Thursday, December 06, 2007
junction
Date of issue: 06 December 2007
For immediate release
Junction plan supporters take their views to City Hall
Councillors and campaigners backing a proposal to improve Herne Hill Junction have presented a petition to the London Assembly.
Lambeth Council plans to reconfigure the notorious bottleneck. Val Shawcross, London Assembly member for Lambeth and Southwark has backed local residents and businesses who believe the move is right and necessary for the long term good of Herne Hill.
Receiving the petition at the park from local councillor Jim Dickson, Val said 'Any kind of development involving open land is always an extremely serious matter, and ideally no-one wants to use parkland for any other purpose, but the situation justifies it on this occasion.'
She went on 'Obviously many people are concerned but the junction is quite simply unsafe for both drivers and pedestrians and constant traffic jams make Herne Hill unwelcoming to visitors. Something must be done. The new road layout would in fact improve access to the park for users, make the park entrance more attractive and enhance road safety. Herne Hill would become a much more pleasant and welcoming place. I believe that in this case the benefits of the scheme outweigh the loss of a tiny portion of the park.'
Councillor Jim Dickson added 'We felt it was time something was done to point out the positive aspects of the proposals and tried to gain some balance. A high number of people living locally and local groups have been in touch with me saying how the junction needs to be improved and they want the plans to go ahead'.
John Brunton, of the Herne Hill Forum said 'The plans represent a holistic solution to the area's problems that will benefit residents, traders and public transport. They have widespread and strong support throughout the local community support that is based on the facts and a true understanding of the project and what it is intended to achieve.'
Val concluded 'Several years and a lot of hard work have led to these proposals and a great deal of care has been taken to take into account all viewpoints and reach a compromise. I am sorry that one particular group have managed to dominate coverage of this issue. People need to look objectively at what the plans actually involve and look at the benefits before jumping to any decision. A great many people are in favour of the plans, which is what we want to show with this petition.'
ENDS
Notes:
· Val Shawcross AM presented the 250 signature strong petition to the London 5th December 2007 at 10am in City Hall.
· For further information please contact Ami Ibitson, Researcher to Valerie Shawcross on 020 7983 6558 or ami.Ibitson@london.gov.uk
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]