Received Save Ealing’s Streets newsletter today. Apparently the Council is consulting on the Supplementary Planning Document (go to page 75) for the Tram. Consultation ends 10th February. Strange that this kind of thing is not on the Council’s homepage or do they want us not to notice that we have a another chance to stick our oars in?
See Ealing Times story.
The Evening Standard tonight identifies one sign with a camera in Camden, at the intersection of Laystall Street and Clerkenwell Road, that has netted £759,000 in fines since July 2004. This is a council waste story because you can guarantee that they have not generated £759,000 in cash they can spend in the borough. You can bet they have converted the teeth grinding anger of thousands of London drivers into a few grand of surplus that will get spent on one or two more speed humps.
Another big Government ad in the Guardian today from the Disability Rights Commission. There is nothing on their website I can disagree with in terms of objectives. I just question the way they go about it. A high profile ad campaign with both newspaper and billboards. It is bizarre the way they highlight it on their website. Would a commercial organisation invite you to “View our advertising campaign”? It seems they are trying to ape French Connection UK’s punning allusion to foul language.
Other ads from the same series appeared in the Evening Standard and Telegraph today.
You probably haven’t heard of the the new Low Emission Zone for London. What the Mayor’s press release does not tell you is that the scheme will cost £78 million, double the original estimate. Heavy vehicles that do not meet European emission standards will have to pay a fee of £200 to enter London from early 2008. Those that do not pay will be fined £1,000. Such charges just get passed on to consumers so we will pay for the cameras and clipboards and we will pay the fines too. As vehicles get replaced by hauliers they will automatically be upgraded to the new standards. This seems to be a lot of fuss and expense to speed an inevitable process.
Phil Taylor 