The idea
The plan is to redevelop part of a rarely used playground at St Mary's Catholic Primary School and revive it by creating a new green space with a beautiful living wall along the perimeter of its wall next to the ever busy and highly polluted A4 dual carriageway.
This new green space will eventually be open to the public on weekends and bank/public holidays, and it will become a new site in Chiswick, ideal for hosting markets and other social/family/sporting events. This project will not only support local businesses but also help tackling the huge problem of air pollution (the school is among the 50 most polluted schools in London), it will help provide cleaner air to the 800+ children and staff of the two local primary schools (St Mary's and William Hogarth) as well as those who use the Piccolo Childcare Centre each day.
We're even thinking of calling this new place "Chiswick Oasis."
What we'll deliver
- A new beautiful green wall along the already existing brick wall adjacent to the A4
- A revived playground which will become new site open to the public on week-ends
Why it's a great idea
Our extensive research has indicated that this will have a positive impact on the air quality around the school and the vicinity.
Apart from the obvious long-term benefits to the health of the children, we believe that the embellishment of the area will have a positive effect on the day to day lives of the local community.
It would also revive a very large space which at the moment is slightly wasted and "very sad looking" and become a beautiful green oasis with at its centre a grandiose living wall.
The area could be rented to people for very little money (all we need is enough money to cover its relatively cheap maintenance) and become a site for special events, farmer markets, book/flee/specialised markets art/craft shows and so on.
It would also be a site for special events at Christmas and Easter and could also be used for other social/sporting events.
Steps to get it done
- Install a green wall
- Organise a Easter market to advertise the new site as being open to business
- Organise an art & craft events in conjunction with St Mary's School.
We have already been preparing for this project since February 2017.
Aside from the obvious full support from the school itself, we have full endorsement of our local MP, Ruth Cadbury and Councillors Ron Mushiso, John Todd, Ranjit Gill, Joanna Biddolph. They've all taken interest in our project and have been very supportive throughout.
We have also been in contact with the GLA/London Mayor’s office including the leader of the Council and the Cabinet members for Highways Cllr (Hanif Khan), and for Education (Cllr Tom Bruce).
We've been engaging with the various Chiswick media (ChiswickW4, Chiswick Buzz TV, Chiswick Calendar and Get West London) and they've all been following us with interest (we've been published several times too).
We've made 2 short films, 2 photoshoots to raise awareness of the problem of air pollution.
We've created a website devoted to our work: www.stmarysapg.org.uk
Finally we've got several documents detailing our work and research for the project.
