Agenda item

8.45pm – Councillor Ben Coleman moved, seconded by Councillor Patrick Walsh, the special motion in their names:

“This Council:

·      Notes the high level of air pollution in our borough and the need for action to address this to protect residents, particularly children;

·      Welcomes the success of the project to reduce pollution and congestion in residential streets to the east of Wandsworth Bridge Road;

·      Notes that this has improved air quality in those streets as a result of removing 8,000 cars and a tonne of carbon dioxide a day from them by preventing out-of-borough drivers from using the area as a cut-through;

·      Notes that the scheme came in after extensive consultation with residents and that all borough residents with a car permit continue to enjoy unrestricted access to the area;

·      Notes that residents to the west of Wandsworth Bridge Road have requested the scheme be extended to them and that the Council has committed to doing so on a trial basis with further consultation;

·      Welcomes the Council’s commitment to make the whole of South Fulham a Clean Air Neighbourhood where the air is cleaner for families and children and the roads are quieter and safer for pedestrians and cyclists;

·      Welcomes that this will include new environmental, traffic calming and safety improvements on Wandsworth Bridge Road to make it a better place to live, work and shop;

·      Welcomes the 20mph speed limit recently introduced in Wandsworth Bridge Road at the request of residents;

·      Welcomes the pre-engagement on the trial extension to the west of Wandsworth Bridge Road that has already taken place with resident groups and hundreds of residents, chaired in a bi-partisan way by Labour and (now ex-) Conservative Councillors;

·      Notes that the consultation and engagement that has taken in South Fulham is the biggest in the borough’s history and has far exceeded what is required by the government; and

·      Commits to consulting extensively further during the trial in line with government guidance.

This Council also:

·      Confirms its ambitious target of protecting residents’ health by reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2030 for our borough;

·      Notes that the government's own Net Zero Strategy contains a "key commitment" of delivering more so-called low traffic neighbourhoods “with the aim that half of all journeys in towns and cities will be cycled or walked by 2030”;

·      Notes that this Net Zero Strategy was introduced in the House of Commons on 19 October 2021 by Greg Hands, MP for Chelsea and Fulham, the then Minister for Energy, Clean Growth and Climate Change, who said, “We must continue to take decisive action if we are to meet our net zero goal”;

·      Regrets Mr Hands’s hypocrisy in running a petition calling for the South Fulham scheme to be abolished despite its obvious clean air benefits, which sits at odds with the ministerial office he once held;

·      Is disappointed that Mr Hands has consistently refused a briefing by council traffic engineers on the scheme, and believes this is so that he can claim not to know the facts and campaign disingenuously against it;

·      Regrets that the Conservative opposition chose to put a misleading and untruthful attack on the scheme at the centre of their council election campaign in the Sands End ward and notes that they decisively lost the campaign; and

·      Encourages the newly-elected opposition councillors for the streets to the west of Wandsworth Bridge Road to learn from the approach taken by their Conservative predecessor Matt Thorley, who refused to be misled by Greg Hands and supported his constituents’ desire to improve the air across South Fulham.”

A speech on the motion was made by Councillor Coleman (for the Administration).

Under Standing Order 15(e)(6), Councillor Alex Karmel moved, seconded by

Councillor Adrian Pascu-Tulbure, an amendment:

“This Council regrets that proposals to extend the existing Traffic, Congestion and Pollution Reduction (TCPR) scheme to the west of Wandsworth Bridge Road have become a source of considerable local contention, and calls upon the Administration to grasp the issue, bring together residents and businesses, consult fully, and work constructively towards a solution.”

Speeches on the amendment were made by Councillors Pascu-Tulbure, Lloyd-Harris, Afonso, and Stanton (for the Opposition) before it was put to the vote.

FOR                        10

AGAINST               33

NOT VOTING         1

The amendment was declared LOST.

Speeches on the substantive motion were made by Councillors Walsh, Holder, and Harcourt (for the Administration).

Councillor Coleman then made a speech winding up the debate before the motion was put to the vote.

FOR                        33

AGAINST                10

NOT VOTING         1

The substantive motion was declared CARRIED.

9.28pm – RESOLVED

This Council:

·      Notes the high level of air pollution in our borough and the need for action to address this to protect residents, particularly children;

·      Welcomes the success of the project to reduce pollution and congestion in residential streets to the east of Wandsworth Bridge Road;

·      Notes that this has improved air quality in those streets as a result of removing 8,000 cars and a tonne of carbon dioxide a day from them by preventing out-of-borough drivers from using the area as a cut-through;

·      Notes that the scheme came in after extensive consultation with residents and that all borough residents with a car permit continue to enjoy unrestricted access to the area;

·      Notes that residents to the west of Wandsworth Bridge Road have requested the scheme be extended to them and that the Council has committed to doing so on a trial basis with further consultation;

·      Welcomes the Council’s commitment to make the whole of South Fulham a Clean Air Neighbourhood where the air is cleaner for families and children and the roads are quieter and safer for pedestrians and cyclists;

·      Welcomes that this will include new environmental, traffic calming and safety improvements on Wandsworth Bridge Road to make it a better place to live, work and shop;

·      Welcomes the 20mph speed limit recently introduced in Wandsworth Bridge Road at the request of residents;

·      Welcomes the pre-engagement on the trial extension to the west of Wandsworth Bridge Road that has already taken place with resident groups and hundreds of residents, chaired in a bi-partisan way by Labour and (now ex-) Conservative Councillors;

·      Notes that the consultation and engagement that has taken in South Fulham is the biggest in the borough’s history and has far exceeded what is required by the government; and

·      Commits to consulting extensively further during the trial in line with government guidance.

This Council also:

·      Confirms its ambitious target of protecting residents’ health by reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2030 for our borough;

·      Notes that the government's own Net Zero Strategy contains a "key commitment" of delivering more so-called low traffic neighbourhoods “with the aim that half of all journeys in towns and cities will be cycled or walked by 2030”;

·      Notes that this Net Zero Strategy was introduced in the House of Commons on 19 October 2021 by Greg Hands, MP for Chelsea and Fulham, the then Minister for Energy, Clean Growth and Climate Change, who said, “We must continue to take decisive action if we are to meet our net zero goal”;

·      Regrets Mr Hands’s hypocrisy in running a petition calling for the South Fulham scheme to be abolished despite its obvious clean air benefits, which sits at odds with the ministerial office he once held;

·      Is disappointed that Mr Hands has consistently refused a briefing by council traffic engineers on the scheme, and believes this is so that he can claim not to know the facts and campaign disingenuously against it;

·      Regrets that the Conservative opposition chose to put a misleading and untruthful attack on the scheme at the centre of their council election campaign in the Sands End ward and notes that they decisively lost the campaign; and

·      Encourages the newly-elected opposition councillors for the streets to the west of Wandsworth Bridge Road to learn from the approach taken by their Conservative predecessor Matt Thorley, who refused to be misled by Greg Hands and supported his constituents’ desire to improve the air across South Fulham.