We are planning to hold another Town Hall demonstration ahead of RBWM’s next Full Council meeting on Tuesday 22 November, when Thomas Wigley’s petition asking for better monitoring of health damaging particulates will be debated.
At our demo, which will start at 6pm, we will asking RBWM to carry the motion to increase air pollution monitoring in the Borough, and to halt plans to develop the 132 acres of publicly owned woodlands and greenspace at Maidenhead Golf Course.
Please do come along to our demonstration to show your support, and please do bring as many friends and family members as possible. The more people that are there, the stronger our message will be to our council that the planned destruction of our woodlands and greenspace is unacceptable.
Members of the public are also welcome to attend the Council meeting, which starts at 7.30pm in Maidenhead Town Hall.
Thomas Wigley, Windsor resident and member of the Maidenhead Great Park campaign group, says:
“The fact that well over 2,000 residents signed our petition is a clear signal that people are concerned about air pollution. The Government and RBWM both recognise that air pollution is bad for our health.
“Our petition asks RBWM to increase particulates measurements in its five Air Quality Management Areas. In a five minute speech which I will deliver at the meeting, I will draw attention to recent research findings by the Francis Crick Institute which proves a link between PM2.5 particulates and lung cancer, plus the Penn State College of Medicine study which shows that teenagers are more prone to irregular heartbeats after breathing fine particulates air pollution.
“It’s crazy to believe that a single particulates monitoring site in Maidenhead is enough for a Borough which covers 197 square kilometres and which has its own local pollution hotspots. Deadly PM2.5 particles aren’t measured at all and that really concerns me.
“A key aim of the Borough’s Environment and Climate Strategy is to have cleaner air and a greener urban environment. It recognises the need to reduce air pollution. The Borough also wants to achieve National Air Quality Objectives. The Borough must therefore broaden and deepen particulates monitoring. After all, you can’t manage what you can’t measure.
“RBWM wants to build 2,000 new homes on Maidenhead Golf Course but the whole town is one big Air Quality Management Area. I’m dismayed that RBWM would choose to destroy a large green space on the edge of the town centre which provides respite for residents from polluted air.”
Tina Quadrino, Chair of the Maidenhead Great Park campaign group, explains:
“The destruction of hundreds of acres of green belt and thousands of mature trees, as set out in RBWM’s Borough Local Plan, to make way for housing targets that are based on out-of-date projections for housing need in our area, is simply unacceptable and will damage our environment and our community for many decades to come.
“As well as taking away our green lung and destroying thousands of mature trees, our council’s plans will significantly increase air pollution on our town centre, which is already an Air Quality Management Area.
“If our community is to stand the chance of having a healthy future, our council must monitor airborne particulates properly and take effective action to do so soon. And our council must protect existing woodlands and greenspace from development, and take steps to green our community, to help mitigate the effects of climate change.
“We hope that many hundreds of local people will join us in our demonstration outside the town hall ahead of the council meeting on 22 November, when our air pollution will be debated. It’s vital to demonstrate just how high feelings are running on this issue, together with the threatened loss of green space in our town, and to urge our council to take steps to protect the health of the people of Maidenhead, who are at risk from significantly increased air pollution.”
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