Dear Widcombe Association Member
Police Beat Surgery
Our excellent local police officer, PC Martyn Bridges, will be at the Cakery, Widcombe Parade, tomorrow (Saturday 18th January) 2.00 to 3.30 pm. Pop in if you have anything you would like to raise or perhaps just to say hello and have a coffee.
Hotspots Art Installation
In the next couple of weeks you may notice an installation of red bicycle wheels appearing on the railings opposite Widcombe Primary and Infants Schools.
This is a collaborative artwork by artists Joanna Wright and Alison Harper called Hotspots. If you are able to open the attached illustration, you will see that this promises to be an attractive display; but read on – it illustrates an ugly truth.
It has been shown at several other sites around Bath during the past year and its intention is to draw attention to and highlight the unhealthy levels of air pollution to which we are currently being subjected, particularly from road transport.
Emissions from cars, vans, lorries etc. make a significant contribution to the complex mix of chemical pollutants which impact on human health. Indeed particulate matter from brake and tyre wear also adds to a more widespread impact on the wider biosphere, on our streams, rivers, waterways.
Recent research shows that these pollutants particularly affect our children’s health.
The red wheels alert us to danger and suggest more sustainable ways to travel, whether by walking, cycling, scooting, skating etc.
In line with Bath and North East Somerset’s Climate Emergency declaration, less road transport also means less CO2. Thus this work encourages us to think about how our actions impact on and affect the lives of others. What we do now affects everyone’s future.
Alan Langton
Widcombe Association Secretary