First meeting with Elliot Colburn MP

Charles Martin and I (Marcus Howarth) met with the newly elected MP for Carshalton and Wallington today (14 February 2020).

We asked straight off, what is he going to do about cycling infrastructure?

He set the stage saying we don’t have the routes, and it does not feel safe to cycle as an option in the borough – so that’s encouraging.

Councillor Neil Garratt (Conservative, Belmont; London Assembly Candidate for Croydon and Sutton) is Elliot’s contact for cycling issues, and Elliot agreed he should meet with him.

We mentioned that Andrew Gilligan (Cycling Commissioner 2013-2016) could be a good person to talk to, and passed on the link to Human Streets: The Mayor’s vision for cycling, three years on (March 2016).

We discussed what we had achieved with Tom Brake, and Elliot said he could set up another Cycle Summit (similar perhaps to the Sutton Cycle Summit 2014) if and when the timing was right. We agreed that this would better held off until after forthcoming purdah for the mayoral and London Assembly members.

Elliot was on board with the Liveable Neighbourhoods programme, and we discussed where Sutton was with this (given that a response to round 3 bids is imminent).

School Streets (and Healthy Streets) are high on the agenda, and Elliot is keen to make Wallington greener.

I mentioned Waltham Forest mini-Holland. Elliot has not been, so we recommended that he visit to get some inspiration. He said he had two contacts up there and would follow up.

We thanked Elliot for his time, and agreed to keep him in the loop with future relevant consultations.

In June 2015, Charles had met with Paul Scully, MP for Sutton and Cheam. You can read about that encounter in Meeting with new MP for Sutton and Cheam, Paul Scully.