The latest edition of the FOCUS Newsletter has just gone to press.
It will be delivered free of charge to every household in Grove Green Ward by our team of volunteers.
Please contact Bob Sullivan on (020) 8556 8335 or email him on bobsullivan@btinternet.com if you would like to help deliver the FOCUS near your home, or would like to join the Liberal Democrats.
All offers are most welcome.
Access an advance copy of the newsletter here: Grove Green 273
Caroline Pidgeon, Lib Dem Transport Spokesperson at the London Assembly, has forwarded this reminder from Transport for London (TfL)
Improvements are a key part of enabling 36 trains per hour to run on the full length of the line next year
Passengers are being reminded to plan ahead for improvement work on the Victoria line next month, which will lead to the operation of 36 trains per hour next year. This will provide a train every 100 seconds during peak hours, making the Victoria line the UK’s highest frequency railway and comparable with the very best in the world. All peak-time trains will run the full length of the line from Walthamstow Central to Brixton, giving a 40 per cent capacity boost for customers northeast of Seven Sisters.
The Victoria line now carries more than 200 million passengers each year and as on the rest of the Tube network demand keeps rising.
At present only 24 trains per hour can be run beyond Seven Sisters due to the layout of the points at Walthamstow Central crossover, which transfers northbound trains to the southbound line for their return journey. Renewal of the crossover is essential to achieve 36 trains per hour.
From Saturday 8 August to Sunday 30 August LU will rebuild the crossover, replacing the concrete track-bed and the rails and point work. During this period all northbound Victoria line trains will only go as far as Seven Sisters. The nature and scale of the work means it is not possible to do it during the very limited engineering hours available at nights and weekends.
David Waboso, Capital Programmes Director at LU, said:
To meet increasing customer demand for the Victoria line we are making the service the most frequent in the UK, with 36 trains per hour in 2016. We will also run all peak time trains to Walthamstow Central from Brixton, a capacity increase of more than 40 per cent for customers north of Seven Sisters.
During the work we won’t be able to run Victoria line trains between Seven Sisters and Walthamstow Central. Our engineers will be working around the clock to keep the closure period as short as possible.”
During the closure there will be rail replacement buses for passengers. Services between Seven Sisters and Brixton will run at a lower frequency. The three-week closure means that other stations on the Victoria line will be busier, as will parts of the Central Line and London Overground. Customers are advised to plan ahead and allow more time for their journey. LU will publicise information about the work and how to avoid delays, with customer emails, online information including via the @victorialine Twitter account, posters and announcements in stations.
Rail replacement buses will run from Walthamstow Central to Seven Sisters station as well as from Walthamstow Central to Stratford and Stratford International stations. In addition, a temporary local bus route 558 will run between Chingford Mount and Seven Sisters, calling at Blackhorse Road and Tottenham Hale. Other options for passengers include the London Overground service from Walthamstow Central to Liverpool Street. LU tickets will also be accepted by other train operating companies on a number of routes.
For the most up to date information, including alternative travel options, visit www.tfl.gov.uk/victoria-line-closure
Notes:
Local Lib Dem Focus Team campaigner Bob Sullivan says:
I regularly meet lots of the young people in Waltham Forest. They’re passionate about such a wide range of issues – from the cost of local buses and their education, to climate change and international affairs.
The time has now come to give 16 and 17-year-olds a say on the issues that affect their lives.
We often hear people say they don’t understand politics. But this can’t be said of the younger generation, who are the first to receive a proper education in citizenship and democracy.
They understand what’s at stake. We’re teaching them how to be a full and active citizen but not letting them take part.
Most of us are quite happy to allow a 16 year old to serve us in a shop or to help protect us in the Army. We allow them to get married, have sex, pay taxes and drive cars.
Yet we are stopping them from having a say in how their taxes are spent or what direction our country goes in. Imagine how frustrated and angry you’d be if you were denied the same rights.
In the next two years we are going to decide whether Britain stays or leaves in the EU. This decision matters – it matters to our jobs and prosperity, and its impact will be felt for decades.
It would be so wrong to prevent the 6,021 young people in Waltham Forest whose future we are talking about from having a say in this decision.
