New restrictions to improve air quality in Putney begin next year
The council is to stop vans, lorries and HGVs from making daytime deliveries to shops in Putney High Street as part of an initiative to reduce traffic congestion and improve air quality.
The restriction on deliveries will come into force on January 11. From that date all vehicles will be prohibited from parking and/or loading and unloading in the high street between 7am and 7pm Monday to Saturday. Any vehicle that flouts the ban will be given a penalty charge notice (PCN).
Vans and good vehicles will still be able to use any of the privately-owned access roads that service the rear entrances to many of the high street’s shops, plus the loading and unloading spaces in Norroy Road and Lacy Road.
Goods vehicles will be permitted to park within marked parking bays in side roads off the high street to deliver or collect bulky or heavy goods, but these vehicles will need to be moved as soon as the delivery is complete.
Parking wardens will be under instructions to observe delivery vehicles using parking bays to make sure they are actually being loaded or unloaded. If they are not, then a PCN is likely to be issued.
These new delivery arrangements, which were subject to consultation with local businesses earlier this year, will be introduced as a pilot scheme and be subject to a review after six months.
The Chair of The Putney Society told PutneySW15.com: "The Putney Society welcomes the new restrictions on deliveries in Putney High Street. We hope that this will reduce congestion - stop/start traffic is a major source of pollution. Many of the local businesses have signed up to this restriction, so we hope that enforcement will not be too much of an issue."
Environment spokesman Cllr Jonathan Cook said: “We have been working hard to improve air quality in Putney High Street, so I was delighted that these efforts have been recognised in the recent national air quality awards. This latest initiative on delivery vehicles will help us build on these successes.
“Removing the hold ups and obstructions caused by delivery trucks and freeing up traffic to flow more easily and efficiently should reduce vehicle emissions and help to further raise local air quality standards.
“As well as reducing vehicle emissions this measure will have the added benefit of improving journey times for other road users, particularly the local buses that often get delayed because of parked vans and lorries in the high street.”
The announcement comes just days after the council was named a runner-up in the 2015 National Air Quality Awards for the work it has already done to curb pollution in Putney High Street. Wandsworth was shortlisted for Local Air Quality Initiative of the Year
The National Air Quality Awards recognised the council’s successful campaign to introduce cleaner and greener buses to Putney High Street.
Armed with research commissioned by Wandsworth that showed buses were contributing more than two thirds of harmful NOx emissions in the high street, councillors and town hall officials were able to successfully lobby the Mayor and Transport for London to introduce a fleet of cleaner and less polluting buses on routes serving the high street.
Eighty nine buses on routes that include Putney High Street had technology fitted to their exhaust systems to reduce emissions. Subsequent research showed a dramatic fall in pollutants at street level with a 72% reduction in pollution levels after these cleaner and greener buses began operating.
For more information about the work being carried out locally to improve air quality across the borough visit www.wandsworth.gov.uk/airquality.
November 26, 2015