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Siobhain's Campaigns Update! 14/11/2003 MP tells Parliament to improve Quality of Life in Mitcham and Morden 12/11/2003 Improving Quality of Life 04/11/2003 Merton Council crushes seized van formerly used for illegal dumping 11/06/2003 Local MP's fight against graffiti on the streets gets boost 21/05/2003 Fly-tipping, includding a new proposal for alley-gating 13/05/2003 Siobhain McDonagh tells Parliament: Big companies must clear up graffiti 13/05/2003 Street Furniture (Graffiti) 15/01/2003 Siobhain McDonagh says "Let's Stop Messing About" 11/07/2002 Adjournment Debate on Graffiti 11/04/2002 Siobhain McDonagh MP Applauds Abandoned Cars Crackdown 19/02/2002 Quality of Life Issues: Siobhain Works for Better Neighbourhoods in Mitcham and Morden
Siobhain has spoken out in debates on abandoned cars, graffiti, litter, flytipping, dog-fouling, noise nuisance, misuse of fireworks and other forms of anti-social behaviour and environmental crime. She has received praise for her campaigning efforts from Transport Secretary Stephen Byers (who chose Pollards Hill to launch the Neighbourhood Warden Scheme in August) and said: "Siobhain has told us loud and clear that she finds quality of life issues in her constituency very important and has pursued them with vigour. What the Government has announced will lead to a vast improvement in quality of life in those areas where people want action on these matters." Siobhain spent August 2001, when most MPs take long holidays, working in her constituency office. She was researching quality of life issues in Mitcham and Morden. She says: "I undertook a survey in Longthornton. I had almost 300 replies. People referred to crime and the fear of it, youth nuisance, traffic congestion, abandoned cars, the sale of cars from the highway, fly tipping in roads and back alleys, graffiti and vandalism. That's why I support the neighbourhood warden scheme. It was created to help to lift up areas that suffer from antisocial behaviour, and so far, in my view, it has worked. It has given a fresh hope for local people who want to see cleaner, safer, better neighbourhoods." Abandoned Cars After active lobbying from Siobhain and fellow MPs, the Government published a consultation document late last year on the abandoned cars problem, seeking views on its proposals. Siobhain wrote out to local Residents Associations and other interested groups, asking them to let her know their views on this pressing problem. The responses have now been collated and will soon be presented to Transport Minister John Spellar. Siobhain says: "I thoroughly applaud action on abandoned cars, which I hope will have an impact on our streets in Mitcham, Morden and Colliers Wood. I've been campaigning on quality of life issues, and for something to be done about abandoned cars, for a long time, and I'm glad the Government is really listening." Graffiti and Vandalism Siobhain has consistently spoken up in Parliament for tougher laws on graffiti and vandalism, and has asked the Home Office to do more about these problems. She says: "The experience of crime for the vast majority of ordinary people is having their garage doors sprayed with idiotic slogans, or their lifts vandalised and defaced. Graffiti has an impact on the fear of crime, which is out of all proportion to actual crime levels. If an otherwise safe and decent area experiences a wave of graffiti-writing, people begin to feel unsafe. "So I want to see legislation to prohibit the sale of spray paints to minors. Shops should be required to store cans of spray paint in secure areas, as they currently do with fireworks. And the same should go for glass-cutters and marker pens, which are being used to deface windows on public transport on a shocking scale." |
"Siobhain has told us loud and clear that she finds quality of life issues in her constituency very important and has pursued them with vigour. What the Government has announced will lead to a vast improvement in quality of life in those areas where people want action on these matters." Stephen Byers MP, transport Secretary February 2002 |
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| © 2001–2008 Siobhain McDonagh MP |