Paul Sloan

Concerns new fee will hamper tourism in Northern Ireland New regulations could see tourism prospects hampered in Northern Ireland, with travellers set to pay a €12 fee to visit the UK

Grim news for Northern Ireland's tourism industry, given how many NI visitors enter via Dublin.

www.rte.ie/news/2025/01...

Map of Kingston's Cycleways

Today we're taking a look at some of the cycle infrastructure that's been installed in Kingston in recent years. We're starting at the most Northerly point of the Borough near the boundary with Wandsworth where Cycleway 30 on Kingston Vale starts

Councils need to stop promoting canals as part of the cycle network, it's not safe and rules out a lot of women in particular.
@londoncycling.bsky.social this doesn't fit in with your current campaigns about the social safety of cycle networks, does it?

WHY WIMBLEDON BUSES ARE SO SLOW
Nose-to-tail traffic from Gap Rd junction back to Hartfield Cresc. It took a full 6 mins for my 131 bus to go 400m - on a Sunday PM. This is because: the bus lane stops where the tailback starts...1/

Many people (including me) have been warning for a long time that because of the gaping Labour vacuum around Brexit, the Tories may end up denouncing it first.

We're not there yet but we're much closer.

If the Tories do reverse-ferret Labour will end up stuck.
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...

Private school run in south London linked to 27% rise in air pollution Campaigners say pollution levels in street in Herne Hill were far higher when private schools were open

Fascinating article in The Guardian by @richada.bsky.social on how the private school school run significantly increases pollution (27%}. As anyone who lives in Oxford knows, private school term time is a big pollution and congestion problem.

www.theguardian.com/education/20...

And still we are having to urge the Government to cancel the Lower Thames Crossing (LTC) 🤦🏽

🛣️Transport was responsible for 36% of all emissions in 2023
🫰🏽The LTC is likely to cost £12 billion
😲It is expected to return only 22p for every pound spent

transportactionnetwork.org.uk/lower-thames...

Labour has been sucked into the WFH culture war. It should know better | Polly Toynbee It’s free, it’s sensible and it makes workers happy. The government needs to accept that this is the new normal, says Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee

This is good from Polly Toynbee. Arbitrary presenteeism is counterproductive.

"Much evidence suggests that working from home benefits employees and employers alike ... It’s time to count effectiveness, not desk hours"
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Man dies after being hit by lorry in east London collision A pedestrian in their twenties was pronounced dead at the scene

Appalling that a pedestrian in his 20s has been hit and killed by a lorry at Carpenters Rd/Stratford High Street, one of our worst junctions: staggered crossings, pedestrian 'cages', useless paint for cycling. Vision Zero must mean zero. www.standard.co.uk/news/london/...

Wondering where the quiet roads of the Christmas hols have gone?

-In London, around 25% of primary pupils are driven to school resulting in 480,000 car trips per day.

#saferoutes #activetravel

Ed Davey bungee jumping. His arms are spread out wide and his mouth is open.

Taking the leap into Bluesky 👋

View up a road in Pompeii with a white capped Vesuvius in the background

A dusting of snow on Vesuvius this morning #Pompeii

Chart showing monitored air pollution, PM 10 particulates, Nitrogen dioxide and NOx as Nitrogen dioxide.

The automatic air pollution monitor on Cromwell Road, Kingston, shows higher levels of Nitrogen oxides this weekend. www.airqualityengland.co.uk/site/latest?...

My Co-founder Josh Weinsch took this photo of his little daughter’s bike, which was in their driveway when they evacuated. Their neighborhood was vaporized.

Over 60 German universities quit social media platform X Platform accused of failing to uphold values of diversity, freedom, and scholarship - Anadolu Ajansı

Over 60 German universities quit social media platform X.

Platform accused of failing to uphold values of diversity, freedom, and scholarship.

A great example of how the hysteria that the right wing press in Britain drums up harms and misinforms farmers.

The landowner in this case IS the National Trust.

The wild underestimate of passenger numbers that would use the fab new Elizabeth crossrail must surely strengthen the case for mothballed Crossrail 2 plans.

Why aren't we hearing noise about a pared-down or phased CR2?

Wes Streeting offers olive branch to Elon Musk after Keir Starmer criticism Wes Streeting offered an olive branch to Elon Musk following his attacks on the UK government after Labour rejected a call for a national inquiry into child grooming. The billionaire X owner triggered...

The UK is not a serious country anymore, although its been like that for a while. Musk is a danger to us all and should be treated as such. The 90s approach of belittling these guys won't work. Progressives have to start using our elbows.

Journalists call for public inquiry after landmark tribunal rules against PSNI and Metropolitan Police The Detail editor Trevor Birney and former Detail journalist Barry McCaffrey have made British legal history today

Journalists call for public inquiry after landmark tribunal rules against PSNI and Metropolitan Police

www.thedetail.tv/articles/jou...

We have some very obvious issues with road violence justice in Scotland as this article highlights. This article specifically highlights the lack of consideration given when a road user endangers a vulnerable road user. How do we change this? Justice needs to provide protection.

Major water company uses accounting trick to inflate balance sheet by £1.68bn A substantial Severn Trent Water investment is based on IOU notes - BBC Panorama finds.

This is just astonishing. Why isn't it fraud?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Good review of Kingston's new bus station.

A colour photo of the Bentalls furniture depository with its entrance gate and tall tower

In Kingston Upon Thames we find Bentalls Department store, a symbol of the town. The 1936 extension was expanded and rebuilt in 1992, the facade kept intact, but what we like more is the furniture depository at the rear, with its Spanish hacienda tower 3/9

The call for 20mph is growing louder among English councils More than 500 highways professionals and local community representatives attended the two-hour ‘Delivering 20’ webinar hosted by Landor LINKS and 20

Good write up of an event focused on the rollout of 20mph speed limits. Notable cross-party support at local level. Event shared learning from councils that had “… found ways to deliver what their communities wanted: civilised, quieter, healthier, better streets and places that are more vibrant”

I have unfollowed 3 people because they retweeted too much. Let this be a warning to the rest of you.

TfL spends £1m on parking bays for e-bikes (as thousands more bikes due next year) Voi to compete with Lime and Forest as designated bays are created on Red Routes after ‘Wild West’ concerns

Big developments in the battle for control of London’s e-bike market www.standard.co.uk/news/transpo...

Brilliant to see so many people cycling, scooting and walking to school! Exactly why we need even more school streets across Kingston.

I've registered my comments and I'd urge you to too. I was a councillor when this last came to committee, and we made the strong case that keeping the bike lane was imperative. nothing's changed

we either support safe sustainable travel or we don't

What's stopping new train services between London and the Continent? New destinations could include Cologne, Frankfurt, Geneva, Zurich, Marseille and Bordeaux

Latest on the rival bids to set up new international train services between St Pancras and the Continent - and the row that threatens to derail them www.standard.co.uk/news/transpo...

Update: Putney Bridge roadworks - Wandsworth Borough Council

Wandsworth Labour Council has made Putney Bridge horribly dangerous for cycling during these works and obstructed walking. But the priority is to maximise driving yet again - wandsworth.gov.uk/news/news-oc...