It has been widely reported in the Times and elsewhere that  the London Mayor, Ken Livingstone is considering introducing a scheme of cycle registration and numberplates in a bid to crack down on law-breaking cyclists.

Both as a politician and a former cycle campaigner I have never had any patience with law breaking cyclists. They give everyone a bad name and I dislike being called upon to defend what I consider to be indefensible. So I don’t.

But this plan is in no way the answer and I was pleased to see that the plan has been roundly condemned by CTC and the London Cycling Campaign  as well as the Liberal Democrats .

Ken’s plan is  barmy for a number of reaons.

Firstly, it will deter cycling. Cycling in London has been increasing the last few years. Making cycling more difficult will just increase congestion on the roads and crowding on the public transport system.

Secondly, it is not the way to solve the problem. The police have powers to give spot fines to errant cyclists - they should use them. Livingstone is in charge of the police - if he has concerns, he should make sure they enforce the law.  (Incidentally, this should apply to motorists too, they have numberplates but I still notice a shocking amount of law breaking).

Finally, the camera technology won’t work. When he introduced the congestion charge, Livingstone exempted motorcycles because the cameras photograph the front numberplates of cars entering the zone - which motorbikes do not have. The same problem would apply with cycles. 

Livingstone seems to think that he might be able to persuade all the London Boroughs to support him on this. I certainly can’t see Southwark signing up to such a scheme in a hurry.

Now is the time for you to put a bid in to Dulwich Community Council’s Cleaner, Greener, Safer fund - our annual round of funding for environmental and community safety improvements. 

When the Lib Dems set up Dulwich Community Council  to devolve power to our local community, we were clear that it needed the money to be able to actually do things - previously all spending decisions under Labour had been made in Peckham.

Any local person or community organisation can submit an idea for how to improve our local area. All ideas are welcome no matter how big or small.

Past projects have involved things like improving open spaces,  small parks and playgrounds, tree planting, public art, lighting and wildlife projects - funding can range from just £2000 for small projects to over £150 000.

 The submission process is pretty simple . Just complete and return this one-page application form by Friday September 8.

If you have any queries, send me an email.

Last night I went to the Fair Trade steering group which is working on achieving Fairtrade status for Southwark Borough.  The group consists of concerned residents  and campaigners from groups like Friends fo the Earth,  the World Development Movement and the Fairtrade foundation - as well as councillors from all parties.  Although I am now the lead councillor for this area of activity, the steering group has put  in a load of donkey work. They are working closely with schools like Waverley down the road, as well as shops and cafes. There a whole series of goals we need to achieve in order to become a Fair Trade Borough and we aim to do it by the end of the year.   One of the steps I will be most pleased to take is getting rid of the Council’s hated coffee machines. Apart from the ‘unfairly traded’ coffee they are an environmental  abomination which waste a load of energy, plastic and foil for every cup of coffee staff and visitors to the council drink. It may only be a small thing but I’m a big believer in leading by example.

Last night, Southwark Council’s Executive launched  our pioneering plans to create one of the UK’s greenest multi-use energy schemes as part of the £1.5bn regeneration of the Elephant & Castle.

We agreed to look for a partner a scheme, which will create an unprecedented sustainable infrastructure by establishing a Multi Utilities Services Company (MUSCo).   

We have always said the regeneration should see no increase in carbon emissions, despite a 270% increase in floor space. 

We want the MUSCo to provide locally generated heat, cooling and electricity for the thousands of extra homes and businesses. 

But we want to go beyond Combined Heat and Power and provide green water for toilet flusing  as well as connecting the entire development with a fibre optic cable network for residents and businesses.  

The scheme will set new standards in green development and goes way beyond anything we have previously seen in the
UK.   

A number of European cities like Stockholm and Cophenhagen have successful schemes already in place. This is our chance to put the right infrastructure in place before we build new homes at the Elephant. 

I am increasingly of the view that if we are serious about cutting our carbon emissions - and let’s not forget that they have risen year on year under this Government - we are going to have to have a sustained programme of replacing our existing, energy inefficient, housing stock. 

I want the Elephant scheme to show that building new homes and businesses can be compatible with protecting the environment  - in fact it is  critical to achieving the kind of cuts in carbon emissions we need.

Yesterday’s Goodrich Carnival was a fun as predicted. Bigger and better than last year and all the bicycle floats survived the trip.

It’s a briliant community event. It’s not just the parents and children that join in but locals line the streets to cheer on the procession.

Last night,  I chaired my last ever meeting of the Southwark Environment Forum. I am passing over to the new councillor in charge of environment, Cllr Lisa Rajan.  (I would have chaired it much better if i hadn’t lost my voice…)

The Forum was re-formed when the Lib Dems won the 2002 election. (Shamefully, it had previously been abolished under Labour.) It brings together campaign groups like Southwark Friends of the Earth and the Friends of Parks groups,  voluntary sector organisations like Groundwork Southwark and SEA/Renue, and stautory bodies like the Environment Agency.   

