Local Councillor Hands In Crossrail Petition To Parliament To Protect Local Allotments

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Sun 4th Sep 2005

Cllr Malcolm hands in Allotments Petition To Parliament

Gary Malcolm, Lib Dem Environment spokesperson and Acton resident has handed in a petition to Parliament to protect the allotments in Acton that will be compulsory purchased if the Crossrail project goes ahead.

Gary Malcolm said to write and present the petition it took much time and effort. There are so many barriers that he states most people who will be affected are not going to be able to make their case to save the allotments.

The barriers people have to go though to present a petition to Parliament include:

1. You have to visit parliament in person - emailing the petition is not allowed!

2. You have to add lots of Latin text - who speaks Latin?

3. You have to pay £20 to hand in a petition - it should be free.

4. You have to photocopy the petition yourself twelve times before you hand it in - there must be a photocopier in parliament!

5. You have to quote lots of paragraphs of the Crossrail Bill itself so you have to have read hundreds of pages of text before you start writing your petition.

6. The petition has to be written in an extremely structured way, which means that it takes a lot more time to write it. If you make a spelling mistake you almost certainly will have to start again.

Cllr Gary Malcolm said: "Even though Crossrail is a good thing it is not satisfactory to get rid of the allotments in Acton. I am campaigning to stop Crossrail bosses from getting hold of this land, as allotments are an important part of our community. There is other land they can use."

Gary added: "It is a scandal that people have to go through so much time and effort to have their opinions heard. Parliament should want more people to have a say in the things that affect them. The Crossrail bosses have not informed residents properly so most do not know about the issues."