“ Tried signing the petition
http://petitions.barnet.gov.uk/SODA-Elmbank/. early today, but a message came up that 'the petition was unable to be accessed' or words to that effect.
I looked on their website, but couldn't find it anywhere. This might be down to the fact that I am currently suffering from a virus that makes you feel rather dopey and unwell, but anyway....
I can't imagine that they would take it down, as Barnet Council Planning committee approved the Barnet Road Development. theoretically, there a\re other avenues available to us.
A while later I rang up Barnet (or rather C(r)apita. Had a battle with the word recognition system which clearly wasn't working, then I said "OPERATOR!!". That worked as I could speak to an operator.
I explained that I wanted to speak to the department that dealt with petitions, to find out what has happened to the SODA petition. She put me through somewhere, and the system though I wanted a surveyor!
So much for the efficiency of outsourcing in Barnet LBC.
Another aspect:- it seems highly probable that funding is to be cut for the 307 bus route. On the face of it, this seems rather daft, seeing that 114 dwellings are now approved and they might just need to catch a bus to somewhere once in a while....
I fully agree about the volume of traffic. Galley Lane is often a rat run. I live at no 92, and early in the morning there is quite a high volume of traffic at 7:30-8 in the morning. There are increasingly traffic jams - and more than just occasionally!
Apart from just moaniing, I think I just might have something positive to offer:
I have discovered that the expansion branch of Sainsbury's in Sheffield was stopped by the Town Council as the anticipated increase in traffic would have pushed the air pollution levels over EU legal limits.
This decision was supported by the planning inspectorate.
Please See
http://www.sheffieldeastend.org.uk/PlanningInspectorsDECISIONSburysArcherRd082011.pdf
Now, I am not a lawyer (I'm a semi-retired gardener!) but could this be a precedent, or at least a contributory factor to stopping other projects that would generate a sufficient volume of traffic to cause enough air pollution?
I am currently trying to check to see whether this has any validity or not. As a member of Friends of the Earth, I am trying their lawyers.
If any of you know of anyone else who could check this out?
If so, then we would need to put up some difffusion tubes to check the NO2 (Nitrogen dioxide levels. You can get these from GradKo International and cost around £10 each (including postage, processing and a report of the results.
Kind Regards
Phil Fletcher ”