"We have a duty both to support vulnerable people and to protect the wider public. We will continue to offer help to anyone sleeping rough, but compassion cannot mean accepting behaviour that makes public spaces feel unsafe or inaccessible to others."
"We know that there are going to be negative impacts on noise, and on air quality, and potentially on pedestrian and cycling safety. We just want to understand what the impact of those might be, to be able to compensate for those downsides."
A Sun investigation has found illegal street trading continuing on Westminster Bridge despite repeated prosecutions, with unlicensed ice cream vans, hot dog stands and rickshaw riders operating in a prohibited area and treating court fines as a cost of doing business. One vendor, Gjon Pjetri, w
"This isn't about using the environmental impact assessment to stop the Oxford Street pedestrianisation. It's about trying to make sure that the scheme that comes forward and what we see at the end of all of this process is as good as it can be."
“Our position on pedestrianisation is simple — if you must to do it, get it right. A needlessly rushed scheme will be a disaster for residents and worse for business" says Cllr Tim Barnes
"If you're going to take all of the traffic that was on Oxford Street and push it into side roads, it makes sense that those trucks and buses are gonna find themselves chugging out fumes, or getting way too close to pedestrians and cyclists" says Cllr Tim Barnes
"It's pretty well assumed by even the Mayor's team that nitrous oxide levels will exceed the desired targets on Piccadilly as a result of the traffic displacement that will take place. But we don't know the full extent of that. We don't know what the impact will be in so many other areas because the mayor is once again trying to cut corners."
"I'm of the view that this project is probably gonna go ahead. The mayor's probably gonna get what he wants. But what we should do is make sure that it's the best that it can be" says Cllr Tim Barnes
“Labour signed off Mandela Way without ever checking the ground it was built on. Nobody did the basic homework, and Westminster taxpayers are now footing an extra £7.97mn bill for it, taking the previous Labour administration’s total waste to £56mn. This is at the same time as the Labour government is slashing £100mn from the council’s budgets" says Cllr Paul Swaddle
"The Mayor is trying to cut corners when it comes to ensuring this plan is safe for Londoners. That's cheating them of the reassurances they are entitled to, and the Government should not let him get away with it" says Cllr Tim Barnes
