What does the chancellor’s budget mean for you? December 5, 2013 Catherine Gannon, 51Managing director of law firm GannonThe business is performing extremely well but that is thanks to investments: profits are up but the cost of living has increased, making Catherine feel less well off. She lives with two children, aged 11 and 13, in her own home and holds investment properties. She doesn’t have [...]
WWII victory site converted into new flats December 5, 2013 The 18th century former RAF mansion goes on sale as four luxury apartments A MANSION that served as the RAF’s headquarters during the Battle of Britain has been converted into luxury family homes that pay homage to its illustrious past. Bentley Priory Mansion House in Stanmore, north west London, overlooks vast lawns where two replicas [...]
TfL plans for £4.2bn more cuts December 4, 2013 Transport for London has pledged to save a further £4.2bn over the next seven years – though its plans assume that fares will rise by more than inflation after 2014’s price hikes. TfL has already planned £12bn-worth of savings up to 2021. The extra reductions, sketched out in yesterday’s business plan, will come from closing [...]
London needs Crossrail Two and we must kickstart this vital project now December 4, 2013 EACH morning, millions of Londoners cram themselves onto Tube trains in conditions that, under EU laws, would be illegal for transporting livestock. Each evening, they repeat the ordeal. But this squeeze on transport infrastructure is not simply unpleasant – it is economically damaging too. Our city’s antiquated transport system is barely managing to meet demand, [...]
Tube and bus fares rise in line with inflation December 3, 2013 THE COST of public transport in London will rise by an average of 3.1 per cent in January, the Mayor of London announced yesterday along with a claim that the change represents a real-term price freeze. Some tickets, including the single bus fare paid in cash and pay-as-you-go daily caps, will be kept at 2013 [...]
Letters to the Editor – 04/12 – Tube fare freeze, Best of Twitter December 3, 2013 Tube fare freeze A real terms transport fares freeze in January is welcome news. But TfL could continue to freeze fares at inflation in future years. It has an annual turnover just shy of £10bn and a capital investment programme in the tens of billions. Freezing fares at inflation for a year costs just £34m [...]
Crossrail 2 gets a boost as 95 per cent back the new railway November 28, 2013 CROSSRAIL 2, the mooted cross-city line between south west and north east London, got a boost today when it was revealed that 95 per cent of the city supports the idea. Transport for London received almost 14,000 responses to a consultation on the proposal, the vast majority of which were positive. Just two per cent [...]
Sita signs deal to turn waste into electricity November 28, 2013 WASTE management company Sita UK yesterday said that it has signed a 25-year contract with the West London Waste Authority to turn household rubbish into energy. Along with its consortium partners Scottish Widows Investment Partners and Japan’s Itochu Corporation, Sita will design, finance, build and operate infrastructure to manage up to 300,000 tonnes of waste [...]
Our innovative Heathrow plan could expand capacity without huge costs November 28, 2013 IN JUST three weeks, Sir Howard Davies and the Airports Commission will publish a shortlist of ideas to solve a problem critical to Britain’s future success – how to enhance our airport capacity. We hope that our innovative Heathrow Hub concept – which is unconnected to any proposals from the current airport owners – will [...]
French group Suez takes on west London’s waste with 25-year contract November 28, 2013 Suez Environnement subsidiary Sita UK is leading a consortium that has just signed a £760m, 25-year residual waste contract with the West London Waste Authority (WLWA). Over its duration, the contract is worth £1.4bn, and will see £244m invested into new infrastructure. Sita UK, along with partners Scottish Widows Investment Partners and Itochu Corporation, will [...]