Ballast Bags Left By Sutton Court Road for Over a Year
Network Rail fails to remove them despite risk of carcinogenic dust
Discarded ballast bags next to Sutton Court Road
|
Fifteen bags of ballast have been left by a fence on Sutton Court Road for over a year despite the pleas of residents to have them removed.
Network Rail’s own safety guidance stipulates that ballast can contain carcinogens and the dust from it is linked to respiratory issues including silicosis and other lung problems. Network Rail require staff working with ballast to wear Respiratory Protective Equipment.
The bags have been left open on the trackside opposite 172, 174 & 176 Sutton Court Road for at least a year according to residents. When pressed on exactly how long they have been left the rail company was unable to say and a Freedom of Information request has been made in an attempt to confirm exactly how long they have been there.
Local resident Sarah Kefford said, “It is a very busy road for commuters to walk to the station and a lot of school children walk past these open bags of ballast to reach the station and Chiswick School.
“We've complained to Chiswick Station who advised to raise with Network Rail. They advised they put the bags there to give them plenty of time for when they need to use them.”
It is also suggested that the presence of the bags is an eyesore and had encouraged fly tipping in the area.
Network Rail told her that they would be needed at the end of April. Sarah has asked if the company could place some evergreen plants to screen the bags to reduce the amount of ballast dust which is blown towards people on the road.
A Network Rail spokesperson said, “We have now covered the bags which are on railway land trackside on Sutton Court Road in Chiswick. The bags which contain stone are harmless and form part of a project to enhance the railway track and provide smooth journeys for passengers. The project will start in April and we thank the local community for their patience.”
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. |
March 20, 2021
