20 Jun 2016 — A delegation of pupils from George Tomlinson School delivered our petition to Councillor Grace Williams at Waltham Forest Town Hall this afternoon. We look forward to receiving a response from the Council shortly.
Thank you for your continued support.
Our campaign continues.
Former 99p shop to become a branch of Peacock’s
The FOCUS Team was pleased to learn that Peacock’s is due to open a store in Leytonstone High Road on 30 June.
FOCUS says: At least it is not going to be yet another betting office or restaurant!
George Tomlinson School
The Lime Academy Trust has been put into George Tomlinson Community School in Leytonstone, even though it isn’t an Academy. They are making profound, damaging changes to the school.
The hard-working Governing Body were put in an impossible position and forced to resign. Since Lime have taken control of the school, there have been unexplained staff changes and disappearances, damaging changes to Special Educational Needs provision, sports coaching, and to Golden Time, which is the foundation of our school’s behaviour policy.
The parents of the school are unhappy with the way these changes are affecting their children, and are campaigning to preserve and stop the continual dismantling of the school.
In 2012 Ofsted found the school to be good with outstanding features. It is in a diverse area of East London. The school is still maintained by the Local Authority.
The petition is calling for the London Borough of Waltham Forest to remove the Lime Academy Trust Partnership from George Tomlinson School and to be replaced by a new Interim head teacher with no links to any Academy or Academy Trust until a permanent head teacher is in place.
Caroline Pidgeon with local Lib Dem campaigners outside Leyton Station.
Caroline Pidgeon, Liberal Democrat candidate for London Mayor pictured campaigning outside Leyton Underground Station with local activists.
Lib Dem candidate for London Mayor calling for half price fares
Liberal Democrat candidate for London Mayor, Caroline Pidgeon, and London North East Lib Dem candidate Terry Stacy have set out plans for half price fares for journeys that start by 7:30am.
Lib Dem plans would offer half price fares on Underground, Overground and TFL Rail Services for people travelling by 7.30am. This plan builds on the Liberal Democrats pioneering work developing a one hour bus ticket.
Terry Stacy said:
This would help some of Waltham Forest’s lowest paid workers who often have to work unsocial hours. A half price fare scheme would also help to tackle overcrowding by encouraging home people to start their journeys earlier in the morning.
Caroline Pidgeon in discussion with the current Mayor, Boris Johnson
Caroline says:
London is a great global City. We must strengthen and enhance its place as the capital city of the UK at the heart of Europe.
But London also needs to work for everyone –not just the lucky few who can afford to isolate themselves from the problems facing most Londoners: a crisis in housing, cuts in community policing, crowded and expensive public transport which is ill suited to London’s dynamic economy and flexible working, overcrowded schools and poor childcare for working parents, and dangerously polluted air.
The Liberal Democrats have a positive and ambitious vision for a better London. Radical and realistic, a Liberal London would be fairer and greener, made possible because it is safer.
From cutting crime to keeping fares low, enabling world class education and better childcare for all our children, and building thousands of new homes, the Liberal Democrats have real solutions to the capital’s biggest challenges.
I am the ONLY Mayoral candidate with the experience of working in City Hall to improve the lives of ALL Londoners. Whilst the other candidates talk of their ideas for London, only I have fully worked out plans and the experience actually to make them happen.
This manifesto sets out our plans for London. We’ve based it on what Londoners say matters to them. But it’s not exhaustive – so please continue the conversation and let me know what you think.
It is time for a change. It is time for a Liberal London that works for everyone.
Caroline Pidgeon AM
Liberal Democrat candidate for Mayor of London
You can see the full text of the Manifesto here: https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/ldlondon/pages/863/attachments/original/1461068787/Manifesto_Easy_Read.pdf?1461068787
Customers and local residents are being reminded that major upgrade work to the London Overground route between Gospel Oak and Barking will start from June 2016 as part of Network Rail’s Railway Upgrade Plan. An eight month closure of the railway is needed to carry out this vital work.
