Life during lockdown

As long as the current situation of landlords who continue to behave as if they are capitalists and speculate and monopolize the useful sites of land, the amount of recovery from any ill wind of change, (particularly one where employment is seriously reduced) will become devastating. This applies to the poorer part of the population, whilst providing unnecessary benefit to others (the monopolists). To raise the standards of life within our capital city it should adopt a more socially just system of taxation where the benefit from owning sites of land is better shared and the private loss from reduced earnings and more costly purchases, both being due to socially unjust taxation, will be lessened. This is by the introduction of Henry George's idea for a single tax on land values.

I realize that this kind of change will take a long time to be fully made, but it will immediately begin to have an effect when these landlords finally come to learn that their investments and speculations in land values and high rents are not going to continue to be of so much benefit, Although this new kind of tax regime will take a long time to be fully introduced its starting proposals will quickly encourage investment in shares in industry and take the speculators money and profit out of land.

TAX LAND NOT PEOPLE; TAX TAKINGS NOT MAKINGS!

London is everything within the M25.

Lack of tourism and visitors to the region over the coming six months is unquantifiable but will be huge in its economic impact.This needs to be considered now.

There needs to be immediate action and the board needs to ask itself what are the low hanging fruit we can pick to help the citizens of the region. We can do some pruning of responsibilities and authority over our open spaces. Starting with the amalgamation of all London parks under one authority. We can then organise and promote local communities to get involved in horticultural pursuits for future employment. We can begin to think and plan for the needs of the region facing the oncoming climate change using nature based solutions.

We need to incentivise the population of vehicle owners to live in the future without ownership of vehicles. We can do this through the local council tax system.

 TFL needs to have its jurisdiction extended to include all of the region within the M25. They then can plan and integrate a better public transport system for the region. Serious consideration should be made of making this system free to all citizens and visitors.

Our further education establishments will be be short of customers these next twelve months. Students from outside the region and indeed outside of the country will be scarce. A great opportunity to offer citizens the chance to sign up for retraining or the obtaining of further education. The funding of this to be by loan and means tested.

Housing and alleviating the shortage of new affordable homes is a big challenge. It needs an ambitious and innovative solution which will only be forthcoming if all sectors and land owners come together to find a new way forward for all citizens.

l will stop there. I am sure that other ideas will come to mind in the coming days and weeks.

Good luck with the project.

I have a comment about public toilets during recovery. If the economy is getting going again- with coffee shops and bars opening. If people are visiting parks and staying for picnics etc- we need enough public toilets for those people.

I live near Highbury Fields and I have started to notice human waste being left in some areas - which is unsanitary, unneccessary and surely being repeated across the capital's green spaces. With some guidelines and extra cleaning regimes, this surely is not that difficult. The lack of facilities is also unfairly impacting the elderly and disabled more, and their freedom of movement, to shop, etc.

I draw your attention to Cllr Caroline Russell's recent report, also highlighting the disgraceful lack of sufficient toilet facilities in London, even before lockdown,

To get this nation back on its feet, it is essential to get people back working (safely) and quickly. With so many transport and construction projects already approved, it is imperative not to delay on these works. Find the money! This is not the time to quib about money when we know (and accept) that significant borrowing is required to kick start the economy. Cashflow! Alot of businesses, especially SMEs will experience cash flow issues and will need support. All well and good that the big companies sign up to the Fair payment Scheme but many on the list do not comply and Govt does not actively do anything about it. Clauses in these big contracts could help to protect SMEs from this kind of abuse. It would not hurt the economy to relax the Congestion and ULEZ charges during this period to give the person on the street a little help. These charges only broaden the gap between the rich and the poor, those that can afford the charges driving what they like, when they like. Even before COVID 19, London was still packed with vehicles so no change there. If you really want a change have a gandeer at Austrailia's smart cities.

I agree with the points and ideas raised-let's just make London a nicer place to live for everyone.I'm lucky enough to live in a relatively green part of London,but I am put off stepping outside more and more,due to  too much traffic,very agressive driving,rubbish everywhere and  generally uninviting streets which focus on motorised transport rather than people's well being.

Anti social and angry driving is a big problem-rat running on residential streets and loud car steroes just make walking stressfull and unpleasant.Crossing a road is scarey and dangerous.

Our local parks ,woods ,rivers etc are full of litter and I know,if I want to walk,I will end up picking up lother people's litter all the time.It's too depressing.Let's set out a strategy to clamp down on litter,fly tipping and rubbish and clean up!Our wildlife desparately needs it and it's so much better for our mental health.

There is too much tarmac on our streets and not enough greenery-let's green up and convert ugly ,unused areas of tarmac into lush green spaces!Nice seating areas that are NOT full of beer bottles and takeaway wrappers!Community led gardens,planters etc etc.

