Letter from Thames Water
BB 751174
Andrew Popple
0845 641 0011
01793541 709
18 May 2007
Dear Customer
We will soon be starting work in your area to replace ageing and leaky water mains, and would like to invite you to a drop-in meeting to find out more.
Local streets suffer from a high number of burst pipes and leaks, so we have decided to renew the old cast iron mains with new plastic ones. Although this work will unfortunately involve some disruption, it will mean long-term benefits because there will be less need to dig up streets and make repairs in the future.
These improvements are necessary because much of the region’s pipework is very old. Over half the water mains in London are at least 100 years old, and a third have been in use for more than 150 years. These pipes are under increasing pressure from round-the-clock traffic and a growing population, and now need to be replaced.
We have already carried out similar work in other areas, and have now laid more than 400 miles of new mains.
On 4 June we will begin work to replace 38km of old water pipes across your area, which is planned to be complete by August 2010.
To find out how and when this work will affect you, come and meet us.
Date: Tuesday 29 May
Time: 4pm to 6.30pm
Location: At our customer exhibition unit which will be located in Priory Court Community Centre car park, 11 Priory Court, South Countess Road, E17.
Clancy Docwra have been appointed to carry out these improvements. During our work there will be an interruption to your water supply, but we will warn you in advance. Where your business needs a constant supply of water, please contact us and we will do our best to work with you to meet your needs. If you are not responsible for the maintenance of water services for your building, please would you pass a copy of this letter to the appropriate person.
If your building has a fire main or sprinkler system, please ensure you forward a copy of this letter to the appropriate person. If a separate fire main letter has not been received, please contact us so we can verify our fire main records.
If you do not already have a water meter, one will be installed on the new pipe supplying your property. This meter will be used to check for leaks and improve our understanding of water usage. The new meter will not be used to charge you for your water unless you ask us to. If you live in a block of flats, a house that is converted into separate apartments or if you are connected to a shared supply, there will be one meter installed at the supply pipe boundary. In this case we cannot bill you using the meter, as the meter is unable to record an individual property’s water consumption from a shared supply pipe.
The project may cause some disruption to traffic and pedestrians, but we are liaising closely with the London Borough of Waltham Forest, Metropolitan Police, Transport for London and Emergency Services to reduce this.
Please read the enclosed information carefully as it contains important information about this work.
How to contact us
· Our main site office is located at VMR Project Office, Clancy Docwra, c/o Thames Water Depot, Lea Bridge Road, London, E5 9RJ where you can contact our construction managers on 0208 923 3299 between 8am and 6pm Monday to Friday. If you are calling outside office hours, please ring our Standby Supervisor on 0208 923 3299.
· Our Customer Centre is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week on 0845 641 0011. Please quote your address and reference number BB751174 if you call us.
· If you are interested in learning more about our investment programme, or the technical details of our work, visit our website at www.thameswater.co.uk/newpipes.
Thank you in advance for your patience and co-operation during this work.
Yours faithfully
Andrew Popple
Project Manager
Monday, May 21, 2007
London Councils concerned at Mayor’s intention to press ahead with London LEZ
London Councils has voiced concerns that the Mayor is pressing ahead with plans to introduce a London Low Emission Zone (LEZ) – despite warnings that it would prove hugely expensive while providing minimal benefit for Londoners.
When the Mayor consulted on the proposals in February 2007, London Councils warned that the LEZ would bring very little improvement to the capital’s air quality despite costing around £600 million to introduce and enforce.
Despite these warnings, the Mayor has announced today that he has approved plans to introduce the LEZ in February 2008. Under the scheme vehicles like heavy goods lorries, vans, coaches and buses will have to pay to enter Greater London.
Responding to Transport for London’s consultation on the LEZ, London Councils said that while it is committed to seeking ways to improve London’s air quality there are significant questions about the worth of the scheme currently proposed.
TfL’s figures show that with the LEZ, London’s air quality could improve overall by 11.6 per cent by 2010. However, their figures also show that even without the LEZ, the capital’s air quality will improve by 11.3 per cent by 2010 as a result of European standards on emission levels for new vehicles.
