Overwhelming opposition from businesses to a Clean Air Neighbourhood
Businesses in Brackenbury were overwhelmingly opposed to the plan. Picture: Google Streetview
June 5, 2023
The prospect of a new Clear Air Neighbourhood scheme in the Brackenbury area appears to have receded following a recommendation from a working party not to proceed with the proposal.
The trial scheme envisaged was an ANPR enforced series of restrictions similar to the one operating in South Fulham which would have barred non-local traffic from passing certain points.
The South Fulham scheme has proven to be very controversial with its proponents pointing out that it has significantly reduced traffic on some residential streets but opponents claiming this had just been achieved by transferring vehicles to other roads causing extra congestion and pollution overall.
When Hammersmith and Fulham Council proposed extending this kind of measure to other parts of the borough it pledged that no scheme would be introduced without thorough local consultation and evidence of support. The Better Brackenbury Working Group, which is made up of a number of residents associations and other organisations, was formed to consider the traffic measures in detail.
Over the last six months the working party developed a series of plans for the improvement of the local environment of which the traffic restrictions was just one.
Although there has been no formal announcement, we have been informed by a member of one of the organisations represented in the group that the working party would not support camera-enforced measures such as the ones in Fulham. The main reason was the overwhelming opposition to such a scheme from businesses in the area with over 40 responding to the recent consultation exercise negatively.
A member of one of the resident groups said, “The council still could press ahead with the scheme if it wanted. Experimental Traffic Orders effectively incorporate a consultation and a trial so technically it doesn’t need the approval of the working group to proceed. However, having made great play about community involvement in the development of the scheme in the local area, this would be difficult for them to justify. I think this means the plans are dead in the water.”
The Better Brackenbury Working Party will now look at alternative ways that the objectives of the original proposal could be achieved.
Over a period of six months, the Working Party developed improvement plans for a number of locations across the area, consulting residents at various stages, together with a plan for the planting of more trees and suggesting ways to improve the conservation area and to find ways to meet climate challenges.
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. |
