SUCCESS: Your R.A. have made HS2 Ban Vehicle Idling!

A letter from MXWHRA has prompted one of the largest polluters in the area to act to reduce harm caused by idling vehicles.

When neighbours of the huge HS2 construction site in West Hyde started suffering from the effects of numerous heavy construction vehicles idling for hours at a time near their homes, local residents turned to a local association for help.

After a detailed and constructive exchange between the Maple Cross and West Hyde Residents Association and managers at HS2, the construction company agreed to act on unnecessary idling on and around the HS2 site in West Hyde.

The Residents Association then wrote to HS2 and asked for a countrywide ban on vehicle idling. In HS2’s response they confirmed that they are keen to prevent pollution and would be briefing all contractors countrywide to stop them from vehicle engine idling. They would also be reminding them that it is an illegal activity and highlight the negative impacts of it.

SUCCESS

We are grateful to HS2 for this gesture and hope it will inspire our local councils to follow suit and clamp down on idling by their own staff and contractors.

Despite being responsible for enforcing UK idling law, Herts County Council has so far refused to take any action at all on the matter when asked by residents. Three Rivers District Council also refused to write to their staff and contractors instead choosing to erect a single sign somewhere in an as yet undisclosed location”.

The UK Office for National Statistics estimates that a girl born in Hertfordshire this year will die three years younger than her parents on average because of air pollution, and idling plays a significant yet totally avoidable role in that chilling statistic. This worrying background of pollution in Hertfordshire makes the outcome achieved by locals even more important for the area as a whole: over 35,000 people live immediately downwind of the HS2 site in West Hyde.