The fiasco over travelling in Medway continues to cause distress to thousands of residents, drivers, bus users and council tax payers. It also serves to highlight why Medway residents have been let down by Conservatives and the need for a coherent transport agenda for Medway.
The Medway Conservatives have a lamentable management record on transport and on representing commuter interests.
Over the last four years we have had constant roadworks, seemingly un-coordinted which have paralysed the town centres, undermined business and led to some business to move out of the towns altogether. Strood has suffered a annus horribilis this year with works on two major arteries and Rainham, Gillingham and Walderslade have also suffered. Rochester is about to suffer during a key trading period with the works on Corporation Street.
The bodged Chatham two-way traffic re-organisation which was opposed by local business in Chatham has undermined local trade. At a cost of £2.5m the cost-benefit of the road changes are clearly not visible yet, and at that cost, will probably never be.
The Chatham Bus station remains incomplete after months of complaints from residents that the creation of 'the mushroom patch' is an eye-sore and though 'dynamic' will leave people out-in-the-cold. Consultation was lamentable on this project, and though it may win awards in the future, the community was not consulted. A major artery into Chatham, via Globe Lane, will now be closed in a matter of days, leading to total chaos during the busy Christmas period.
The Medway Tunnel - another key artery into Chatham via the Peninsula and Strood is another fiasco just waiting to happen. The Tories purchases the tunnel for £1 with a donation from the wealthy Rochester Bridge Trust. The Tunnel is not only a financial liability but was given poor safety rating by the AA before its purchase. The multi-million pound donation will not cover the cost of the tunnel over the medium-long term. Despite the protests of Conservative Councillors to the Transport Minister this week, it is a Tory administration which purchased the tunnel in the first place. The risk of a toll in less then a decade on the Tunnel is a very real risk.
The bus franchise in Medway is also a major concern. The lack of scrutiny over bus travel has led to very poor service provision across the towns with many poorer areas left without bus services on a Sunday. The new bus station may improve the situation, but commuter responses in Medway are significantly worse then in other areas of the Country. Our roads in Medway have hardly any bus-only routes and it is clear that over the last decade, as other areas have invested in bus travel, Medway remains way behind the curve.
The quality of Medway residential roads was severely lacking in 2009 and was worsened by the extreme winter conditions. Gritting was poorly managed by the Tory administration leading to some areas being inadequately covered. We have supported the Labour Government increase in road-surfacing grant which has improved roads in 2010, but will continue to lobby government for road improvement grants.
The Tory plan for an airport on Cliffe coupled with a major A-road which will bulldoze over the peninsula needs to be opposed vigorously. The Tories have run a flop of a campaign against the Estuary Airport which has allowed futher plans to develop on Cliffe itself. The lobbying being undertaken by Cllr Chambers has failed to deliver results. His inability to challenge the Conservative mayor is causing schemes and plans to become developed in City Hall, and the lobbying of senior transport ministers to take place.
The train fare increases in Medway also represent Conservative duplicity. Local MPs and Conservative activists campaigned against fare increases until May 2010 and have now undertaken a total platform change. We have not only fare increases for one year, but Parliamentary term setting of fares which will lead to increase in ticket prices of £1,200 until 2014/2015. Medway Conservatives have targeted middle class commuters and have cut the government subsidy for rail travel. Commuters will pay more and get less.
The Conservatives have a lamentable record on transport. We need to get Medway Moving.
Medway Labour has a clear plan to get Medway moving which is already in the public domain:
i) Oppose Conservative train fare increases that will price-out middle class train commuters into London. We will lobby and highlight government hypocrisy and fight for improvements to train stations and services from our towns by working with SouthEastern on key improvement programmes.
ii) Ensure that bus services are affordable, on time and decent by actively scrutinising the operator and ensuring that the poorest in our community are able to get to work without hindrance. Oppose any attempt by Conservatives to cut the free bus pass for pensioners and will review the Yellow Bus scheme and the Medway Freedom Pass scheme to ensure the poorest students are not unfairly treated
iii) To publicise road works, introduce stricter rules on utility operators and ensure there is a consistency to road works which will not interfere with key trading periods, such as Christmas. We will not u-turn on major road schemes, like the Conservatives on the Hawkins Flyover. Funding for road improvements will move from town-centre to street corner to ensure that residential roads are not left in a state of disrepair.
iv) Oppose the Conservative plan for Cliffe Airport which will bulldoze over the historic villages of the Peninsula and actively lobby to ensure an effective campaign is run to halt this scheme in its tracks.
v) We will lobby government to put the Medway Tunnel onto the government books and provide full transparency around the purchase of the tunnel, its key authors, and the finance and cost of the tunnel. Transparency is the key.
Transport is a major problem in Medway. The Conservatives have the wrong answers for our community.
Next May you can judge them for the wasted hours you and your family have spent stuck in traffic jams, paying for train tickets and threatened by a future tunnel toll.
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar