Agenda item

The guillotine having fallen Councillors Caroline Pidgeon and Barrie Hargrove, formally moved and seconded the late motion.

The late motion was put to the vote and declared to be carried.

RESOLVED:

1.  That council assembly notes the importance of the current South London Line rail service between London Bridge and London Victoria via four stations in Southwark to the residents, businesses and public services of Camberwell, Peckham and South Bermondsey.

2.  That council assembly notes that under the current proposals to end the operation of the South London Line, Denmark Hill and Peckham Rye stations would lose half of their daytime services to London Victoria and have no service at all to Victoria at evenings or on Sundays.  It further notes that Denmark Hill station will lose all direct services to London Bridge.

3.  That council assembly further notes the vital importance of the service for helping some of the borough’s most vulnerable residents access health services at Guy’s Hospital, King’s College hospital and The Maudsley.

4.  That council assembly recognises that residents in areas such as Peckham Rye and East Dulwich continue to be poorly served by public transport despite the efforts of the council to secure the implementation of the Cross River Tram.

5.  That council assembly notes and welcomes the fact that retention of a direct Victoria to London Bridge service will be considered as part of the Transport for London (TfL) / London Travelwatch study into the options for the future of the South London Line.

6.  That council assembly notes that TfL and Department for Transport (DfT) agreed that £24m Department for Transport funding intended for a new London Victoria-Bellingham service be diverted to the provision of East London Line Extension Phase 2.

7.  That council assembly strongly believes that this borough needs both the East London Line Extension and the South London Line.  This is not an either or debate.

8.  That council assembly calls on the Department for Transport to provide the funding necessary to provide platform capacity for the service at London Bridge station as part of its redevelopment.

9.  That council assembly congratulates the community and cross-party campaign against the threat to the South London Line services on its high-profile and effective activities to date, and re-affirms its own commitment to the campaign.

10.  That council assembly calls on the executive to seek a written assurance from TfL that the retention of direct Victoria-London Bridge services is being considered as part of the South London Line Options Study.

11.  That council assembly calls on the responsible executive member to meet with Network Rail and the Department for Transport at the earliest opportunity to put the case for the revision of the plans for London Bridge station so that it is developed to its full capacity, including terminating platforms for the South London Line.

12.  That council assembly requests that the executive works in conjunction with the leaders of all political groups on Southwark Council to ensure the strongest representations continue to be made to the Department for Transport, London Mayor, Network Rail, the Minister of Transport and Minister for London to retain the South London Line service.

Note: This motion will be referred as a recommendation to the executive for consideration.