Our streets need to be safer,greener,cleaner and healthier!

The general points others are making all seem to be heading in the right direction...

A socety focused on well-being, not growth has to be the basic tenet.  Your first bullet point seems to miss this entirely... continued economic growth is not sustainable and any focus on this must stop NOW...it is in no way compatible with successfully addressing what is shaping up to be the biggest challenge - halting climate change.

Cleaner, greener cannot be achieved by taxing 'dirty' things - like diesel, petrol oil, concrete, gas and everything that uses fossil fuels ...the use of these things must stop entirely.  The sooner, the better.

To be very specific.  No vehicles powered by fossil fuels should be allowed to enter Zone 1 or 2 London between the hours of 07:00 and 19:00 on any day - unless they are transporting people with disabilities unable to travel any other way.  This should be in place by 2023 in Zones 1 & 2, by 2025 in Zones 3 & 4 and by 2027 everywhere else in London

Travel on public transport should be free for everyone by 2025.

Costs of any building development must take into account the fossil fuel cost.  Offsetting is not the aim - replacement with sustainable materials, processes and systems is...

Run massive public campaigns on the time it takes to walk or cycle from point A to point B...including the costs and benefits.  Social prescribing needs to start telling people to walk or cycle instead of taking drugs to help with lifestyle diseases... like type 2 diabetes, and many more.

Community engagement has really taken off during the pandemic, tap into this through the Mutual Aid groups - make things ever more local...sustainable, neighbours looking out for neighbours.

Running out of words so I'll leave it there...

Put the positive vision up front: deliver a cleaner, greener London.

It builds on what so many people have enjoyed about the shut down. 

Mitigating the problems we face should be there as well. But please start with the positive vision. 

Mark Perfect

• Radical actions to make zone 1 fully car free, plus major green arteries for cyclists and pedestrians to get to Central London safely without taking other forms of transport. Pedestrian / cycling traffic increases footfall in shops, and cyclists spend 40% more in shops than motorists (source: Forbes)

• Increase opportunities for people to get out and meet other people in their communities: weeks of lockdown have their toll on mental health. Festivals, planting trees, whatever gets people out
 

The best way to be successful in any project is to choose an achievable goal...i.e. don't be too ambitious. Out of all the many matters on the agenda that has been published, it seems to most people nowadays that one of the most damaging issues is pollution and congestion, both of which affect the health and prosperity of us all. This means that you are already half way there - you have our engagement and our buy in to change in this area. Clearly the recent lockdown has demonstrated how damaging ICE vehicles are, and how quickly things improve when cars are left off the roads. However, it's not just a question of changing to EV's, because the congestion in and around London has been choking the life out of the economy for ages and replacing one type of car with another doesn't solve that problem.

Given the choice, however, people still feel they have to use them, so the answer is to keep developing alternatives, whilst making it more inefficient and impractical to use a car than to use those alternatives. Restrict access to vehicles much more extensively, and more quickly; build more cycle lanes/cycle routes; increase the congestion and the ULEZ charge; put in place a PROPER ban on heavy polluters ( how many times have you sat behind a car belching out oily fumes?), and not just the oldest diesels; allow tax relief on green alternatives like bikes; continue the work already done on public transport; and yes, maybe subsidise EV's and solar power in homes. 

I would like to see more playgrounds opening in parks and more designated places for children to play. Parents of young children have had such a hard time during lockdown juggling work and home schooling and many London children do not have access to a garden. Most children have had their play severely restricted and if schools and theme parks are opening it seems very unreasonable for playgrounds to stay closed. All that is needed is some hand sanitiser.

The priority for the Recovery Board should be a green new deal which promotes renewable energy, energy conservation, walking and cycling etc, in order to meet all the other aims listed above.

Most importantly business small businesses and freelancers consultancies need better resources recovery plan in place.  Abolish the credit checks as this is unjust economic injustice,  since everyone is in the same category  details of credit profile needs to be abolished.  Every bank should allow business owners to have a designated business account 

One key point is that there will be no return to Normal.

Many companies will never put a full workforce back into London as it has proved that many can function well without people in offices in London. This means that travel and commuting will reduce , good for the planet , but also retail businesses in London will suffer leading to less tax, more empty units and ultimately empty office floors.

I would suggest that the solution needs to work around a new Normal, rather than getting back to Normal.

