Writing to Redbridge Councillors for support

I sent this yesterday to Redbridge Councillors canvassing for support ahead of hearing today. 

Dear Elected Representatives

Tomorrow, Friday 16^th December, Redbridge Council and Weston Homes will be at the High Court defending the siting of a primary school facing onto the busy polluted Goodmayes High Road at a hearing seeking permission for a full hearing for a Judicial Review.

The area is so polluted that the proposed High Rise flats adjacent to the primary school have air pollution filters below the eighth floor, yet no such filters are planned for the proposed primary school.

Sadiq Khan, the London Mayor, is an interested party to the Judicial Review. However, as yet, the Mayor’s office has made no submission to the court regarding either moving the school inside the development or providing the school with best quality air filters.

I am delighted to report that our Judicial Review has the support of three GLA representatives. If you would like to help the campaign by signing the press release below it would be much appreciated if you could contact me.

Should you read this after the hearing, your signature will still be very welcome. This is because the more elected representatives who say the school should either be sited inside the development away from the worst pollution or have air filters the greater the prospect of Sadiq Khan supporting the Judicial Review.

This is Sadiq Khan writing to Dr Philip Barlow, Assistant Coroner London Inner South Coroner’s Court, on 16 June 2021

“The inquest into Ella’s death has underlined yet again the importance of urgent, ambitious and coordinated action to tackle air pollution. Every death and illness caused or worsened by living, studying or working in areas of poor air quality is an avoidable tragedy. I am fully committed to acting on your concerns and I look forward to working with Government, the London boroughs, clinicians and other health professionals and Londoners to do so. My ultimate ambition is for London to become a zero-pollution city, and I hope Ella’s legacy will be to inspire the change needed by all levels of government and the wider stakeholder community for this to happen.”

This quote suggests Sadiq Khan can be successfully lobbied on this issue.

The views in this email are mine alone and should not be taken to have the support of any GLA representatives.

Regards

Andy Walker – Press release available on the Stop the Tesco Toxic Towers website dated 13^th December 2022 copied below

The dash to build for London's homeless must not be at the expense of child health

We the undersigned welcome Keith Prince Conservative AM, Ashburn Holder, previous Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate, RoseMary Warrington, previous Green Parliamentary Candidate and local residents attending 10 Downing Street to support a Judicial Review against a High Rise Development planned in Goodmayes East London. The letter delivered to the Prime Minister on the 31st October 2022 is at the end of this press release.

We share the concerns expressed in the letter to the Prime Minister and hope that Tescos, Weston Homes and Redbridge Council will agree to move the school into the development where mechanical ventilation is not required to protect children against air pollution. END of press release

Siân Berry Green GLA member

Hina Bokhari Liberal Democrat GLA member

The letter sent to the prime minister is below:

“We are concerned about new housing developments being built close to busy roads where the air is so toxic that mechanical ventilation has to be installed to make them habitable.

For example, a Tesco development High Rise site in Redbridge faces onto a High Road and has mechanical ventilation proposed to the seventh floor. (a)

It is baffling that the planned primary school at the planned development, which also faces the High Road, and next to proposed affordable housing, nevertheless does not have mechanical ventilation although it has a playground on the school roof below the seventh floor. (b)

Redbridge Council is refusing to allow any prospective affordable housing parents, whose children have asthma, the right to refuse living in mechanically ventilated flats without sanction. (c)

Exercise is a trigger for an asthma attack. (d)

This means parents whose children are asthma sufferers who overlook the school playground may be watching their children and fearing for their safety on high pollution days.

This is unacceptable and we ask to look into this development and at the very least recommend moving the school and affordable housing into an area at the site with lower pollution levels which do not need mechanical ventilation.

There should not be the need for legal action to remedy this obvious oversight which risks child health. ENDs letter sent to Prime Minister

References below are taken from our legal bundle at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XApPP-ffF-213VBPIR3ykCOQn_IrwpW6/view

(a) Planning condition 62 at page A431 of the bundle shows mechanical ventilation will installed to the seventh floor for flats facing the High Road.

(b) The school is shown at the picture above, it is clearly facing onto the High Road. It is taken from page A273 in the bundle. A429 shows ventilation at the school is a possible, not a definite.

(c) No such condition exists in the application

(d) https://www.asthma.org.uk/advice/triggers/pollution/ is a link on this evidence