Chiswick Councillors Demand Action On Clean Air
Take to the streets to ask drivers to switch off engines when in traffic
back (l-e)Cllr Patrick Barr, Cllr Sam Hearn, Cllr Michael Dennis, (front) l-r Cllr Gabriella Giles, Cllr Jo Biddolph
|
Chiswick councillors and local residents were out early on Thursday morning, Clean Air Day, to persuade drivers to turn off their engines when at traffic lights or idling in stationary traffic. They started off at the lights where Sutton Court Road joins the Great West Road and on the corner of Barrowgate Road, currently often in gridlock.
Later in the afternoon, they met at the junction where Stile Hall Gardens meets Chiswick High Road on the route to Kew Bridge.
Councillor Patrick Barr said, "With our roads in gridlock as a result of the closure of Hammersmith Bridge, you can physically feel the effects of the air pollution. The Mayor and GLA must be persuaded of the need to take this issue seriously as Chiswick desperately needs relief from the worst of the effects of the closure of Hammersmith Bridge. Quiet residential roads have already turned into rat runs, congestion and pollution are becoming hazardous, and we are now being told that this will last for up to three years.
Sutton Court Road at 11.30 am on the day
"On Clean Air, we wanted to educate drivers that they can help reduce pollution in Chiswick by turning off their engines when stationary, and to seek their support to help us get this issue firmly on the priority list for Hounslow Council and the Mayor of London. Over 50% of particulate matter (PM) in cities can come from taxis and cars and idling is a significant contributor to local air pollution. It is less polluting to turn your engine off and restart it after a minute or longer than to leave your engine running."
Traffic is still bumper to bumper at 8 pm the same day
Commenting on the current situation, Conservative Group Leader Cllr Joanna Biddolph said, "Chiswick councillors have been campaigning hard about the need to do more the protect and improve the quality of the air we breathe. With the closure of Hammersmith Bridge, we have taken a major step backward in this fight, and we have had little to no support from either the Labour 'leaders' of Hounslow Council or the Mayor of London in mitigating the effects of this decision. It has only been with support from Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith, and Conservative Assembly Member Tony Arbour that we have managed to secure a meeting with the Deputy Mayor for Transport, Heidi Alexander, and a representative of TfL despite numerous previous requests. We thank them for their help and hope that that this meeting will be constructive and lead to real action to help mitigate this untenable and unhealthy situation."
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We’ve always done that and won’t be changing, in fact we’d like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we’d be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you’d like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |
June 21, 2019
