4/13/04 London Guardian Reports:
London's mayor, Ken Livingstone, today said he was
withholding £1.5m of funding from a council because its
transport policies were putting children's lives at risk.
Barnet council has ripped out road humps in defiance of his
transport safety measures, which have the force of law,
withdrawn cycle lanes and increased the danger to
pedestrians by introducing parking on pavements, Mr
Livingstone said.
He vowed that the north London council would not receive any
money until his transport agency, Transport for London
(TfL), had investigated.
The council's Conservative leader, Brian Coleman, branded
the claims as "absolute bollocks", insisting that the
council's measures had widespread public support.
He accused Mr Livingstone of indulging in "political
grandstanding" and "emotive nonsense for which he had no
evidence at all" ahead of this June's mayoral election.
Barnet is also accused of cutting its funding for cycle
training in schools, failing to spend a £120,000 allocation
from TfL it received last year for improvements to the
London Cycle Network, and failing to bid for a share of this
year's funding for the London Cycle Network.
"Barnet's half baked policies are putting children's lives
at risk, " Mr Livingstone said.
"London has one of the best road safety records in Europe.
We are not going to allow that to be undermined by the loony
right in Barnet council. Transport for London will not fund
schemes that jeopardise road safety or cut things like cycle
training for school children."
[full article at society.guardian.co.ukgoverninglonOpen ↗
don/story/0,8150,1190985,00.html]