The Council Cabinet agreed before Christmas to advance the plans to give many of our green spaces special protection, preserving them in perpetuity for future generations. For each park an individual ‘deed of dedication’ will be created with open spaces charity ‘Fields in Trust’ which is a nationwide organisation (visit www.fieldsintrust.org) and was previously known as the National Playing Fields Association.

The decision follows work by the Council’s Parks Commission set up last year and the Council’s pledge to protect open spaces from being sold off. Each of the main parks in the Borough had resident representatives on the Commission. 

Hammersmith Bridge, night – Mariusz Czajkowski

We have been pressing the Council – so far unsuccessfully – for us to be involved in decisions regarding the refurbishment of the bridge which is due to take place later this year.  As you will all be aware, the bridge is in need of strengthening so that it can support the weight of double decker buses and some lorries.

This a joint project between Transport for London and the Council who have responsibility for the maintenance of the bridge. Several short term closures have been necessary for temporary works and we understand further closures are necessary to allow detail survey work to be carried out. There still does not seem to be a formal programme for the main works. For obvious reasons we do not expect to be involved in the technical detail and our main interest is in the lighting and redecoration. Since the last lighting upgrade for which the Hammersmith Society gave its Environment Award in 2000 for the ‘blades of light’ created on each side of the bridge, lighting technology has moved on in leaps and bounds so that the individual incandescent bulbs will almost certainly be replaced by strips of modern LEDs.

We are delighted that the new Mayor, elected on 17 May, is Cllr Michael Cartwright. Michael was elected as a Councillor in 1992 and represents Broadway Ward. He was Deputy Leader from 2014 – 2017. He is a member and long term supporter of the work of the Hammersmith Society. We understand that Cllr Mercy Umeh will continue in the role of Deputy Mayor.

We also wish to congratulate Rosemary Pettit on her appointment as Mayoress and Consort to the Mayor. Rosemary has been on the Hammersmith Society committee for several years and was Chairman from 2012 to 2015.

The Hammersmith and Fulham Air Quality Commission report was adopted by the Council in November. The Commissioners, chaired by Rosemary Pettit, have recently asked the Council for an update on the Commission’s recommendations.

A total of 25 recommendations were presented to LBHF council, and 17 of these have been acted upon. These include an Urban Ecology Plan, an increase in diesel permit charges, a target of converting Council fleets to low-emission vehicles, and arboricultural and greening policies to be promoted in the Local Plan and Supplementary Planning Documents. Further details

At Government level, MPs from four influential committees will launch a joint inquiry into the scale and impact of UK air pollution. The Environmental Audit Committee, Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, Health Committee and Transport Committee will consider mounting scientific evidence on the health and environmental effects of toxic air. The H&F Air Quality Commission report will be submitted to the inquiry.

At GLA level, the Mayor of London is to prioritise air quality in a new London Plan, expand use of electric buses, reduce vehicle ‘idling’ and review London’s Climate Change and Energy Strategy.