LETTER: Calls for cut engine signs

With the soon start up of the new school year, may I appeal to school heads to post signs at school gates requesting parents to turn off their engines when dropping off their children.
By The Newsroom
Published 9th Sep 2016, 13:00 BST
Updated 12th Sep 2016, 17:18 BST

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Here in Hastings, on Falaise Road, signs have been erected by the council requiring all buses to turn off engines while stationary, and I have, in the past, pressed council officials to extend these signs throughout the county.

Despite best efforts, this has not been possible, despite the overwhelming evidence warning us of the toxic effects of car/bus pollution.

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Earlier this summer, while walking into the Old Town and passing the coach/bus stop by the boating pool, on a hot summer’s day two stationary buses had their engine running, polluting the surrounding area where pedestrians passed, including young children.

Research has repeatedly shown that such pollution has a devastating impact, linking this to serious conditions such as asthma, bronchitis, strokes and related chest infections, especially in children in their later years.

As worrying, it is estimated that tens of thousands of people die annually from the effects of diesel pollution; sadly many such deaths might have been prevented.

In Brighton, signs appear across the city - ‘cut engines cut pollution’. In many other towns and cities, similar signs are posted. I urge our councillors and officials to support the posting of similar signs across the town.

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Pollution is a massive nationwide problem, not easily solved but at least here in our lovely town, we can do our bit. Yes, event to save the planet and certainly to protect the health of young people and the lives of so many citizens, many of whom may be unaware that they may be breathing in dangerous levels of pollution.

Stanley Mounsey

The Uplands

St Leonards

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