Last Wednesday at the Council Tax setting and budget meeting of Westminster Council, the Labour Administration voted down two vital amendments that we proposed. Our amendments to the budget addressed two key concerns of people living in Westminster, shared by you and your neighbours.
Dockless Bikes: We proposed funding a task force to take illegal parked dockless bikes off the streets and charge the operators for the removals to make them realise that they can’t abuse the streets of Westminster. We are not against dockless bikes (I use them myself!) but we need to make sure our streets and pavements are safe for everyone.
Oxford Street: We proposed a specific fund to fund a judicial review in case we need to fight the Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan, when he decides as expected to press on with pedestrianisation of Oxford Street. Only the Conservatives are proposing to fight the Mayor, increasingly Labour in Westminster seem to be capitulating to the Mayor’s plan, regardless of the impact on those living locally.
These proposals would have been funded by reducing agency staff spending andwere fully costed.
I hope you agree that these are important matters for the people of Westminster. Sadly, Westminster Labour disagreed and voted these down.
We will continue to keep pressure on the Labour-led Council to deliver the change local people are calling for.
Your views matter and we want to hear from you.
PS We were delighted to welcome Cllr Martin Hayes to his first council meeting on Wednesday - having gained his seat from Labour at last week's by-election. We know he will make a strong contribution to our community in the months and years ahead!
