ELF was approached by The Friary Park Preservation Group (FPPG) in Acton. The group complained to the local council and their housing association about noise and air pollution problems being caused by the housing association’s use of land as a vehicle depot.
In mornings and afternoons the noisy diesel vans were idling for long periods while they waited to enter and leave the land. The noise of reversing vans in the mornings was also very disruptive.
ELF approached Matt Gilks of Dutton Gregory, long time ELF member and very good solicitor, to assist FPPG.
Matt wrote to the London Borough of Ealing and the housing association reminding them of their legal responsibilities and to question the planning use. There was some reluctance on the part of the local authority to respond to Matt’s letter in April but the housing association did confirm that there would only be four lorries using the depot from now on – this was a significant reduction from the twelve usually entering and leaving each morning and afternoon.
FPPG members felt this was a considerable improvement particularly as drivers were now being instructed to reverse into the depot so greatly reducing all the reversing out each morning. However Matt didn’t stop there. He advised contacting Ealing Council again and this resulted in the serving the housing association with a Planning Contravention Notice. This was a real surprise particularly to the FPPG members who had been trying to get Ealing Council to act for almost 4 years. No one expected the local authority to admit they had not given planning permission to the depot which was causing local people so many problems.
“My understanding is now that the housing association first ceased the disruption and committed to retraining its drivers and introducing more environmental friendly vehicles. I now understand that the land used for keeping the vans has been vacated and is no longer in use. In a small way this has improved the environment for the residents.” Matt Gilks
This is a fantastic result for the local community and ELF would wish to thank Matt for his tenacity.
Martin of FPPG said “After over a month the depot is still unused and birdsong has replaced the reversing engines and warning notices each morning. It is a great improvement in the quality of life for local people as well as important improvements to environmental and traffic problems and I assure you we are all very grateful to Mr Gilks who did a fantastic job. The outcome was due entirely to his hard work – the Environmental Law Foundation have certainly done a great job in putting me in touch with a highly competent solicitor.”
Signposted to ELF under the new collaboration with Cardiff Law School (in coordination with the Welsh Wildlife Trust, Woodland Trust and FOE Wales), this enquiry concerns pro-bono support with the public inquiry, into the proposed M4 relief road in Newport. The inquiry was due to start November 2016 but has been postponed until March 2017.
The proposed road would cut through 8 km of the Gwent Levels, including four SSSIs, destroying one of the largest surviving areas of ancient grazing marsh and drainage ditch systems in the UK (see http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/M4)
Climate change expert Professor Kevin Anderson has said that the scheme will create a damaging increase in carbon emissions. The inquiry will consider these proposals and less environmentally damaging alternatives.
A new piece of Welsh legislation, the “Well-Being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015” may be leverage against these proposals. There are seven pillars, the second of which states “A nation which maintains and enhances a biodiverse natural environment with healthy functioning ecosystems that support social, economic and ecological resilience and the capacity to adapt to change (for example climate change)”
ELF has gathered an amazing collection of barristers from amongst some of our member chambers, Garden Court, FTB and 1 Crown Office Row, so that each of the 12 expert witness have a pro-bono ELF barrister allocated. Witnesses include Sir John Lawton, author of the incredibly influential and recently updated State of Nature Report, and Professor Kevin Anderson, climate change expert.
ELF would like to express its real gratitude to those barristers who have agreed to participate in this matter.
Photo: rspb.org
This is a new case for ELF. It concerns Smithy Wood, a 21 acre ancient woodland close to Junction 35 of the M1, and a planning application by Extra MSA to erase it to build a motorway service station. Our case focuses initially on a Town and Village Green application due to go to Public Inquiry in the New Year. Local people who have used the ancient woodland for generations are facing the threat of a proposal to build a motorway service station and hotel in the middle of this beautiful and historic woodland. Fortunately the TVG application was lodged some months before the planning application, though this hasn’t prevented the objector’s from claiming a “trigger event”. The objectors are claiming that biodiversity off-setting, in a far away park, will be adequate substitution for the ancient woodland, will be sufficient recompense for the loss of this precious woodland. Radio 4’s the Today Programme recently interviewed a spokesperson for the Woodland Trust, about Smithy Wood, pressing home the serious loss of habitat that this proposal would entail.
