No to parking charges in Richmond Park

I recently sent in my objection to the Royal Parks Agency over their proposal to introduce parking charges in Richmond Park.

You can read my response here.

Richmond Park - especially the Putney and Roehampton side of it, is incredibly isolated. There are no nearby bus links. Unless you live in Roedean Crescent, Roehampton Gate or Priory Lane; or down the bottom of Roehampton Vale it is unlikely that you live close enough to the park to walk to it.

The people who park in Richmond Park are not "park and ride" commuters, abusing free parking while they hop on a bus into central London, because there isn't a bus to hop onto. They are users of Richmond Park, who can only get to the park by car: people who treasure this vital natural resource for London.

So the Royal Parks Agency needs to think again. I've asked them to work with Transport for London to set up a bus link that connects the park with the world beyond it: possibly even a dedicated service that shuttles between the roads around the park to give people an alternative. Even then parking charges will be a very difficult case to make.

There's still time to have your say on the Royal Parks Agency plans. Click here to download the consultation document.

Why we aren't worried about the NHS any more

Tuesday's Daily Telegraph led with the fact that half of women breast cancer sufferers in England survive the disease.

60,000 women and 40,000 men diagnosed with colorectal cancer every single year now beat the disease and go on to have the same life expectancy as someone who has escaped the disease.

Opinion polls nowadays show that the NHS doesn't rank very highly when people are asked about issues that concern them, in stark contrast to when Labour was first elected.

The reason for that is not because the NHS has stopped being close to our hearts. It is because a decade of Labour investment in health has stopped the rot of decaying hospitals, pensioners dying on trolleys in halls, outrageously long waits for treatment and chronic shortages of doctors and nurses; and is now making a real difference on major health threats like cancer.

Of course there's a lot that isn't right in the NHS: the shocking news about neglect in Stafford Hospital is one recent example, and there will always be individuals who get failed by the health service.

But these new cancer figures are really significant - as is the fact that it is the Telegraph; hardly a paper sympathetic to Labour, that has announced them. And the real cause for optimism is that there is scope for doing even better in coming years.

The NHS is safe in Labour's hands - and the fact that people have stopped worrying about it is a measure of how significant a difference Labour in Government has made to health in England.

A polluted Putney High Street
Council gets government grant to test pollution, but what will come of it? Click here

Stuart vs the potholes round 27
Roads crumbling again as the Tories fail to respond to winter weather Click here

Work starts on Southfields tube
A new lift and other improvements to make it a 2012 Olympic station Click here

Action on Barnes Station
Stuart takes up residents' concerns with South West Trains and Richmond Council Click here

Clamping down on knife crime
New sentencing stats show that the judiciary is finally taking the issue seriously Click here

Wardens story reported by Wandsworth Guardian
The local paper picks up on the appalling way local pensioners have been treated by the Tories Click here

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Published and promoted by Adam Gray on behalf of Stuart King, both of 35 Felsham Road, Putney, London SW15 1AY