Responding to Ken Livingstone’s attack on Darren Johnson over the Mayor’s plans to build a six lane road bridge in East London and the Government’s huge contribution to it, Darren said,
“I utterly oppose the plans to build this £500 million monstrosity. This is Mayor Livingstone and New Labour stabbing East Londoners in the back.
The Thames Gateway Bridge will be a disaster for the environment, bringing more pollution, more traffic, more ill-health and more misery.
However, if the Government is not prepared to make this money available for public transport, I would prefer them not to give the money at all”.
“Before he was elected Mayor, Ken Livingstone promised Londoners that this road would not be built. Unlike Ken, and his New Labour Party, I do not welsh on promises I make.”
At yesterday’s budget meeting the Green Party Group stood firm on its commitment to demand that the road building and road widening budgets were slashed by £60million and road safety initiatives, safe routes for school children, bus network improvements were doubled.
“Greens put quality of life issues at the top of their political agenda rather than approving schemes that do absolutely nothing to help local regeneration and will cause positive harm, “concluded Darren.
NOTES FOR EDITORS
The proposal for the bridge has been rejected by the local community for the last twenty years and was last put forward by Steven Norris in 1995 when he was a Conservative Transport Minister. Ken Livingstone opposed the original proposal.
The London Mayor has already started building the Coulsdon by-pass (£29m) and working on the A13 upgrade (£200m). He is supporting a bid to the government for over £21m for the Thames Road in Bexley and he has provisionally agreed another £50m be set aside for a new road in the Lower Lee Valley.
Independent reports on the proposal for a Thames Gateway Bridge have condemned the bridge for the following reasons:
* The bridge is not a ‘local link’ as claimed by the Mayor but a major six-lane motorway.
* No proper assessment of traffic or environmental impact has been done.
* There has been failure to consider alternatives to the bridge
* Unsubstantiated claims about regeneration benefits.
For further information and to arrange interviews with Darren Johnson contact: Penny Kemp on 07711 760692