Local councillors Laura Willoughby, Terry Stacy and John Gilbert presented a petition to GLA member Caroline Pidgeon this week in protest urging action to improve safety on the junction of Holloway Road, Fieldway Crescent and Madras Place. Caroline, the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Transport Spokesperson, formally presented a petition on our behalf this week to Mayor of London Boris Johnson asking him to take action.

The petition has been signed by around 300 Islington residents and was organised by the Liberal Democrat Councillors from Highbury East ward.

After presenting the petition on Wednesday morning Caroline said:
“I am delighted to be able to support this campaign. It is absolutely necessary to make the junction safer for both cyclists and pedestrians. I have already asked two questions to the Mayor over this issue and I hope this petition really forces Boris Johnson to ensure Transport for London sort out this problem.”

Councillor John Gilbert said: “Local councillors and residents have been asking for changes to this junction for many years. There has already been a death at this junction as well as many near misses. The dangerous positioning of the traffic lights at the junction of Holloway Road with Fieldway Crescent and Madras Place must be addressed before any further accidents take place.”

The petition was presented to Boris Johnson was presented by Caroline Pidgeon at the London Assembly Plenary Session on 18th March. In response to written questions from Caroline in September 2008 about progress on safety measures the Mayor wrote:

TfL has undertaken a review of the last three years of collision data for the junction of Holloway Road with Madras Place/Fieldway Crescent. In conjunction with this study, a site assessment has been undertaken and previous design options work has been re–examined.Options could include relocating an existing pedestrian crossing on the south side of the junction so that it is closer to the pedestrian ‘desire line’ (the point at which pedestrians naturally cross) and introducing a new pedestrian crossing on the north side of the junction. TfL will progress preliminary design and traffic modelling of these options at the start of the 2009/10 financial year.

When pushed again in October 2008 he said:

TfL is currently undertaking a review of the last three years of collision data for the junction of Holloway Road with Madras Place/Fieldway Crescent. In conjunction with this study, a review of the previous design options is being carried out along with an on-site assessment to identify options to improve conditions for both pedestrians and cyclists.

“The presentation of the petition shows the fustration of local people not being able to get a result - how much reviewing needs to be done”
added John Gilbert

Frank Godfrey on being short-listed in the Smooth Radio London ”Love London” awards.  Please vote on-line for Godfreys in the Best Local Shops category by clicking here and scrolling through the different categories.  You don’t have to vote in every category (Godfreys are on the 3rd screen) but if you do decide to take a look at the other categories, Union Chapel is also shortlisted for the Best Music Venue category on the last screen.

Jamie Oliver is the latest local celebrity to express concerns about Islington Labour’s plans to introduce “free” school meals for all primary children in local schools.  Quoted in the Islington Tribune, Jamie says the idea is “expensive; it’s a lot of money”.  Just how expensive it really is has been revealed by Islington Council Finance Chief and local Highbury East councillor, John Gilbert, who has calculated that the full year cost of providing free school meals for the many wealthy Islington families who send their children to our primary schools taken together with Labour’s other headline spending commitment of a pensioner rebate will be over £3.5 million.  That’s £1.5 million more than Labour will generate by putting everyone’s council tax up this year by 2.5% and will require an extra 2% on the council tax next year, bringing the total rise attributable to these policies alone up to 4.5%, equivalent to almost £40 pa for a Band D council tax payer.  Read the rest of this entry. Read the rest of this entry.

Lib Dem-run Islington Council has been given a 4-star rating by the Audit Commission - the highest possible. This is a massive improvement from the ‘Poor’ rating the Council received at the start of the Lib Dem administration, and Islington is now one of the fastest-improving councils in the country. We’re not going to rest on our laurels though - we’re going to continue working to deliver the services and improvements that local residents want.

Highbury East LibDem councillors, Terry Stacy, Laura Willoughby and John Gilbert took a break from their busy schedule of local campaigning last weekend to travel to Harrogate for the Liberal Democrat Party Spring Conference. 

There were inspirational speeches on the economic situation from Vince Cable (full text here) and the political situation by Nick Clegg (full text here) and lots of opportunities to exchange ideas with councillor colleagues from up and down the country on how Liberal Democrat councillors are improving the performance of councils and the lives of local people. 

We were very pleased to see Islington pick up the national Local Government Association Liberal Democrat Group award for Supporting Culture, Leisure and Regeneration,which joins our Green Council of the Year award last year and a string of other awards

As you know, every year each councillor in Islington is allocated £6,666 to spend on projects in their ward. Here in Highbury East we pool ours, making a £20,000 fund to maximise the benefit to our neighbourhood and the local community.

So far we have supported a wide range of projects across the area, which have included:

New bike stands installed across the neighbourhood and secure bike parking at Taverner Sq & Peckett Sq

We have provided equipment for youth and OAP clubs in Highbury, including a new bingo machine for the Highbury Roundhouse OAP club and new sports equipment for the Roundhouse Youth Club. The Sotheby Mews Day Centre also benefited from new equipment.

But we need to to help us decide what to spend it on this year. Suggestions are listed below, but we are up for any idea you may have - so vote by using the poll to the left of this story or emailing by clicking here :