateway Bridge? * 1574 / 2005 - Street markets Jenny Jones Does you agree that London’s street markets, such as Queen’s Market in Newham, provide retail diversity, encourage informal social interaction, offer easy access to open public spaces, help to integrate diverse populations around an unrestricted focal point, preserve the character of the areas they serve, and, due to low rents, allow small retailers to run profitable businesses? If so, what action are you prepared to take to protect London’s markets from being replaced by sanitised, confined and much less integrated alternatives? * 1575 / 2005 – Queen’s Market, Newham Jenny Jones Queen’s Market is a lifeline for poor communities with strong culinary traditions who need easy access to high-quality, fresh ingredients at affordable prices. Do you agree that replacing this market with an American style `market-in-a-mall’ and an ASDA superstore could be regarded as a cultural assault on Newham’s large multi-ethnic community? * 1576 / 2005 - Arms Fair Jenny Jones Should public subsidies be withdrawn from arms fairs? * 1577 / 2005 - Shoot to kill policy guidelines Jenny Jones Do you agree that Londoners deserve to be made fully aware of the circumstances in which the Met’s shoot to kill policy will be applied, through the publication of the guidelines? Do you also agree that the policy and guidelines should be subject to public scrutiny and full debate? * 1578 / 2005 - Cycle parking Jenny Jones In view of the substantial growth in cycling in London and the Mayoral target of trebling cycling levels from their 2000 level does the Mayor agree that the allocation of funding for cycle parking should be increased? What are the current figures for planned increases in allocations in the next five years? Can the Mayor also state what incentives or requirements he would consider for small businesses, retailers, developers and employers to install cycle parking at their premises? * 1579 / 2005 - Cycling on Blackfriars Bridge Jenny Jones What percentage of cyclists does TfL believe will use the proposed cycle track on Blackfriars Bridge as opposed to staying on the carriageway as at present? Is TfL aware that cyclists using the track will be delayed by up to a minute and a half as compared to staying on the carriageway? Is TfL aware that its recently published London Cycling Design Standards states that cycle facilities that cause disbenefits to cyclists such as a loss of priority or time penalties should not be introduced as “TfL Research confirms such facilities remain unused and the investment has been wasted.” * 1580 / 2005 - Pelican Crossings Jenny Jones Could the Mayor explain why many consultation publications are describing the conversion of zebra crossings to pelican crossings as pedestrian improvements? Surely this costly measure takes priority away from pedestrians as they usually have to wait to cross the road? Has there been any research into pedestrian views or will there be? Is the Mayor aware that this measure is bad for and discourages cycling since it increases unnecessary stopping chances which greatly increases the effort needed for cycling? Does conversion of crossings also not increase delays to all drivers, detract from the street scene and encourage speeding by drivers seeking to get through on green? * 1581 / 2005 - Bikes on rail Jenny Jones Is there anything the TfL rail team can do to achieve a pro-bike policy on London’s rail system? Can TfL seek clarification from the rail companies