According to TfL’s own figures boroughs, hauliers, van operators and bus and coach firms now face compliance costs of £470 million to make their existing vehicles comply with the zone’s restrictions. Further, TfL also estimates it would cost around £130 million to introduce and enforce the LEZ.
London Councils is also concerned about how the LEZ will be enforced, especially for foreign registered vehicles. In total, around 95 per cent of the penalties issued in London to drivers of vehicles registered abroad go unpaid as there is no way of enforcing them. The Freight Transport Association estimate that there are around 10,000 foreign registered heavy goods vehicles in the UK each day.
London Councils believes an effective way forward would be for the Government to introduce tougher emissions standards for all vehicles through the annual MOT test. This would remove any need for additional expensive extra enforcement to be taken.
Chairman of London Councils Transport and Environment Committee, Councillor Daniel Moylan, said:
“While we share the Mayor’s aim of improving London’s air quality we cannot support a scheme that uses public money so recklessly. The LEZ will waste millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money and add huge financial burdens to London’s businesses. Despite this huge expenditure, the Mayor’s proposed LEZ will achieve only miniscule benefits for Londoners. Six hundred million pounds for a 0.3 per cent increase in air quality is a poor return by anyone’s standards.
“It appears our evidence has not been heeded and that the Mayor is intent on pressing ahead with his plans irrespective of the cost. Perhaps he is more interested in grabbing the green headlines rather than doing what is best for London. Instead of rushing through a new tax on Londoners, the Mayor’s strategic role would be far better employed in lobbying government on behalf of the capital to lower emissions levels for all vehicles through the MOT test.”
When the Mayor consulted on the proposals in February 2007, London Councils warned that the LEZ would bring very little improvement to the capital’s air quality despite costing around £600 million to introduce and enforce.
Despite these warnings, the Mayor has announced today that he has approved plans to introduce the LEZ in February 2008. Under the scheme vehicles like heavy goods lorries, vans, coaches and buses will have to pay to enter Greater London.
Responding to Transport for London’s consultation on the LEZ, London Councils said that while it is committed to seeking ways to improve London’s air quality there are significant questions about the worth of the scheme currently proposed.
TfL’s figures show that with the LEZ, London’s air quality could improve overall by 11.6 per cent by 2010. However, their figures also show that even without the LEZ, the capital’s air quality will improve by 11.3 per cent by 2010 as a result of European standards on emission levels for new vehicles.
According to TfL’s own figures boroughs, hauliers, van operators and bus and coach firms now face compliance costs of £470 million to make their existing vehicles comply with the zone’s restrictions. Further, TfL also estimates it would cost around £130 million to introduce and enforce the LEZ.
London Councils is also concerned about how the LEZ will be enforced, especially for foreign registered vehicles. In total, around 95 per cent of the penalties issued in London to drivers of vehicles registered abroad go unpaid as there is no way of enforcing them. The Freight Transport Association estimate that there are around 10,000 foreign registered heavy goods vehicles in the UK each day.
London Councils believes an effective way forward would be for the Government to introduce tougher emissions standards for all vehicles through the annual MOT test. This would remove any need for additional expensive extra enforcement to be taken.
Chairman of London Councils Transport and Environment Committee, Councillor Daniel Moylan, said:
“While we share the Mayor’s aim of improving London’s air quality we cannot support a scheme that uses public money so recklessly. The LEZ will waste millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money and add huge financial burdens to London’s businesses. Despite this huge expenditure, the Mayor’s proposed LEZ will achieve only miniscule benefits for Londoners. Six hundred million pounds for a 0.3 per cent increase in air quality is a poor return by anyone’s standards.
“It appears our evidence has not been heeded and that the Mayor is intent on pressing ahead with his plans irrespective of the cost. Perhaps he is more interested in grabbing the green headlines rather than doing what is best for London. Instead of rushing through a new tax on Londoners, the Mayor’s strategic role would be far better employed in lobbying government on behalf of the capital to lower emissions levels for all vehicles through the MOT test.”
