Croydon’s London Assembly member, Steve O’Connell has called for a “revolution” in Waddon’s road network to tackle the area’s road “traffic nightmare”.

Mr O’Connell said:

“The time has come for someone to stand up and say the obvious, which is that the road congestion around the Five Ways junction part of Waddon is a nightmare; it’s getting worse and it needs to be dealt with.

“The quality of life for people living in Waddon is being seriously affected by this inadequate road system, and those trying to travel through the area, by car or bus are having their journeys blighted by constant solid traffic. Anyone using Purley Way and Stafford Road in the rush hour or at the weekend knows what a nightmare it is trying to get anywhere.

“This problem has many causes, the Five Ways junction itself being chief amongst them. Sorting that will take a lot of time, effort and investment. But there are other measures, such as traffic light rephrasing, that could make such an improvement to traffic-flow and begin to tackle the problem.

“I shall be meeting the Boris, senior Transport for London officials and Croydon Council transport planners to see how we can begin to break the near-gridlock that is blighting this part of Croydon.”

There are a few, unique occasions in life that warrant genuine joy and wonderment. Births, marriages, lottery wins and without doubt the day Gordon Brown gives his last press conference as Prime Minister.

There are also a few, unique occasions in life that warrant genuine fury and despair. The headlong, kamikaze dive of the buttered side of toast, descending majestically earthwards. The fact that Gordon Brown is still Prime Minister. Or the tie chewing rage caused by being penned into one side of the road, engine running with nowhere to go as the other side is coned off, a gaping hole unattended.

Lately, it seems as if the fly diggers have slipped in by night and taken over the city. They're everywhere you turn and they are the scourge of us all. When I was elected, I promised to launch a holy war on holey streets. Well, this week I was able to announce the start of, if not a war, then what the U.N would call a diplomatic offensive.

It all started one Sunday many months ago. I was required to drive across London for an official event. The journey was hell. I came across hole after hole, unmanned, impenetrable. I was so furious at the delay that I summoned my transport officials the next morning and demanded to know what was going on. They scurried away, and soon returned with a large map of London, a constellation of dots spread across it. The dots, they explained, represented each roadwork site that they didn't previously know about that weekend. They were as flabbergasted as I was.

The problem, they said, was that under existing rules, any utility company can roll up, start digging and ask questions later. At no stage are they required to ask permission. Yes, they have to notify us, but this is often done with about three days notice. Or none at all, as was the case that weekend. How could they be allowed to get away with this?

Emboldened by my righteous anger, I summoned every Chief Executive of all the utility companies into my office to demand an explanation. Sensing the Mayoral fuse was short, they readily acknowledged that, as a New Labour minister would say, more could be done.

Flowing from that showdown overlooking the Thames, this week I was able to announce that indeed, more will be done. Thames Water get the most brownie points for agreeing to start 'plating' some of their sites. This means cars can literally drive over holes dug in the road when they're not being worked on. All the companies have signed up to a Code of Conduct, agreeing to do things like putting up signs explaining who they are and who to shout at, and work out of peak hours where possible.

The most technocratic, but easily the most significant promise was to start preparing for a permit scheme. Once the Government gets it act together and approves a formal permit scheme, the companies will be ready to implement it from day one. This will mean that every time they so much as look at a shovel, they will need to get our sign off first.

The code is self policing, so as much as I would like dish out eye watering fines, I can't. But the companies have approached this in good faith, and they know the eyes of Londoners are on them. I will be holding them to account on their promises, and I need your help. If you come across an enigmatic hole, and there is no sign or no explanation as to why it seems to have been abandoned get in touch and report it.

Hopefully, they will up their game. And then the only thing you need rage about is why Gordon Brown is still in office.

Let me know your thoughts by commenting on the Blue Blog.

All the best,



P.S At the risk of sounding like my predecessor, the latest crime figures for London seem to indicate that crime is at its lowest level for a decade. There have been falls in gun and knife crime, giving me encouragement that our focus on this issue is paying off. Of course, I will never be complacent or let up in the energy I devote to it, and you can never do enough. Londoners still say crime is their top concern, and I will continue to put it top of my list.

The Government’s eleventh hour decision to block Boris Johnson’s £135million Housing Recovery Plan was condemned today by London Assembly Tory planning spokesman, Steve O’Connell.

During Mayor’s Question Time the Mayor revealed how his scheme to deliver 3,000 affordable homes, which won support from all relevant agencies, to see investment in five schemes across London was blocked at the last minute by the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Commenting, Mr O’Connell said:

“This multi-million pound scheme was to provide 3,000 affordable homes at a time when original plans were stalled by the recession. It would have provided much needed homes and jobs for the people who would have built them.

“Then the Government, for reasons best known to themselves, put the brakes on the scheme in some ridiculous fit of pique.

“But Boris told us today that, shamed by their disgraceful politicking with people’s livelihoods and the roofs over their heads, Margaret Becket’s Department has finally given the scheme the nod. So now it can go ahead. Thanks to Boris. No thanks, to the Government.”

Croydon’s London Assembly member has described two men who tried to rob a bus as “highwaymen” following an attack in Thornton Heath.

Commenting on the attack which saw the driver of the 250 double-decker bus from Brixton to Croydon fight off two teenagers who were trying to rob him of the bus money box, Steve O’Connell AM said:

“This a terrible low in criminality. These rampaging thugs are modern day highwaymen who tried to stab a bus driver in the head and maintained their attack even as the bus went through a red light, careered into a car on the other side of the road with the driver inside and came to a halt when it smashed into the front of a newsagents.

“This is absolutely outrageous. I believe the public will be appalled by this attack on a man who was just doing his job and who by their actions endangered the lives of many completely innocent people.

“I will be seeking assurances from Boris Johnson that all that can be done is being done to catch these men.”

The attack began in Parchmore Road.