Last year, 16 and 17 year olds were allowed for the first time to vote in the Scottish Independence Referendum. Three-quarters of them did.
This proves young people can and will engage when given the opportunity. That’s why I am pleased Liberal Democrat MPs voted to amend the bill on the EU referendum to give 16 and 17 year olds the vote.
Liberal Democrats have actively supported changing the law on this issue for over ten years. Now there is growing support throughout Parliament and the Conservative Government must listen to us and stop denying young people a voice.
You can show your support by signing the online petition at: http://change.libdems.org.uk/votes-for-16-year-olds
Transport for London (TfL) has just announced that the Night Tube will operate all night on Fridays and Saturdays, following the launch of the service in the early hours of Saturday 12 September.
There will be a train about every ten minutes and standard off-peak fares will be charged.
Lines served:
Central Line: Ealing Broadway to/from Loughton/Hainault via Newbury Park
Jubilee Line: Entire line
Northern Line: Morden to/from Edgware /High Barnet both via Charing Cross
Piccadilly Line: Cockfosters to/from Heathrow Terminal 5
Victoria Line: Entire line
To see a copy of the Night Tube map,
click here: https://tfl.gov.uk/cdn/static/cms/images/nighttube-map.jpg
The FOCUS Team reminds all drivers to be aware of the changes in regulations regarding the ‘paper’ driving licence.
The Barking – Gospel Oak Rail User Group has issued a press release, highlighting that full electrification and/or more carriages are at least another three years away.
You can see the full press release here: Barking – Gospel Oak PRESS RELEASE
Waltham Forest E-Guardian – Friday 22nd May 2015
Scores of homes in an area of Leyton have been included in a Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) which will launch on Monday.
According to Waltham Forest council a scheme was voted in by residents following a consultation in 2014.
A ‘majority’ of home owners in two sections of the Grove Green ward, west and north, were said to have voted in favour of paying for an annual permit.
However, exact figures were not provided by the authority.
Residents living in Brunswick Road, Lawton Road, King Edward Road, Grosvenor Road, Norlington Road and Hainault Road will now have to pay.
As will those in Jesse Road, Dawlish Road, Buckland Road, Lindley Road, Sedgwick Road, Murchison Road, Tyndall Road and roads all the way down to St George’s Road.
The CPZ zone will be in force from Monday and will be monitored by parking officers between the hours of 8am until 6.30pm.
It will carry on until Saturday in the north of the ward and be only Monday to Friday in other roads.
Since polls closed last Thursday, more than 10,000 new members have joined the Liberal Democrats.
The surge continues as Liberal Democrats across the country have been fighting back and making the case for liberal values of freedom, liberty and change.
Liberal Democrat President Baroness Sal Brinton said:
Something quite extraordinary is happening across the country and our party membership has never grown faster. Events are taking place all over the country and we are delighted so many new people are joining the liberal fight back.
People were devastated by the results last week, but rather than sit back and lick their wounds, people have been invigorated and inspired.
They are coming together to rebuild a strong, Liberal Democrat party, showing that the politics of hope and tolerance can thrive in the face of the politics of grievance and fear.
or online at:
On the penultimate day of the election campaign, Nick Clegg said “you face the biggest political decision of your life”.
With the polls neck-and-neck and no party likely to hold a majority in parliament, voters face the prospect of a new government lurching to the extreme left, the extreme right, or breaking up the country unless they vote Liberal Democrat to anchor Britain to the centre ground.
Nick Clegg said only the Liberal Democrats will provide “stability, unity and decency” after Polling Day, highlighting six ‘red lines’ which must be agreed to as part of any coalition negotiations in the next government. These key policies will benefit millions of people across the country by creating a stronger economy and fairer society with opportunity for everyone.
The Liberal Democrats outlined six ‘red lines’ during the election campaign covering: education, the economy, tax, health, public sector pay and the environment:
Nick said:
Tomorrow, you face the biggest political decision of your life. Our economic stability, our decent British values of openness, generosity and tolerance and the unity of our United Kingdom are all at stake.
