News - February 2012 update

Dowgate signs are bold and in the right place

As  I mentioned on the January update page, now that the exterior of Cannon Place is complete the Dowgate Ward signboard has been re-erected on Dowgate Hill and a new oval Ward sign has been newly installed. It is good to see the identity of the Ward displayed in this way.  The Ward signboard shows news of formal Ward events and it is important to remember that the main event is the Ward Mote that will be held on Monday 12 March at 12 noon. A formal notice will be posted on the signboard and the venue will be explained. We will be meeting in one of the Livery Halls and so this is a good chance to look inside the Hall and glimpse the interesting, historic and unique buildings in the City. The Ward Mote is mainly for the voters but we do welcome everyone in Dowgate to attend and take the chance to meet the elected members and ask questions about issues of concern.

Cannon Street Station road works

It is a shame that yet again I need to address the issues of road works in Cannon Street and Dowgate Hill. The major pavement and road works have now commenced for the final external operational access and egress. There are a lot of  barriers and wire fencing on site and the rush hour pressure of pedestrians causes some real congestion and delays. 

A helpful Dowgate elector proposed some changes to the barriers and this has eased the pedestrian flow to a certain extent. It was a  very good practical idea and the City surveyors reviewed the proposal and any health and safety issues and agreed to do the alteration. So if you can suggest any other ideas then do please contact me.  There are additional works from time to time as evidenced on Friday 3 February with Virgin Media doing work on the west side of Dowgate Hill.  They had a permit to do this work and,  in part,  the works are needed in order to provide space underground for the eventual tree planting in Dowgate Hill once all the works are done.   In the tight spaces on the City streets and in the underground pipework there is not much leeway and any new structure (including the trees) needs to be fitted into the complex pattern.

Car engines idling

The City of London suffers from poor air quality, and has a statutory obligation to take action to improve it. There are a number of sources of air pollution in the City, but the main source is road traffic. The City Corporation is implementing a range of measures to reduce pollution to less harmful levels, as set out in the Air Quality Strategy 2011-2015. One of the actions in the Strategy is to implement effective ways to deal with unnecessary vehicle engine idling.
From 1st January 2012, City of London Police officers have been authorised to issue Fixed Penalty Notices to drivers of vehicles which are left running unnecessarily in the City. These notices are issued under the Road Traffic (Vehicle Emissions) (Fixed Penalty)(England) Regulations 2002.
In practice, the fixed penalty notices are mainly used as a deterrent. Where a vehicle is found to be idling, the driver is asked to turn off the engine by an authorised officer. A fixed penalty notice is only issued where the driver refuses. The penalty charge is £20, increasing to £40 if not paid within 28 days.
Construction sites, major delivery companies, private hire vehicle companies and taxi drivers associations have all been notified directly, and the initiative was publicised in the local press in December.  I hope that you can ensure that deliveries and vehicles at your premises are aware of this and that you encourage them to comply.

On-street recycling

You will have noticed some very new bins on the streets that are for on-street recycling. They have a double use as the bins both take items for recycling and provide a screen with digital displays of information and advertising the sponsor. There are three on Cannon Street and they are part of the first 25 to be placed on the streets. A further 75 will follow in the next few weeks. Do please monitor them to see that they are working and do give me any feedback. Click on the photo for more information.