The aims of the London Recovery Board are all very worthy, but implementation and how the proposed aims are going to be achieved is probably more relevant, so I find it difficult to comment without knowing about the details behind the aims. As far as I am concerned, to some degree society (in London) hasn't benefited over time from a more relaxed or less intensive approach to dealing with crimes and misdemeanours, which has resulted in an increased lack of respect for authority and other members of the community. So, I would prefer a stronger police presence and to see police patrolling the streets and public open spaces (especially parks), which of course means increasing police numbers, but I think the cost is worth it.      

Immediate and radical action to fight climate change and ecological degradation. Follow Amsterdam's lead and embrace the 'Doughnut Economics' model that moves away from addiction to unsustainable growth and focuses on ensuring all citizens thrive within the means of the planet. 

Great aims to put in place policies to build back better. Take the lead to prove to Government that it needs to be national policies to make the real difference. The disproportionate impact on BAME groups is important to correct at it's origins. 

Proportional representation and citizens assembly would go a long way to creating a fairer society. Look at to getting non-political assignment of funding to all boroughs.

Pay key workers a better wage, as they are showing who really runs London day-to-day. To include all sectors of health workers, local councils and their public services, public transport, teaching staff and assistants.  

I would like to see a change of education policy to reflect the brutal imperialist nature of British colonisation, the wealth created from slavery and drugs, particularly the opium trade. I would welcome the inclusion of Sir Ken Robinson's views on the system, encouraging more play at earlier ages. A greater percentage of school time spent on understanding emotional issues and well being, sport, exercise, diet and social skills. To encourage wider and more open learning on all faiths and religions.

The cleaner air and less traffic noise has been great. Whatever's needed to reduce air pollution, more efficient delivery systems and vehicles, reduced personal use of vehicles, encourage walking, cycling and pubic transport use,

More investment in local communities and the help they can bring to all ages and income sectors. These have been vital to many areas of London in Lockdown.  

More local manufacturing and repair business creating items we would import, mending items we would chuck. Encourage trades, skills and apprenticeships to give young people hope for future employment.

Encourage more eco-conscious wholesale and retail, to reduce environmental impact. 

Require all recovery plans to be high quality, sustainable, zero carbon & focused on reducing inequalities of all kinds

Make it possible for all young people in London to be in education or training with decent apprenticeships and support, concentrating on science & engineering, health & social care, green & sustainable industries and endeavours

Ensure all homeless people in London have access to safe shelter and a route back into safe housing and independent living

Incentives for start ups and small businesses to foster 'live & shop local' initiatives to reduce need for people to travel across London

Encourage home working and staggered working hours

Safe cross-borough cycling infrastructure, much more safe bike parking, ban on hire bikes that don't have docking stations (and more docking stations for those that do), support for cycle training

For air quality and safety more disincentives for private cars, with exemptions for people/families with disabilities

Allocate space previously used for cars and parking to pedestrians, cyclists, social including cafe/restaurant areas, and sustainable planting and other green areas

Imaginative solutions for public transport (eg more local cross borough routes, as well as hub and spoke). More frequent services on rail, bus and tube, car free lanes wherever possible for buses.  Reinstate free travel for as many demographic groups as possible (with ultimate aim of making public transport free for all). Turn pay points into hand sanitiser points on buses etc

So many needy and worthy causes after lockdown, and probably less of a budget to tackle things that were already problems-good luck with that!  many useful suggestions and comments here, diverse and often contradictory, inevitable I guess. I have to put my support in for the GREEN opportunities offered for change. Making London a far greener and pollution-minimized 'city of the future' could bring about a lot of the other benefits we strive for. By being an attractive career destination for the young professional talent of all skills from around the world, drawn to a beautiful, forward-looking city for one. Be it in the arts, tech, finance, commerce, engineering, architecture, and construction, etc, if we make London desirable (or more than it already is to many) the benefits will come too in other ways. Protection should be for the old, the young & the vulnerable not just the young, replacing vehicle pollution and congestion has to be a priority too. These objectives are all well-meaning but at present too generic, we need specifics too and action rather than money wasted on simply investigations and consultancies that produce no lasting change. Some are ones we should have been tackling all along anyway but they haven't been and it makes one skeptical that things will change massively. But the chance for reinventing London as the world's clean green city doesn't come too often, lets grasp it. The statue issue is controversial, and IMHO needs serious attention paid to it, independent bodies set up to chart a way forward which is acceptable to all. The status quo isn't, neither is the rapid overnight destruction acceptable to all either. Let's have a sensible democratic discussion and try to keep everybody happy, but in the 'aftermath' of a pandemic (assuming we are there), it perhaps is not the pressing priority some think it should be, but neither should it be ignored.

I can see the point of not making the list of aims too long but I would like to see some mention of the need to revive youth services and build apprenticeships as an aid to keeping young people safe. I would like to see the aim of creating a cleaner, greener London explicitly to include the new green deal to transform the working environment.