Without Liberal Democrats to keep the next Government safe, stable and fair, Labour or the Conservatives will be left to run a messy and unstable minority Government, dependent on the SNP on the one hand or UKIP and the DUP on the other.
The Liberal Democrats will give a heart to a Conservative Government and a brain to a Labour one. Every Liberal Democrat MP makes Labour’s reckless borrowing and the Conservatives’ ideological cuts less likely. And every Liberal Democrat MP is a barrier between Nigel Farage and Alex Salmond and the door to 10 Downing Street.
We face a second election before Christmas without the Liberal Democrats in Coalition
Britain faces a second General Election before Christmas without Liberal Democrats to provide stability in coalition, Nick has warned.
The Liberal Democrat leader said it would be impossible for a minority government to pass key legislation without signing off controversial concessions to the nationalists and Nigel Farage.
It means a Labour or Tory-minority would collapse if they failed to offer ‘sweeteners’ to the SNP, UKIP or the DUP – or their own backbenchers rejected these backroom deals.
This makes a second General Election in 2015 election almost inevitable without more Lib Dem MPs in parliament.
The warning comes as party analysis reveals:
The last thing Britain needs is a second election before Christmas. But that is exactly what will happen if Ed Miliband and David Cameron put their own political interest ahead of the national interest.
The only party that will ensure stability is the Liberal Democrats.
National Press recognises that the Liberal Democrats, in the Coalition Government, has been a good successful moderating influence.Local campaigner Bob Sullivan writes:
There are only two days to go.
Having been in finance for all of my working life it amazes me to hear the Labour Party and other parties trying to make out that the only way to get out of debt is to borrow more, and for the Tories way out of debt is to cut benefits for the poor and disabled but not ask for a penny from the rich.
The only sensible party is the Lib Dems – I hear you saying ‘He would say that’. Having seen the debates and the media coverage the Lib Dems would stop the Tories taking from the poor and Labour spending again money we do not have. But don’t believe what I say:
Please see below what the National papers are now saying about the Lib Dems. Seems a bit hypocritical as most of the time they have never missed a chance in trying to rubbish Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats. They have finally come to their senses in recognising that the people need to vote for the Lib Dems to bring about a stable Government and a fairer society.
Newspapers from across the political divide are united in their belief Liberal Democrats have been a force for good in government.
In their editorials, national titles recognise the Liberal Democrats achievements in Government and the stability the party has brought to the country in the last five years.
The newspapers also acknowledge that in the inevitability of a hung parliament, the Liberal Democrats will anchor Britain in the centre ground and stop a lurch to the right or the left.
Endorsements include:
Many of the Government’s achievements are owed to the Liberal Democrats. The party has been “a force for progress”. The Coalition deserves another chance.
The country would benefit from Liberal Democrat “moderation” in Westminster” – in seats where the Lib Dems are challenging “we would vote tactically for them.”
The best hope for the country is for the Conservatives to team up with the Liberal Democrats again. Vote for Nick Clegg in Sheffield Hallam.
…the next Commons would be enhanced by the presence of Lib Dem MPs.” Vote for the Liberal Democrats in Tory-facing seats.
Nick Clegg and his Lib Dem colleagues deserve to stay. Tory supporters in Labour-Lib Dem marginals “may wish to vote for the Lib Dem candidate”.
Where only the Lib Dems can beat Labour, “give the Lib Dems your vote this time”.
The best hope for Britain is with a continuation of the Coalition
Lib Dems tempered Tory excess and delivered the last government’s greatest success with a tax-free allowance worth £800.
As we enter the final stretch of the campaign, more and more people are recognising that only the Liberal Democrats can keep Britain safe, stable and fair.
Everybody knows that no one will win the election outright, so the big question you face is: who do you want influencing the next Government?
Do you want an unstable minority government with either UKIP or the SNP dragging Britain off to the extremes of left and right, or do you want the Liberal Democrats to keep
Britain in the stable centre-ground?Our party has put the country first and shown that coalitions can be strong and stable.
It’s wonderful that even our harshest critics now acknowledge the Liberal Democrats have been, and will be, a force for good in British public life.
Thank you for taking an interest
Tel: 020 8556 8335/07922 011 434
