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Road deaths blame game should start with officials
• AS distressing as the death of Lisa Pontecorvo is I think it is highly inappropriate for our two Labour MPs to turn it into an opportunity for cheap political point-scoring.
Boris Johnson assumed the mayoralty on May 4. According to your article, Transport for London officials knew of this danger spot as long ago as 2004 but failed to act (Transport chiefs failed tragic Lisa, September 18).
I am not pointing a finger at ex-mayor Ken Livingstone. Even he could not be expected to micro-manage everything in the capital.
However, questions must be asked of those overpaid officials delegated to ensure the safety of all road users throughout the capital.
ROBIN HARDY
N5
• ANDREW Bosi is surely correct: the best memorial to Lisa Pontecorvo is continuing support for the public causes to which she dedicated her life, in particular pedestrian access across King’s Cross station to St Pancras International (A life devoted to achieving the greater good for others, September 19).
As the memorial blogs testify, politicians of various hues have correctly praised Lisa’s efforts on behalf of her neighbourhood.
In view of the cross-party support that exists for an east-west link between the stations, they must now act collectively to ensure that this much-needed public facility becomes a reality.
To suggest that thousands of train passengers, pedestrians and those using bus stops at the front of the station should converge daily on Euston Road is absurd. It’s already mayhem out front.
Without a footbridge between the stations, things can only get worse as passenger and pedestrian numbers increase. This is a safety issue in itself.
Regarding the junction where Lisa died, one of the objections to the Mary Magdalene Academy development in Liverpool Road was the risk the unsafe cycle-crossing and surrounding narrow pavements would present for those pupils crossing
Holloway Road at this point.
This concern was expressed in 2005, almost three years before Lisa’s death. As the school’s intake increases year by year towards a total of 1,460 students, action to make the junction safe can no longer be delayed.
MEG HOWARTH
Ellington Street, N7
• THE King’s Cross Development Forum met in a sombre mood for its annual review meeting because one of the active members, Lisa Pontecorvo, has been killed in Holloway Road.
The forum, originally brought together by Camden Council to sound out communities on developers’ plans for the massive King’s Cross Central site, was further saddened to hear that Camden is now withdrawing support.
Working closely with organisations from the Islington side of York Way and with Islington planners, the forum brought together people from community groups in all the surrounding wards and neighbourhoods.
Some strong opponents of developer Argent’s plans and some mainly supportive representatives studied the outline applications and set up a system to scrutinise the detailed plans now coming to Camden planners month by month.
Architects and designers have shown plans, PowerPoints, story-boards and models of their projects. Forum members have learned technical terms and planning procedures. As it gets more complex and detailed, Camden Council has pulled the rug from under the forum by withdrawing officer support, maintaining contact lists, arranging meetings and taking and circulating notes.
Forum members voted to write to chief executive Moira Gibb and council leader Keith Moffitt, with copies to all Camden councillors, complaining about the loss of support and requesting it be restored.
Government reports and award-giving bodies have praised the approach to public consultation at King’s Cross.
Now, its image polished up by early reports, Camden has withdrawn the help needed to get busy citizens together over this, possibly Europe’s biggest city centre vacant site, just as the time has come when we begin to see what is really proposed for the area.
Rev GEOFFREY H ROPER
Chairman, King’s Cross Development Forum
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