For four years we’ve acted as a Forum and consultative body which has been fine but we have always wanted to a place on the Local Strategic Partnership - the Southwark Alliance.

 The Alliance includes the Council and the other big government organisations in the Borough like the Police and the local NHS. It is a Government led attempt to get more ‘joint working’ without having to give councils more power.

 The Alliance has sub-groups and policy themes which cover most of the key areas like health and community safety- but for reasons I never understood, it was set up without a specific voice for the environment at all. 

 The good news is that after four years of lobbying, Southwark Alliance has changed its constituion and has offered a place for the Southwark Environment Forum. That meant that last night we had to tighten up our constitution to become a formal partnership body that seeks to influence not just the Council but the Alliance as a whole.

I am not sure but think that we are one of the first Local Strategic Parterships to have done this.  

I hope that it will help ensure that environmental concerns can’t be ignored by organisations like the police and the NHS that don’t always understand what an effect they can have on our local environment.  

It’s carnival time at our local primary school  - Goodrich. I’m particularly pleased that this year’s carnival is to be an eco-carnival. The theme is recycling and looking after the environment.  I’ve promised to pull something on my bike - though I am not yet sure what!

There will be floats, a procession through the streets, steel band, face painting, DJ, BBQ and Bar. And the drink cans will be recycled.  For the first time, there wil be a fashion show too.

All the money raised will go to Goodrich School. Support is welcome on the day from 3.30 - 8pm. If you want to get involved, let me know and I’ll put you in touch with the organisers.

The very day that I put up my post on the East Dulwich urban/suburban debate I received the following from Tessa Jowell’s office.

Now I would never seek to misrepresent the views of Tessa or any other Labour representative. But if she and Labour locally really disagree with Livingstone’s policy, then why did they campaign during the local elections by sending out letters defending the policy?  The letters were written by Ken (he being the only half popular Labour politician in town) but they were printed and published locally on behalf of the Labour candidates in an election campaign that was run by…….Tessa Jowell.    

Office of Tessa Jowell MP | jowellt@parliament.uk | IP: 194.60.38.10

Just in case there is any attempt to mis-represent Tessa Jowell’s position on this (heaven forbid). It hasn’t changed since the release reproduced below and has been publicly re-stated on a number of occasions. It is also shared by all Labour representatives locally.

7 December 2004 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TESSA JOWELL CALLS ON MAYOR TO RETAIN SUBURBAN DESIGNATION OF EAST DULWICH AND HERNE HILL

LOCAL MP ASKS KEN TO RETHINK HIS OBJECTIONS

Tessa Jowell today backed the designation of parts of East Dulwich and Herne Hill as ‘suburban’.

The Dulwich and West Norwood MP called on Ken Livingstone to withdraw his objections to Southwark Council’s plans to keep East Dulwich and Herne Hill designated as ‘suburban’ rather than ‘urban’ in its Unitary Development Plan.

In her letter to the Mayor Tessa said:

‘These areas are classically suburban in character and I do feel that the suburban designation is an important one to retain the unique feel of these areas as well as of Dulwich itself.

‘I do hope that you withdraw your objections to Southwark’s decision and allow [the relevant] parts of East Dulwich and Herne Hill to remain as suburban in their designation.

[ENDS]

Of course I knew it would come. But it has come more quckly than I thought.

One of the key local issues in the the local election campaign the proposed designation of East Dulwich as ’suburban’ in the Council’s main planning document. Designating the area as suburban would mean that new developments would be 2-3 storeys high.  The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, objected to our proposed designation, arguing that the area should be categorised as ‘urban’ - meaning that 4-6 storey high buildings could be built.

In response to our campaign East Dulwich residents received a letter from Livingstone in April stating that:

“The Lib Dems have taken a technical planning debate about whether East Dulwich is ‘urban’ or ’suburban’ in order to whip up a desperate scare campaign for the elections.”  

The difference between three storeys does not strike me as technical.

Southwark Council’s decision has now been upheld by the Government’s independent Planning Inspector in his report on Southwark’s  Plan. Significantly, he noted that Southwark could meet the Mayor’s housing targets without reclassifying East Dulwich and other parts of the borough as ‘urban’.

But the Mayor could still ask the Secretary of State to overturn the decision.

Indeed,  City Hall has already written to the Council indicating that an appeal is likely:

“In relation to density zones, the Mayor concluded that he does not agree with the Inspector’s reasons or recommendations on this issue and therefore  that he maintains his objection….”

Now I am pretty confident that based on the facts, a Secretary of State would have to agree with the Council and the planning inspector.

But wouldn’t it be nice if the Mayor gave in gracefully?

The position of Labour locally on this issue is laughable. The Councillors who lost their seats in East Dulwich said they agreed with us and that they weren’t afraid to stand up to the Mayor. But when push came to shove, they published and delivered the letters from Ken Livingstone defending his ‘urban’ policy!

They still don’t seem to have grasped that they would be better off representing the views of Southwark people to the Mayor - not representing the views of Livingstone to Southwark residents, regardless of the merits.