Low maintenance off-street parking is changing our environment
On Wednesday 13 April members of the London Assembly Environment Committee saw for themselves how front gardens are disappearing in many parts of the London Borough of Ealing.
Darren Johnson AM [Chair of the Environment Committee], Murad Qureshi AM and Peter Hulme Cross AM joined members of Ealing's Local Agenda 21 Pollution & Public Health Project Group and officers from Ealing Council and Thames Water in a tour of the best and worst in the borough.
Starting with a briefing in Brent Lodge Park on the effects of flooding and pollution on the River Brent, they then toured residential areas in Southall, Greenford and Ealing. Here they saw many roads where large numbers of front gardens have been concreted for car parking and low maintenance, before reaching the Brentham Estate where front gardens are protected. They were all struck by the contrast, and how very different the environment is when front gardens are preserved.
No-one knows the scale of the problem and how much front garden has been lost to concrete. So Ealing's Local Agenda 21 Pollution & Public Health Project Group is asking for volunteers to help survey the amount of hard surfacing in the front gardens of London Borough of Ealing. We have 26 volunteers so far, but we need 100!
A random sample of residential roads across the borough has been drawn. Volunteers are given about two roads each, plus recoding sheets and a ready reckoner to estimate, from the pavement, the amount of hard surfacing in the front gardens in each sampled road. No access to the gardens or contact with householders is required.
Offers of help from individuals and community groups to:
• Andrew Lyon, Senior Environmental Health Officer at Ealing Council, on 020-8825 7308 during office hours or email lyona@ealing.gov.uk
• Christine Eborall, LA21 Pollution & Public Health Project Group, on 020-8991 0006 evenings/weekends or email eborallc2@aol.com
April 18, 2005
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Related Links |
Find out how to donate office furniture for charitable use and what stock is available for non-profit groups from the Green Works web site Experts to go door to door to encourage Green Box use in Ealing Be Green with your Garden Waste Free Compost Bins for Hounslow Borough Residents West London Friends of the Earth
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