Drivers to be fined £130 for taking shortcuts in ‘Clean Air Neighbourhood’
By Jacob Phillips, Local Democracy Reporter
Drivers will be fined up to £130 if they try to take shortcuts along quiet streets in west London.
Visitors to Hammersmith and Fulham will have to go the long way around to get to certain streets in South Fulham in a bid to improve air quality.
The council has been giving drivers warnings when they have been detected by number plate recognition cameras, but now they plan to start fining drivers.
Warning drivers, the council said: “We do not want to fine motorists. We want to reduce pollution and congestion.
“That is why we ran an extended two-month warning period from December 1 during which out-of-borough drivers got a warning notice and a letter explaining the clean air trial – not a fine.
“Please look out for the signs and avoid using the residential streets off Wandsworth Bridge Road as cut-throughs.”
The fines will only be issued to out-of-borough drivers who pass through the cameras as they cut through from Wandsworth Bridge Road to New King’s Road, and vice versa.
Friends, family, carers, delivery drivers and tradespeople can still reach every street in the Clean Air Neighbourhood without going through the cameras, according to the council.
Residents in the area will not be fined, and visitors can still reach every street in the borough by taking alternative routes in larger roads. A full list of the 35 roads affected is shown below.
Hammersmith and Fulham council predict that on average poor air quality causes 87 deaths in the borough and it has launched the policy after a successful trial near Wandsworth Bridge Road.
According to the council, 8,000 fewer cars passed through the area when it initially held the trial last year.
The amount of carbon dioxide emissions in the area has been reduced by one tonne a day and there has been a 23 per cent drop in traffic.
Nearly one in seven early deaths in the borough are attributed to nitrogen oxide air pollution – the eighth highest level in London according to King’s College London.
Hammersmith and Fulham councillor Sharon Holder, in charge of public realm, said: “The air on our streets needs to be cleaner. Polluted air makes people ill – especially children. It can be a killer, so we’re pioneering a Clean Air Neighbourhood programme to do something about it.
“Residents are taking back control of their air. Their streets are no longer full of out-of-borough drivers using them as a cut-through rather than to visit south Fulham residents or shop locally.”
The new rules will be in place for up to 18 months and residents will be consulted to see what happens next. Five smart technology cameras are being used to keep an eye on which drivers are using the streets.
Out-of-borough motorists trying to cut through streets between Wandsworth Bridge Road and New Kings Road will first receive warning letters before being fined.
All residents of the borough with vehicles registered in Hammersmith and Fulham can go through the cameras without penalty.
Residents can also give their visitors free access through the parking app RingGo or a hotline.
Wandsworth Bridge Road is also being upgraded to have safer cycleways, improved crossings and junctions.
Full list of streets under the new zone
- Carnwath Road
- Hugon Road
- Breer Street
- Dymock Street
- Peterborough Road
- Sulivan Road
- Daisy Lane
- Broomhouse Lane
- Woolneigh Street
- Friston Street
- Narborough Street
- Ashcombe Street
- Beltran Road
- Clancarty Road
- Stokenchurch Street
- Bowerdean Street
- Ryecroft Street
- Perrymead Street
- Chipstead Street
- Quarrendon Street
- Chiddingstone Street
- Bradbourne Road
- Coniger Road
- Peterborough Road
- Studdridge Street
- Broomhouse Road
- Linver Road
- Alderville Road
- Cortayne Road
- Ashington Road
- Cristowe Road
- Edenhurst Avenue
- Ranelagh Avenue
- Napier Avenue
- Ranelagh Gardens
(Picture: Hammersmith and Fulham council)
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Just received 2 PCN’s for driving in Broomhouse Lane. First time offence but no warning letter. Anyone else in this position? Should I not have had a warning letter?
Just received 2 PCNs for driving on Broomhouse Lane. No warning letter received. We have for the last 50 years used this short cut, perhaps once or twice a year for celebrations and funerals in Balham. We live in Slough and were unaware of the clean air regulation. We really object to fines being issued for our outward bound journey and returning on the same route. Had we been aware, we would have gone a different way back (at least). It was a Sunday and we were travelling to celebrate our Aunts 95 th birthday. Irrelevant we know, but…