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This page covers Angie's snippets -
her views on issues of concern to residents in Ealing Central &
Acton.
To receive all of Angie's press releases and news stories, sign up to
her monthly news bulletin by sending a message to
help @ angiebray.org.uk
On the
plan for a third runway at Heathrow Enough is enough at
Heathrow. They cannot go on making it bigger and busier time after
time. It is time to consider other options like developing Gatwick
where they actually want the expansion. West London residents already
have to suffer far too many flights directly overhead, including night
flights that shouldn't be happening at all. Another runway would be
intolerable.

On CrossRail Ealing and Acton
need CrossRail. That will be the single most important transport
project that can provide a much-needed extra connection into Central
London. In the meantime we need more trains stopping at Ealing
Broadway and Acton Mainline stations so that the regeneration of
Ealing and Acton Town centre can gather pace.

On the
West London Tram I always thought this was a
preposterous idea. You only have to see the Uxbridge Road where it
gets really quite narrow in places to understand that the tram would
simply ruin the area, driving cars that have to use this road onto
side streets. It would also have decimated the shops and small businesses
all the way along.

On the western extension of the Congestion
Charge Scheme Despite the fact that more than 70 percent
of Londoners said "No" in the consultation, our Mayor, Mr.
Livingstone, because it is one of his ideological obsessions, is
pouring millions of pounds into extending his congestion charge.
It is going to make life miserable for thousands of residents in West
London and will damage a lot of small businesses who play such an
important role in the local community.

On the London Olympics I jumped
for joy when London won its Olympic bid against Paris and I believe we
can make a wonderful job of staging the games here. However Londoners
in general need much more protection from potential bills stacking up
in the future and West Londoners in particular need to see far more
benefit flowing from the games than is apparent right now if they are
to be enthusiastic supporters.

On launching the Assembly report on
London's Tennis facilities Once a year Wimbledon puts
London at the heart of the world of tennis. Why can't we do more to
build on this and get more tennis going in London all year round?
There is loads of potential out there amongst our youngsters which we
need to tap into and encourage. Tennis is a great sport which everyone
loves to watch. We need more home-grown champions to win for us.
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On stamp duty and death tax cuts
Like most people, I am in favour of more help for first time buyers
who are facing spiralling housing costs. The Conservatives have pledged
to increase the stamp duty threshold for first time buyers to £250,000.
If you look at Ealing figures on the Land Registry website, you’ll see
the average price of a flat/maisonette is £242,299, so this move will really help people in our community.
I was also thrilled, as I know so many were, with the pledge to more
than treble the inheritance tax threshold so that only millionaires will pay death taxes.

On NHS cuts It's a real case of
"you wonder where the money went". How can the NHS be making
cuts when we have spent so much extra money on it? We spent a morning
campaigning outside the Central Middlesex Hospital against a rumoured
proposal to close the A and E there and we got hundreds of signatures
on our petition. But they are also closing the GP surgery there which
will mean real hardship for many Ealing and Acton residents who will
have to make a long and difficult journey to alternative surgeries.

On policing I welcome the
arrival of the Safer Neighbourhood police teams in our community
– a team dedicated to each ward - and I really hope that they
are able to build confidence and help to fight the fear of crime. But
to do so they must be visible on all our streets – not just on
the high streets - and they need to be out at nights too, not just
9-5. What we need is to see our policemen out and about, not caught up
with the paperwork back at base.

On the Damien Centre The Damien
Centre, which I went to visit just before Christmas, provides
invaluable support for the homeless in and around Acton. It also lays
on one of the warmest and friendliest cups of tea with toast in town.

On the change to the clocks One
of the easiest ways to improve life for Londoners would be to give
them an extra hour at the time of day when it would be most useful
– in the afternoons. That is what putting us onto permanent
British Summer Time, with a double dose in the summer months, would do
for us. The police say it would help cut crime, ROSPA says it would
help cut accidents involving children on the way home from school and
environmentalists point out that it would save electricity too. I
reckon it's a no-brainer and I was really delighted when I got the
support of the Assembly on this. |