Archived on 6/5/2022

Clean Air for SE23 - Greening the South Circular

SClare
22 May '19

Alice Tate-Harte posted this on our facebook page earlier this week. She’s been doing great work at talking to the right people make this happen!

"GREENING SOUTH CIRCULAR

I met with Heidi Alexander (GLA deputy mayor for transport) and the Senior landscape and Aboreal consultant for TFL John Parker about our plans for greening the South Circular this week. John Parker was helpful and knowledgeable and has agreed to meet us in FH to hear more about our plans. Whilst he likes the idea of the project he think permission for green screens will be difficult to grant but he has agreed to planting more Trees along the road.

TFL guidelines say that trees are still more effective at mitigating pollution than green screens and also that the urban canyon effect trees might have of trapping pollution only applies on roads which are very built up (he says no streets in London fit this criteria and this issue has been mis-represented in the press).

The information out there on greening can be confusing and contradictory so we are seeking another expert opinion to confirm the facts.

We all agreed that Greening would have a secondary effect of making the road much nicer to walk along, thus encouraging walking and reducing car journeys.

The proposed greening projects along A205 include:
-Planters on railings and along pavements at the junction in front of FH station
-Green Wall on railway bridge
-New trees along whole road from horniman to Catford
-“Parklet ” outside Perry vale entrance near station (not a TFL road but requires TFL permission as owned by station).

We have other ideas for non TFL controlled spaces suggested by you such as:
-parklet outside BT building
-parklet outside fire station
-green wall outside paddy power Dartmouth rd

I’ll post more after our meeting with TFL"