It has been revealed that 7 million people a year are dying from air pollution due to deteriorating air quality and Your Waverley is among the boroughs in the South where the situation is getting worse.
There are currently 5.4m people receiving treatment for asthmatic condition, many of whom are children.
Farnham continues holding its breath for two reasons; the long-awaited Pedestrianisation scheme, which was to have been produced before Christmas, and which is currently being worked up by Waverley Councillor A Touch of Frost aided and abetted by MP Jeremy Hunt. Isn’t it rumoured he is moving into Farnham? And of course, the 2017 Air Quality Report which appears to have gone AWOL! In the meantime traffic congestion in the town gets worse, so does its polluted air together with its residents quality of life!
During January the cold dry and dirty air hung over Farnham like a great big steel dustbin lid and residents, particularly the elderly, suffered from a variety of respiratory conditions
Apparently Britain now has the worse air quality in Europe – London overshot the annual air pollution limit for the whole of 2017 in just the first five days of the year! We suspect that when results are revealed from the Farnham Air Quality monitoring Stations the results will be well above the limit.
As residents clutch their Ventolin inhalers for dear life, Your Waverley councillors/MP’s/Surrey County Council all fiddle while Farnham gasps for breath. At a recent meeting when the disastrous air quality figures were revealed Bramley’s By-Pass Byham wanted its monitoring station moved closer to the village crossroads as he believed its air pollution was worsening , despite officers’ revealing that its air quality statistics showed evidence to the contrary, for both Bramley and Godalming.
Ah! Well we all want to keep the pollution down around Godalming’s borough hall and council offices don’t we – because it’s normally just … hot air!
So while the developers continue their march, unabated across the East and the West of the borough, “Your Waverley” continues to approve thousands of new homes. Perhaps we should all be considering moving to the west country where, in the main, the air is still clear.
Nitrogen dioxide objectives exceeded the annual mean objective in some, but not all locations. Four exceedances were recorded within AQMAs, and two outside. These locations were identified in the 2012 Updating and Screening Assessment (USA). Here they are:
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If you think you have air quality problems and traffic congestion over there in the east read these figures. Over here in Farnham we are choking on fumes!
Oh! and by the way – where’s ‘Your Waverley’s’ latest Air Quality Report? We can’ find it – can anyone else? The last one on the council’s website is dated 2014!
A lot of vehicles have flown down the roads since then haven’t they – how bad is that?
Dear Waverley Web
While remaining thoroughly in support of your various Strategies when you comment on Waverley Matters ( my title ) may I suggest that one of the biggest snags facing the Borough today is:
Of those minorities who are prepared to involve themselves FULLY in all these important local matters, there are insufficient numbers of properly experienced women and men to handle ” The Needs Of 2017 In Waverley” in a co-ordinated and effective manner.
Of course we have to do our best with what we’ve got – but underlying that is the point that Wot We Have is unsuited for Contemporary Tasks. The system needs to be REVIEWED – BY US !
AS (full name withheld )
Thank you – we do our best, but often our best is just not good enough. We are acutely aware that the biggest problem facing ‘Your Waverley’ is the inertia that exists within the borough and the lack of concern and awareness by many residents of what is going on around them. and how their elected representatives ‘represent’ them. Here at the WW we have attempted to address the problem that one half of the borough doesn’t know what is happening in another.
We have tried to publicise the East’s problems to the West and vice versa. From the public and private comments we receive there is a glimmer of hope. Residents are beginning to set aside the parochial view of “their patch.” Local newspapers are great – however they are just that – ‘local.’ We wholeheartedly agree – the system needs to be reviewed – BY US ALL – AND SOON! Thank you for reading and commenting on the WW.