Tim Barnes: "Our position on pedestrianisation is simple, if you must do it, get it right. A needlessly rushed scheme will be a disaster for residents and worse for business... The Mayor is trying to cut corners when it comes to ensuring this plan is safe for Londoners."
Cllr Caroline Sargent, Deputy Leader of Westminster City Council, said: "This is a truly shocking case of someone deliberately and repeatedly cheating the system for their own personal gain..."
“Labour signed off Mandela Way without ever checking the ground it was built on" says Cllr Paul Swaddle. "Nobody did the basic homework, and Westminster taxpayers are now footing an extra £7.97 million bill for it, taking the previous Labour administration's total waste to £56 million."
Cllr Caroline Sargent said a number of concerned residents had contacted the council about the march, adding that Westminster bears the brunt of protests of many kinds and that she condemns any march or demonstration that promotes hatred, division or intimidation.
Mandela Way waste depot becomes the latest Labour failure uncovered by Westminster Conservatives' contract and capital review, taking total mismanagement identified since May past £56 million.
Westminster City Council's Cabinet Member for Value for Money and Finance, Cllr Paul Fisher, outlines how the government's cuts to Westminster's funding are so large that closing the gap will likely require a combination of savings and council tax rises.
The BBC is reporting that three Conservative council leaders in London, including Westminster's Cllr Paul Swaddle, have written to Prime Minister Andy Burnham accusing the government of "devolving blame" for steep council tax rises. "This is fiddled funding, cooked up in Whitehall but leaving town halls to carry the blame," the letter states.
BBC London is reporting that new options are being considered for the future of the Pimlico District Heat Undertaking, a 70 year old communal heating network believed to be the oldest of its kind in the UK, which supplies heating and hot water to more than 3,000 homes and businesses.
Cllr Paul Swaddle OBE has called for action to save summer jobs across Westminster by removing barriers to young people entering work. The council leader has backed new Conservative plans to give young people more flexibility over shift patterns and breaks and simplifying restrictions on evening working, whilst protecting young people's education.
Same old Labour: contract and capital review uncovers yet another due diligence failure, taking total waste uncovered past £37 million, with more findings to come. A waste depot project at Mandela Way will now cost taxpayers’ an extra £7.97 million, after Labour signed off the budget without properly checking the ground beneath the site.
