News - September 2010 update

Dowgate Fire Station

Dowgate boasts the only fire station in the City. It is part of the pan London Fire Brigade and at the Upper Thames Street location there is also the London fire investigation office - which covers fires across all of London. They recently undertook a very interesting project working with local young people and older residents. One inspired fire-fighter thought of covering a big blank wall in the fire station by painting a mural - using the talents of the young and old of the City.

The mural shows scenes of the City over the ages and tells the history of the fire brigade. The mural was unveiled by the Lady Mayoress in the presence of the Chairman of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (Brian Coleman MLA) and the London Fire Commissioner. The young participants learned from the older residents first hand about the perils of living in London during the Second World War and the importance of the fire service in saving lives and buildings at that time. None of the residents could speak with first hand experience about the Great Fire of 1666!

Traffic offences

One of the most frequent complaints from pedestrians in the City is that there are too many traffic violations and that the Police are not doing anything to penalise them. At the end of July the Police ran a two week blitz on key traffic junctions in order to educate and enforce road users. The morning and evening rush hours were targeted and the Police issued 323 tickets to people failing to conform to traffic signals in the first week - mainly people jumping red lights. In the second week the Police offered people with tickets the option of having the ticket cancelled if they attended an education road show at Guildhall. About half of the people agreed to do this. They were shown a safety film and given advice and cyclists were able to sit in an HGV cab and see how little visibility lorry drivers have of cyclists below them. This will be an ongoing issue for the Police but the project was well received with some positive feedback and will - it is hoped- change driving patterns. The three top locations for such offences will be high on the list when the Police patrol again.

Commemoration of the Battle of Britain 7 September 2010

The City are honouring those who took part in the Battle of Britain 70 years ago. There will be a special service at St Paul's Cathedral and a reception at Guildhall for all those attending. This means that there will a large number of extra people and more security around the City that day. This is just the sort of event of which you will be alerted if you follow my advice in the next paragraph.

Traffic management information

Each week the City's traffic management team send out an email to its subscribers. This weekly update tells you which roads are going to be closed over the coming week and also advises you about future road closures. This includes closures not only for utility works, but also where occupiers are having large deliveries and need a road closure or there is a public event. One such closure will impact on Dowgate Ward on Sunday 5 September when the Skyride will come to the City. Upper Thames Street, part of Queen Street and Queen Victoria Street (and other roads) will be closed off from early morning until early evening. I know of one organisation that was planning an office move that weekend and so it was extremely useful to have this prior knowledge. Indeed the email indicates some events several months ahead. You can receive a copy if you wish by sending an email to Traffic.Management@Cityoflondon.gov.uk.