24 May 2024
Members of Keep Chiswell Green are mounting an awareness campaign in the centre of the village tomorrow in a bid to highlight the traffic impact of the Cala and Polo developments .
On March 22, the Secretary of State approved the appeals by Cala Homes and Headlands Way to build 721 new houses on the land to the north and south of Chiswell Green Lane.
As part of the development, the mini roundabout and zebra crossing will be removed and replaced by traffic lights at seven stop points.
Campaigners say pollution in the village is already dangerously high – and traffic sitting at lights will add to this.
KCG spokesperson Shirani St Ledger McCarthy said: “The Watford Road is the 19th busiest road in Hertfordshire, a list which includes the M1, M25, A1M, A414 and A405.
“The double-mini roundabout is quirky, but it works. It keeps traffic flowing. Replacing these roundabouts with traffic lights will bring the huge volume of traffic that passes through our village to a complete standstill.
“There will be five arms to the junction, seven stop points, and each time a vehicle has to stop, it is releasing emissions that increase pollution in the air that we’re breathing.
“Air quality in all parts of Chiswell Green already exceeds World Health Organisation maximum recommended levels; on some measures, it is double maximum recommended levels.
“In the village centre, where the traffic lights would be, our air pollution is at the 81st percentile. That means only 19 per cent of the country – including London and big cities such as Birmingham – has worse air quality than we do. This is harming our health and our children’s health. This is not a ‘solution’ to the 1,500 additional cars that would be generated by the Cala and Polo Field developments. Those cars equate to six miles of nose-to-tail traffic – that’s from the Noke Roundabout to Harpenden Golf Course!
“We want all users of the Watford Road to understand what the approval of the Cala and Polo Field developments will mean to them.”
