Climate protest takes to Catford this morning
Climate protesters took to the streets of Catford this morning to protest high levels of traffic and pollution in the area.
The area around the town centre includes the South Circular which cuts through shops and housing and is one of the most polluted spots in London. There are plans to re-work the town centre but progress has been extremely slow.
With more homes built near Catford town centre more people are exposed to high levels of pollutants.
The one-way system is due for removal. After many years waiting £10 million was awarded to alter the layout in early 2018.
A press release at the time stated:
“South Circular Road – Catford Town Centre, which removes the existing gyratory and re-aligns the South Circular to the South. As well as transport and active travel health benefits, the project underpins LB Lewisham’s and the Mayor of London’s ambition to deliver up to 2,700 new homes (potentially 1,500 on Council owned land and 1,200 on third party sites) and 5,000 new jobs at Catford”.
While it looks better for pedestrians and mentioned ” less convoluted crossings”, cycling options appeared lacking.
One option to move towards public transport would be improvements to Catford stations. Thameslink have increased services but Southeastern still do not provide 12-car trains on the Hayes line owing to franchise delays from the Department for Transport. It has long been advocated that the Bakerloo Line takes over the Hayes line though plans only see it running as far as Lewisham as things stand – and central Government has still not signed it off.
Extending the Bakerloo Line has been on the cards since the 1930s. It even appeared on tube maps in the 1940s. Even now, no commencement of services on any extension is expected for at least a decade on what is a relatively short extension from Elephant and Castle to Lewisham.
The protest today follows similar in Greenwich last month protesting against plans to build the Silvertown Tunnel.
War is one of the most pervasive atmospheric pollutants. The energy required to strip-mine the earth for raw materials including rare earth metals and the devastation caused by shelling to humans, animals and the ecology make this a sustained, measured loss on all fronts. There is no misunderstood 12yr deadline people are dying now. Why these idiots aren’t protesting against any number of governments or in front of arms manufacturers proves that it is nothing more than virtue-signalling of the highest order.
Can’t for the life of me see the sense in stopping traffic so that stopped cars/bus’/vans and lorries are left idling and pushing out even more polution? Wonder what braindead, unwashed, university taught individual, had that brainstorm??
Of course no protest had short term pain for long term gain.
I would be more concerned about the amount of drug addicts surrounding the stations then anything else