He will be visiting Bexley today to launch his Mayoral campaign and deliver his anti-roadbuilding pledge.
“The very first thing I’d do as Mayor is scrap Livingstone’s plans for the Thames Gateway road crossing which is set to bring thousands and thousands of extra vehicles into South East London. More roads simply mean more traffic. Scrapping this scheme and the Thames Road widening means we would save an absolute fortune, freeing up money to spend on better public transport and safer streets,” said Darren.
Roadbuilding schemes that Darren proposes to axe include:
• The £670 million Thames Gateway Road Crossings – including a planned 6 lane crossing which is set to bring an extra 6,000 vehicles an hour onto the roads of East London during the peak periods
• The £21 million Thames Road widening in Bexley
• The £500 million North Circular widening
• The £50 million Lea Valley Spine Road
Darren pledged that the £1.2 billion saved from scrapping these schemes would be spent on:
• installing a Safe Routes to School for every school in London
• new tram systems and an orbital rail network
• Home Zones, pedestrian and cycling schemes
• more bus lanes and clean green buses
• reducing fares
• transport improvements for disabled people.
Darren continued, “In spite of the success of congestion charging, there’s no stopping the current Mayor in his enthusiasm for covering yet more of London in tarmac. He believes that this is somehow going to deliver jobs and prosperity. But the only thing it will give us is more pollution and more congestion – right outside Londoners’ front doors.”
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NOTES FOR EDITORS
1. Darren Johnson is 37 and was selected as the Green Party’s candidate for Mayor of London in May 2003. He was elected to the London Assembly in May 2000 where he is Leader of the Green Party Group. He was also elected to Lewisham Council in May 2002.
2. The Mayoral election will be held in June next year at the same time as the elections for the London Assembly. At the last Assembly elections the Greens scored one of their best ever results in the Party’s history, securing 11.1% of the vote across London and winning three seats on the 25-member Assembly.
For further information and to arrange interviews with Darren Johnson contact: Keith Magnum on 07739 968 825
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