Freedom Pass
London Councils has called for the Secretary of State for Transport to be the arbiter in future negotiations over the cost of providing the Freedom Pass, which provides older and disabled Londoners with free travel on public transport in the capital. The cost of the scheme is negotiated annually between London Councils and Transport for London (TfL). At present TfL can dictate the cost of the scheme if no agreement is reached.
FARID says “Despite Labour spin, Patients are waiting longer”
A recent survey for Channel 4’s Dispatches programme showed that almost half of NHS hospitals across England are deliberately delaying operations to save money. The results of this survey stand in stark contrast to the Prime Minister’s recent spin that waiting times are constantly tumbling. The reality is that the impact of deficits and the politically imposed deadline for breaking even, is resulting in health trusts making these perverse decisions. Wherever health trusts are in deficit they are often forced to delay referral of patients to hospitals. These bizarre and counterproductive practices mean patients are waiting longer than they should to see a consultant. Patricia Hewitt’s desire to save her own job by making the NHS break even this year is resulting in other people losing theirs, and cuts in services across the country.
CHAPEL END WARD FOCUS TEAM
Cllr Bob Belam,
92 Douglas Avenue, E17 5BW
Phone 020 8923 1148
E-mail Cllr.bob.belam@walthamforest.gov.uk
Cllr Bob Carey,
66 Bedford Road, E17 4PX
Phone 020 8923 6329
E-mail Cllr.bob.carey@walthamforest.gov.uk
Cllr John Macklin,
61 Havant Road, E17 3JE
Phone 020 8520 4672
E-mail Cllr.john.macklin@walthamforest.gov.uk
92 Douglas Avenue, E17 5BW
Phone 020 8923 1148
E-mail Cllr.bob.belam@walthamforest.gov.uk
Cllr Bob Carey,
66 Bedford Road, E17 4PX
Phone 020 8923 6329
E-mail Cllr.bob.carey@walthamforest.gov.uk
Cllr John Macklin,
61 Havant Road, E17 3JE
Phone 020 8520 4672
E-mail Cllr.john.macklin@walthamforest.gov.uk
Surgery Advice Centre
Your Liberal Democrat Councillors hold a confidential surgery/advice session on the first and third Saturday of each month 10am to 12pm in room 2a at the Town Hall, Forest Rd E17
YOU CAN HELP THE FOCUS TEAM
FOCUS is delivered free to households.
The FOCUS Team would be pleased to
hear from you if you would like to
help deliver FOCUS near your home
CONTACTING YOU
When we found out about the recent works to line the Billet Roundabout, we were able to email residents of the impending works. If you would like to have your email address added to this circulation list, please email Cllr Bob Belam with your email address to cllr.bob.belam@walthamforest.gov.uk , we will only use your address to keep you informed.
Thursday, May 03, 2007
THE BILLET WORKS
Cllr Bob Belam enquired about the works taking place at the Billet.
The response from an officer of the Council is:
"We have in the last week received an application from Thames Water touse the site as a temporary construction compound. They have to undertake a major project to alleviate sewer flooding at the Post Officeat 174 Billet Road which includes laying new sewers from the site and improvements to the connections with the main system. The project will take 3 months and the site will house 4 portacabins and plant and materials associated with the job. My initial view is that this would seem to be a reasonable location for this, away from residential properties and it has already seen a benefit of getting the existing site cleared, and a short duration for the project which will not affect the long-term use by the Ambulance service."
The Ambulance service has planning permission to build an ambulance station, replacing the old one.
The response from an officer of the Council is:
"We have in the last week received an application from Thames Water touse the site as a temporary construction compound. They have to undertake a major project to alleviate sewer flooding at the Post Officeat 174 Billet Road which includes laying new sewers from the site and improvements to the connections with the main system. The project will take 3 months and the site will house 4 portacabins and plant and materials associated with the job. My initial view is that this would seem to be a reasonable location for this, away from residential properties and it has already seen a benefit of getting the existing site cleared, and a short duration for the project which will not affect the long-term use by the Ambulance service."
The Ambulance service has planning permission to build an ambulance station, replacing the old one.
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