Daytime lorry deliveries banned on Putney High St

Initiative is part of Wandworth council’s drive to improve air quality on the busy South West-London road

Vans, lorries and heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) will be banned from making daytime deliveries to shops on Putney High Street from early next year in a pilot initiative to reduce traffic congestion and improve air quality.

NO2 measurement map of Putney High St taken from a 2013 Wandworth council report

Wandsworth council announced on Friday (November 20) that from January 11 2016 all vehicles will be prohibited from parking and/or loading and unloading on the street between 7am and 7pm from Monday to Saturday.

Drivers of any vehicles flouting the ban will be given a penalty charge notice (PCN), the council said.

Putney High Street is a well-known pollution hotspot in London, with levels of nitrogen dioxide described by the council as “very poor” and often exceeding some national standards (see AirQualityNews.com story).

In 2013 annual average levels of nitrogen dioxide were measured at 124 ugm3 (microgrammes per cubic metre) and 106 ugm3 on two of Putney High Street’s monitoring stations. The national EU annual average limit for this pollutant is 40 ugm3.

The daytime delivery ban is therefore aimed at reducing these emissions, and also follows Transport for London’s (TfL) recent retrofitting the exhaust systems of 89 buses using routes that include Putney High Street.

Rear entrances

However, under the ban goods vehicles will still be able to use privately-owned access roads servicing the rear entrance to many of the high street’s shops as well as the loading and unloading spaces on Norroy Road and Lacy Road.

Goods vehicles will also be permitted to park within marked parking bays in side roads off the high street to deliver or collect bulky or heavy goods, but these vehicles “will need to be moved as soon as the delivery is complete”.

Parking wardens will be under instructions to observe delivery vehicles using parking bays to make sure they are actually being loaded or unloaded. If not, the council said, a PCN is “likely” to be issued.

The new delivery requirements, which were subject to a consultation with local businesses earlier this year, are being initially introduced as a pilot scheme and will be subject to a review after six months.

Wandsworth council’s environment spokesman, councillor Johnathan Cook, said: “We have been working hard to improve air quality in Putney High Street, so I was delighted that these efforts have been recognised in the recent National Air Quality Awards. This latest initiative on delivery vehicles will help us build on these successes.

“Removing the hold ups and obstructions caused by delivery trucks and freeing up traffic to flow more easily and efficiently should reduce vehicle emissions and help to further raise local air quality standards.

“As well as reducing vehicle emissions this measure will have the added benefit of improving journey times for other road users, particularly the local buses that often get delayed because of parked vans and lorries in the high street.”