Three reasons to vote for Mark Clarke today:

1. A local champion – Mark works in the heart of the ward on Old Bailey in management consultancy and three generations of his family have lived in the ward.

2. Listening and accessible – Mark has completed a ward wide survey and will always be accessible to local residents and businesses.  He has already worked with Common Councilmen to act on issues raised in his survey.

3. Standing up for you – Mark’s priorities are your priorities.  He will work hard to improve tube station capacity, protect our local NHS and tackle problems caused by late night bars.

Polls are open until 8pm at:
Stationers’ Hall, Stationers’ Hall Court (off Ave Maria Lane), EC4M 7DD – Click here for a map

You do not need your polling card to vote – just turn up and give your name and address.

Local campaigner Mark Clarke has launched a survey about the needs of City workers and residents.

Covered are question about transport, policing, rubbish collection, safety and the environment.

Mark Clarke will be making sure that other Common Councillors are aware of the concerns of local residents so please take the time to complete it.

The online survey is available at here.

Transport for London are currently consulting on whether or not to significantly upgrade Bank Station.

This is sorely needed as the station is barely fit for purpose given the amount of people who use it. These could see:

• A new southbound Northern line running tunnel that will create extra space to reduce crowding on the platforms
• A new Northern line concourse with additional interchange passageways and escalators to the DLR and Central line
• Lifts to a new ticket hall in King William Street to provide step-free access between street level, the Northern line and DLR

Mark has already met with Transport for London advisers on this scheme and impressed on them has important this investment is for workers and residents.

To take part in Transpot for London’s consultation on these proposals please visit:

website:
consultations.tfl.gov.uk/tube/bank

or email:
bankscu@tfl.gov.uk

or write to:
Freepost Bank Capacity Upgrade

Why not also let Mark know your thoughts by dropping him a line at mark@markclarke.net.

Mark is calling for investment in Camden Town Station which would dramatically improve the service for all Northern Line users.

Rebuilding this station would see the number of Bank branch trains increase from 20-22 an hour to 32 trains per hour. This is because Camden Town acts quite literally as a bottleneck to the whole line.

Currently, the plans are on hold due to budget constraints. However, once the Olympic investments are over there are budget opportunities to invest again.

This will be Mark’s main infrastructure campaign because it will revolutionise the travelling experience for all Northern Line users whether they live in the City itself or north or south of the river.

Mark is a proven campaigner on the Northern Line having previously exposed on the BBC and to the Evening Standard how Transport for London were secretly planning to split the Northern Line in two.

Having our own City of London police force is vital to ensure strong local policing and create a nation wide centre of excellence for financial crime.

However, increasingly the Metropolitan Police are winning the battle to centralize local police units into their own umbrella. They have already taken over many local parks police in London who were responsible for the green spaces in the boroughs. This has upset many local residents who see that their green spaces are less well policed. It is vital that we don’t allow this power grab to extend to the City of London.

The growth of Canary Wharf as an alternative financial sector can also be used by some as an argument that we are no longer such a special case.

Finally, the fact that uniquely in Britain we will not have an elected police commissioner may mean that we may not have the political leadership that is needed to tell the Met to keep their hands off the City of London police. Mark wants to provide that leadership for our area and ensure that the Metropolitan Police know how valued the City of London police are by local residents because they are responsive, based locally and answerable to us.

Mark Clarke believes the introduction of “Boris” Bikes has been very successful, with many people in the City using them to get around quickly.

Perhaps, however, they have been a little bit too successful with hire stations often completely empty of bikes.

Do you think the number of bikes is sufficient? Would you like to see more? Or maybe even less?

Let Mark know by dropping him an email at: mark@markclarke.net.

Too often inconsiderate roadworks blight the streets and pavements of out city. We need to keep our infrastructure up to the mark, but all too often utility companies adopt a dig and leave policy. Even now in the run up to the olympics when we are supposed to be approaching a roadwork free period there are far too many pavements left partially impassible with little or no work underway. Working regularly in the ward Mark has taken the opportunity to complain when appropriate to companies about neglected roadworks. But if you see a problem or even hazardous roadwork the please email mark so he can take action on your behalf – mark@markclarke.net.

Mark was at the forefront of campaigns to free up the City of London from the unsightly protestors.

He was described by the Daily Express as a “leading anti-squatter” campaigner.

The City of London authorities were slow to respond to the issue and only dealth with it when the chorus of complaints from local businesses, workers and residents became too strong to ignore.

Mark worked with other Common Councilman to help co-ordinate much of the pressure on the authorities over the matter and when action came it was well co-ordinated and executed by the Police, Church and Corporation. But in future we must act quicker and more decisively so that selfish outsiders cannot deprive us of our open spaces and our great Cathedral.

We must ensure that the City of London remains the paramount financial centre in London and the world. Having seen off Frankfurt and Paris we must ensure that we do not lose out to Canary Wharf and remain well placed to win against the far east.

Canary Wharf has recently overtaken the City of London for the numbers of employees working there. This expansion is only going to receive a further boost when the imminent rerouting of South London train lines sees a fast direct service from Clapham Junction to Canary Wharf. This will see a part of London currently most easily accessible to the City of London via the Northern Line become highly accessible to Canary Wharf.

With these trends we see a real risk of Canary Wharf establishing itself as a more important financial centre than the City of London. This could have real impact on the unique status of the City of London police and on the unique governance structure of the City. We need a strong plan to ensure that the City of London maintains its supremacy abroad and at home and Mark will be focusing on delivering the transport and planning improvements which are needed.

Mark is already a champion of the need for the City of London to respond to the challenge of overseas competitors.

Quoted recently in City AM Mark said, “The UK’s high tax, high regulation environment means that the centre of gravity in many businesses is gradually shifting abroad”.

We need to ensure that the City of London leads the way in ensuring that we have a climate which is conducive to companies wanting to work here and which stands up for financial services and associated industries. These workers are the lifeblood of the City and ensure a thriving small business environment for workers and residents alike.