Don't mention the A4 !
Residents urged to stay quiet over traffic noise
for fear of affecting house prices
If
the noise from the A4 wasn’t bad enough, it would appear that the disquiet
in Wolseley Gardens has extended to certain residents. An extensive anti-noise
campaign, launched by people who live in the road, has won far reaching
and high level support warranting a visit from Ann Keen MP and Dave Wetzel,
Vice-Chair Transport for London (pictured right).
However, Wolseley Gardens resident David Giles says that some of his neighbours ‘have reservations regarding this campaign and are worried that the publicity being generated by the campaign may affected the values of their houses’ . He does not disclose who they are, or how many - and the campaigners tell us "We have had no complaints, despite the enormous efforts we have put into continuing to communicate with the 90 people who signed the petition".
According to Mr Giles one long term resident believes that the anti-noise campaign has caused adverse publicity and was the reason for the delay in the sale of her Wolseley Garden home which achieved a lower price than she expected. A spokesperson for the campaign said that they had spoken to a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (the senior professional body for UK property consultants) who said: "In my opinion the effect of such a campaign on any current sale in the road would be at worst neutral, and probably highly positive. To suggest otherwise sounds like economic illiteracy." The campaigners pointed out that the sale in question ran into difficulties long before this campaign began, and it is only since the campaign began that it has successfully been sold.
David Giles claims that the campaigners did not consult their fellow residents before going public with their campaign. However, the campaigners say that all residents were consulted and all bar one signed the petition for environmental protection measures to be put in place.
This is not a new campaign. For nearly 20 years residents have being trying to persuade the Department of Transport to provide environmental protection measures which are commonplace in the rest of Western Europe and which can reduce noise pollution by over 70%. Hope was rekindled when TfL took over responsibility for the A4/M4 from DOT and commissioned research.
Campaigners believe that if their quest proves successful, any environmental measures taken to lessen the extent of the constant noise pollution that residents suffer in this part of Grove Park would surely only serve to enhance their homes and street and hence increase the value of their property. The campaigners expressed mystification at Mr Giles' intervention. One said: "He was 100% behind the campaign when we first consulted him".
June 3, 2003
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