Hornchurch and Upminster MP calls on Havering Daily readers to have their say on bus plans.

Many of Mrs Lopez’s constituents have also expressed their loss of confidence in the Mayor, backing a national petition by Havering resident and campaign, Ed Green, to abolish the mayoralty or amend the GLA Act to remove the Mayor’s powers to impose road charges.

Hornchurch and Upminster MP, Julia Lopez, is calling on residents to have their say on TfL’s planned bus route changes in her latest update to constituents on ULEZ, the Mayor’s controversial plan to extend daily road charging to Havering. Writing to hundreds of residents who have contacted her to oppose Sadiq Khan’s plan, Mrs Lopez also flagged TfL’s consideration of a broader ‘pay as you drive’ road charging scheme. Meanwhile the local MP has written to the Transport and Communities Secretaries about the Mayor’s powers and plans.

Despite the Mayor’s pledge of new bus routes in outer London to mitigate against the ULEZ extension, Mrs Lopez believes changes to routes published this week will not support a shift to public transport in Havering. Locally, the changes consist of the expansion of the existing 497 route such that it continues from its current route of Dagnam Park Square to Harold Wood Station and on to Upminster Station via Moor Lane and St. Mary’s Lane. But alongside this, the existing 346 route (Upminster Park to Upminster Station) and the 347 route (Romford Station to Ockendon Station) would be withdrawn.

Mrs Lopez is asking all constituents concerned about this to give feedback on the Mayor’s proposals at: https://haveyoursay.tfl.gov.uk/bus-routes-346-347-497

Commenting on the bus plans, Mrs Lopez said: ‘While I welcome the extension of the 497, it is telling that the Mayor’s investment in ‘new’ bus services in Havering is limited to the consolidation of routes, requiring the removal of two. These changes will cut bus services between Ockendon Road and Clay Tye Road. The Mayor’s own analysis shows that older people, the primary users of affected routes, will be adversely impacted by longer waits, they may require additional interchanges by the removal of the 347 route and may be required to use an unlit alleyway to access bus routes.

It will come to no surprise to residents that the Mayor’s promises of 400,000km of additional bus routes in London does not amount to very much. The proposed changes clearly do not represent an overall improvement to bus services in Havering, even resulting in a reduction or total loss of services to some. At a time when the Mayor is imposing an effective daily tax of £12.50 these changes will not support the shift to public transport the Mayor claims to aspire to. Instead, these changes will leave some constituents even more exposed to the expanded ULEZ.’

In recent weeks, many of Mrs Lopez’s constituents have also expressed their loss of confidence in the Mayor, backing a national petition by Havering resident and campaign, Ed Green, to abolish the mayoralty or amend the GLA Act to remove the Mayor’s powers to impose road charges. Long held concerns that the Mayor will use ULEZ to expand road charging more broadly have also been compounded by reports that TfL is considering the introduction of a ‘pay as you drive’ road charging scheme within London. Mrs Lopez has now contacted both the Transport Secretary, Mark Harper MP, and Communities Secretary, Michael Gove MP, to ask on constituents’ behalf whether there is any mechanism to challenge the Mayor’s policies ahead of ULEZ expansion in August. 

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