| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Latest News of our Petition to save our solar panels | |
| Posted by: | Joy Skinner | |
| Date/Time: | 09/04/15 15:18:00 |
Well, we have reached the end of the road and our solar panels facing the warehouse of Fuller’s Brewery come down to-morrow, to the delight, no doubt, of the few who have so vociferously and unpleasantly attacked us. For the record, we have done nothing illegal. I would be grateful if anyone could give me the address of the Ian Silver who has made a confusing and libelous comment to that effect whilst signing our Petition to retain the panels! Apart from him and one other, we are very grateful to more than 800 people who have signed up to support us in our attempt to persuade Hounslow Council to allow us to retain the panels as part of our contribution towards our Government’s legal commitment to reduce the UK’s carbon emissions by 80%. The Appeals Inspector claimed, incredibly, that our panels “harm the quality of life of this and future generations”. In this same street, however, the Council have themselves installed motorway style LED lights, replaced the York stone pavements with long stretches of tarmac and concrete paving (now cracked). The Council have also allowed the Brewery to put up an ugly chimney, lit up at night with an advertisement for Fullers, that is visible from Hammersmith Bridge. The Brewery has also been allowed to open a shop that generates more traffic in the Conservation Area and to place advertisements on the Brewery walls and pavement. The solar panels were installed as a response to a particular situation, in the same way that unsightly traffic signs have to be put up to control traffic. They have done no permanent damage to the Area, unlike some other recent building developments that have been given planning permission. I had hoped that our solar panels would have had the support of Ruth Cadbury, since she claims to care about the environment, but it seems that she was not interested. In the 45 years we have lived here we have done our best to improve the appearance of Chiswick Lane South. We have planted a flowering hedge that now extends over most of our side-wall, masking the ugly 1945 additions which were there when we bought the house in1969. We have extended the house at the back to make it more sympathetic to the original 1870s building. We put up the solar panels in response to the climate change challenge. They are situated high up where very few people even notice them, unless they are specifically pointed out. Surprisingly, neither the Council nor the OCPS seem to care about the excessive noise and air pollution caused by the huge container lorries and other HGVs which thunder down Church Street, along the Mall and up Chiswick Lane South, delivering wine to the Brewery from early morning throughout the day. They often block the road and sometimes park in the street overnight, starting up noisily as early as 4am. The Council could ban lorries from the Conservation Area, but it has consistently refused over the years to take action to reroute them directly off the A4 into the Brewery. If the Council were to do so they could both “protect and enhance” the Conservation Area and at the same time improve “the quality of life of this and future generations”! This might be a better use of their time (paid for by all of us Council Tax payers), than banning silent, unobtrusive, non-polluting, renewable energy generation. |