Sunday, November 25, 2007

Letter to the editor re Croydon 'then and now'

Image scanned from Your Croydon - November 2007


20.11.07

Dear Editor,

Page 15 of November’s issue of ‘Your Croydon’ has an interesting ‘then and now’ comparison photo feature. Twenty five years ago the local photographer Frazer Ashford was asked to provide photographic images for an official guide for Croydon. Mr Ashford has recently gone back to the same spot to recreate those images using the same lenses.
The article shows a comparison of the western end of the Croydon Flyover then, and as it looks today. After briefly looking at the pictures and reading the article, I found myself playing a ‘spot the difference’ puzzle with the two images. I am pleased to say that there are more trees in the 2007 picture - which is good! But what struck me was the number of cars in each image. The picture taken 25 years ago has only two cars and the picture taken this year has eleven cars. Even if you make allowances for the time of day and introduce an element of chance - that’s still quite a jump to roll back from.
Studies by The Department of Transport, which roughly correspond to the time period in the photographs, show that total road traffic increased by 82 per cent from 1980 to 2004. What is even more of a concern is the amount of road traffic that we can expect in the near future. Projections by the Department of Trade indicate that between 2000 and 2015 the level of road traffic is set to increase by 29 per cent, resulting in even more congestion, pollution and frustration for everyone.
I hope Mr Ashford keeps those lenses in good condition because I look forward to more image comparisons. However, in the future I expect we will be looking back at the image in the eighties with an element of disbelief rather than nostalgia.

Yours sincerely

Shasha Khan
Croydon Green Party

Stats 1
Stats 2

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Saturday, November 24, 2007

White Poppy at the Clocktower Memorial


Mike's white poppy still sitting proud in the centre of the Clocktower memorial.
Read more
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Monday, November 12, 2007

Croydon Advertiser and Guardian coverage on the cycle ride


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Thursday, November 08, 2007

Croydon Greens ride with the Deputy Leader

Mike Armstrong explains to the Deputy Leader
what the issues are.........Council Officer in the
background taking photos!


30.10.07
ORIGINAL Press Release:

Deputy Councillor joins Croydon Greens on a cycle ride around Croydon

Councillor Dudley Mead will on Friday 2nd November(1) join Croydon Green Party members on a cycle ride around Croydon. The purpose of the event is to highlight the dangers and the risks that cyclists have to endure when cycling within the borough.

The original invitation was made out to Leader of the Council, Councillor Mike Fisher.

However, in his to reply to Green Party spokesperson, Shasha Khan, Councillor Fisher indicated that Councillor Dudley Mead would be “happy to join” the cycle ride.

Shasha Khan said, “As a cyclist, I find some of the junctions in Croydon terrifying. I am just pleased that we have the opportunity to impress on the Council the need to improve the current cycling facilities.

“Cycling has so many positive benefits, on health, pollution and congestion, yet previously Labour and now the Conservative Council are failing to put in place the high quality cycle routes that will encourage people to use this greener mode of transport.”

Mike Armstrong, who runs the blog, ‘Crap cycle lanes of Croydon’ (2) said:

“The facilities at present are tokenistic. They do not offer real value for money. The borough needs cycle routes that really make a difference.”

Ends.

Notes:

Details of the route are available upon request
(1) The ride will commence at 3pm outside the Town Hall on Katherine Street.
(2) http://crapcyclelanesofcroydon.blogspot.com/

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Green coverage in croydon Advertiser

Croydon Advertiser Friday 26th October
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Standing up for what matters