Congratulations to London’s new mayor, Sadiq Khan, on winning May’s election. He’s been busy setting out his agenda, and we’ve been busy watching what he’s doing.
TfL has been busy too. In the dying days of Boris Johnson’s administration, it submitted its planning application for the Silvertown Tunnel.
Considering the terrible impact the tunnel would have on air quality, it was sadly appropriate that it chose 3 May, World Asthma Day, to submit the application.
As part of this process, a whole raft of documents appeared last week, including a report on last autumn’s statutory consultation.
TfL acts on the priorities of the mayor. This process is a legacy of the priorities of the last mayor, who was determined to get this into planning, regardless of the results of any consultation.
It’s something we – and you – need to engage with.
So, please do two things. Firstly, visit this website:
http://infrastructure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/projects/london/silvertown-tunnel/
Secondly, scroll down, and fill in your email address on the right-hand side of the page.
This will put you on the Planning Inspectorate’s mailing list. This means that if there are planning hearings, you’ll be able to register so you can send your views on the tunnel to the inspector.
Quite simply, the more objectors who are lined up to respond, the better. If you’ve done this already – thank you. If you haven’t, please do it now.
Back to the new mayor. We’re looking at his new anti-pollution policies, TfL’s priorities and some of the revelations about the last administration with great interest.
We’ll be looking to Sadiq Khan to carry out his promise to review the current proposals for river crossings, including the Silvertown Tunnel. Visit www.toxictunnel.co.uk to send him a reminder that his review won’t mean a thing if he doesn’t take the tunnel out of planning.