Writing to Councillors regarding whether any of them agree with me that Councillors were misled over BB 101

 I wrote to Redbridge Councillors earlier seeking support for a press release per the below.

Dear Councillors

Requesting your help with the Tesco Toxic Towers Judicial Review on the 14^th February

The focus of the permission for judicial review hearing will be upon the proposed primary school at the Tesco Goodmayes development. The proposed school is planned to be part funded by Tesco. The proposed school is planned to face the polluting High Road. The proposed flats adjacent to the school, also facing the High Road have air pollution filters to the seventh floor.

However, the school does not have any such filters. Not only is the Council claiming they have no duty to provide air filters at the proposed school, the Council is also trying to block a key document Building Bulletin 101 from the court bundle at the hearing on the 14^th February.

Building Bulletin 101 was referenced in the officer report on the night Councillors passed the Tesco Toxic towers as government guidance which should be adhered to so as to prevent overheating in schools.

Both Weston Homes and the Council appear to believe that Building Bulletin 101 is important guidance when it comes to overheating, but should be ignored when it comes to air filters to protect children from air pollution.

I am preparing a press release for publication shortly before the hearing on the 14^th in the hope of getting some London TV coverage. Should you wish to contribute please get in touch with me. Should any of you agree with me Councillors were misled by officers not explaining to Councillors that Building Bulletin 101 also required air filters to be considered for new schools it would be especially helpful.

Cllr Athwal is filmed at a tweet of mine dated 28^th January 2022 stating the proposed school will not be built. Cllr Athwal's claim does not withstand scrutiny because a School Organisation Plan at a school forum meeting of 17^th January 2023 states at page 13:

“The school site allocated at Tesco Goodmayes may also be released as no longer required and a financial contribution may be sought from the developers.”

It appears to me that the school is being kept as a contingency in case the child population grows more than expected. As a consequence, the Council is refusing to seek a new application without a school from Weston Homes or a financial contribution from Tesco.

This is the first time that placing a primary school beside a busy road with emissions above world health organisation limits has been challenged at court. Bewilderingly, the Council and the GLA did not insist the school be sited inside the development away from the polluting road and so negate the need for air filters.

Weston Homes have Peter Village, one of England's finest planning barristers on their well resourced legal team, so your help to publicise our cause would be much appreciated. Should Weston Homes and Tesco win this Judicial Review there can be doubt that child welfare standards will take a small, but very real step backwards in England.

This email is mine and has not been suggested by the campaign's legal advisors. There is appendix at the end of this email quoting from the officer report and Building Bulletin 101.

A representative of Weston's legal team has been copied in should they wish to comment.

Regards

Andy Walker 07956 263088

Appendix with extracts from the Officer Report and Building Bulletin 101

This is taken from paragraph 20:30 from the Officer report on the night Councillors passed the “Tesco Toxic Towers”

“In response to the GLA’s comments, the school has also been modelled against the criteria detailed in Building Bulletin 101 “Guidelines on ventilation, thermal comfort and indoor air quality in schools” to determine whether it could be naturally ventilated.”

I say this shows officers regarded Building Bulletin 101 as useful guidance that should be followed.

Extracts from Building Bulletin 101 Guidelines on ventilation, thermal comfort and indoor air quality in schools:

Page 3 states

The guidelines on indoor air quality include:

a summary of the health effects of indoor air pollutants based on the World Health Organisation guidelines for Indoor Air Quality and the latest advice from Public Health England. This describes pollutant sources, both internally generated such as formaldehyde given off by furniture and external pollutants including nitrogen dioxide which are a major cause of concern for respiratory health.

guidance on how to meet the maximum exposure levels for pollutants. Ways to reduce the level of outdoor air pollutants, such as Nitrogen Dioxide and Particulates from traffic, in the supply air. This includes the location of air intakes and exhausts, the management of openable windows, and filtration of supply air. (my emphasis)

From Page 20 below

School Premises and Workplace Regulations

In England, the School Premises Regulations, 2012 and the Independent School Standards, 2012 apply. These do not cover ventilation or temperature in schools but refer to the Workplace Regulations. In Wales, the School Premises Regulations, 1999 apply and include requirements on ventilation and temperature.

The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations, 2013 apply to schools and cover a wide range of basic health, safety and welfare issues including both ventilation and temperature. The Approved Code of Practice (ACoP), L24, 2013 gives guidance on the application of the Regulations.

Regulation 6 – Ventilation states:

“(1) Effective and suitable provision shall be made to ensure that every enclosed workplace is ventilated by a sufficient quantity of fresh or purified air.

(2) Any plant used for the purpose of complying with paragraph (1) shall include an effective device to give visible or audible warning of any failure of the plant where necessary for reasons of health or safety.”

Regulation 7 on Temperature requires that during working hours, the temperature is reasonable; and that excessive effects of sunlight on temperature are avoided.

The ACoP guidance includes the following points:

• air that is introduced should, as far as possible, be free of any impurity, which is likely to be offensive or cause illness - where necessary, the inlet air should be filtered to remove particulates (my emphasis)

Outdoor air pollutants and sources

A wide range of pollutants generated outdoors are either known or suspected of adversely affecting human health and the environment. Key urban pollutants that need to be considered include those covered by the UK National Air Quality Strategy (NAQS)¹. These are presented in Error: Reference source not found. The description and main UK sources for each pollutant, as well as their potential effects on health/environment are discussed in the UK Air Quality Strategy (Volume 1).

London and major UK cities now require measures to tackle the problem of exposure of staff and students to frequent high air pollution while working and studying inside school buildings. The elevated air pollution levels close to some schools mean that designers must consider:

• the location of air intakes in unpolluted zones

• closing windows when external pollutant levels are high

• the use of air filtration units

• effective air filtration in ventilation systems

Air filtration is the most effective solution currently available to remove health damaging airborne pollutants and maintain clean indoor air for school buildings located in air pollution hotspots. Designers of ventilation systems for schools in areas of high pollution may therefore need to incorporate air filtration in such locations. (My emphasis)