Description:
Gasworks Communities United will be holding a “Stop the Poisoning” Protest outside Southall Train Station to raise ongoing pollution problems from the Southall Gasworks development.

They say that dangerous air pollution caused by the redevelopment of gasworks sites must be evaluated in conjunction with existing pollution levels to provide an accurate picture of the health and environmental impact of such schemes.

Air pollution from Southall Waterside has been damaging the health of residents for the past 4 years yet nothing has been done about it.

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The catalyst for GCU’s forthcoming protest is concern for children’s health living on the Green Quarter (Southall Gasworks), who are being exposed to petrol like fumes whilst playing in the site’s Linear park playground

Members of Gasworks Communities United have been suffering from the effects of toxic brownfield air pollution caused by Berkeley Group’s redevelopment of Southall Gasworks (the Green Quarter), Hornsey Gasworks (Clarendon), Bromley-by-Bow/ North Canning Town Gasworks (TwelveTrees Parks) and Sunninghill Gasworks. Since work began, residents living in the vicinity of these sites have become ill with asthma and pneumonia, as well as experiencing eye irritation, nausea and headaches. The sites contain many heavy carbons including cyanide and the carcinogen benzene, all hazardous to health.

Local authorities, the Environment Agency and Public Health England have repeatedly ignored these health complaints and done little to mitigate the release of toxic pollutants from these gasworks sites. In doing so, they have failed in their duty of care to protect human health and tackle air pollution.

Members of GCU who live near sites where planning applications have recently been submitted or approved are deeply concerned that remediation will replicate the experiences of residents where this has taken place or is ongoing. Residents in Southall have been inhaling toxic gases since 2017 and despite hundreds of complaints, Ealing Council have refused to serve an abatement notice for statutory odour nuisance. The leaders of these councils must be held to account - they are aware of the ticking time bomb.

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The constituent members of GCU demand:

• Independent air quality impact assessments that evaluate air pollution from brownfield site redevelopment in conjunction with existing pollution levels
• The implementation of independently assessed, robust remediation strategies, to prevent pollutants becoming airborne and contaminating groundwater
• Detailed health research to assess the redevelopment risks, prioritising vulnerable individuals rather than the normative population

For more information, or to join our UK wide group, email: gasworkscommunitiesunited@gmail.com