Ahead of the closure, staff will be holding a series of drop-in sessions from Monday 18 April to Thursday 5 May. Staff will be at a different station every evening peak (16:00-19:00) to meet passengers, answer questions and explain the works and what benefits they will bring, as well as details of alternative travel arrangements.
Network Rail is delivering the project, which is funded by the Department for Transport and Transport for London (TfL). The project will see TfL introduce new four-carriage electric trains to replace the existing two-carriage diesel trains from January 2018, helping to meet growing passenger demand.
Network Rail will be carrying out major work to electrify the line in two phases. From Saturday 4 June to Sunday 25 September 2016 there will be no service between South Tottenham and Barking. Trains will run on weekdays between Gospel Oak and South Tottenham, however not at weekends. TfL will be providing rail replacement buses which will operate along the route.
From Monday 26 September to February 2017, a full closure from Gospel Oak to Barking is required.
Network Rail’s route managing director, Richard Schofield, said:
We know this is a big change for people as we carry out the improvements and that’s why we wanted to get out and have staff at every station to meet passengers and local residents and answer any questions they may have. We’ll also explain the complexity of the work and the need for an eight month closure.
This investment will transform the service on this route, doubling capacity with cleaner, quieter electric trains and is a key element of our wider Railway Upgrade Plan.
Mike Stubbs, TfL’s Director of London Overground, said:
This work will allow us to run new longer walk-through trains on the line from January 2018, doubling capacity along the route. We recognise that there will be disruption to customers while the upgrade work is carried out and I’d like to thank them for their patience in advance. We will continue to work closely with Network Rail to see if the timescales they set out can be reduced.
In addition to these drop-in sessions TfL will provide detailed station specific advice to help get customers around throughout the closure. Information will be made available via email alerts, Twitter @LDNOverground, posters and announcements in stations.
In order to electrify the railway, overhead wires and structures to support them need to be installed as well as the construction of three new switching stations. To make room for this new infrastructure, four sections of the track will be lowered, four bridges will be rebuilt and a further six modernised. TfL will also be lengthening platforms and enhancing stations to accommodate the longer trains. Network Rail has already started work on the foundations for the structures that will carry the overhead wires.
From February 2017 onwards further works to have the line ready for electric trains will take place during evenings and weekends only and will be completed by the end of June 2017.
New electric trains on order
At a recent meeting representatives of BGORUG urged Transport for London (TfL) to take steps to ensure that the commencement of full electrification of 4-car electric trains is not subject to extended delays.
For full details see: BGORUG-mtgdoc-CLASS315s- Final
The Liberal Democrat candidate to be the next Mayor of London, Caroline Pidgeon says:
London is a great place. But violent crime is up 66% in the last 8 years. That’s not good enough.
If we’re going to cut crime then we need more police on the streets. That’s why I’m proposing an extra 3,000 police on the streets if I’m elected Mayor – 10% more than we currently have.
Can you support my petition for more police?
Please follow this link to sign petition:
Every signature makes it easier to win this argument.
It’s particularly important to get more police on tubes, buses, bus stops, trains and stations where crime is already too high. Police don’t just catch criminals – we know that they are a powerful deterrent to crimes and anti-social behaviour.
Today the Conservative chancellor slipped his way out AGAIN of making clear that the £3.5bn of ‘efficiency savings’ are in fact another £3.5bn of cuts.
This means less money for our children’s centres, less money for our libraries and less funds for fixing our crumbling roads.
The Chancellor is choosing to pursue the idea of austerity, at the expense of our services and our community.
He says we must trust he is making the right decisions, but he is risking the future of many local services that we all rely on.
The last time we trusted George to make the right decision, he chose to cut benefits for the disabled by £30 a week and give tax breaks to higher earners!
His priorities are wrong. His plan is not working. Only the Lib Dems are providing the real opposition this country needs after another abysmal Tory budget.
If you oppose the Conservative budget, hitting the vulnerable whilst giving tax cuts to the wealthy, it is time to become a Liberal Democrat – and join Britain’s only real opposition.