The council has been a long-standing supporter of the 'Lighter Later’ campaign which is pressing Parliament to agree to move clocks forward one hour throughout the year - meaning that it would be lighter for longer in the evenings.

A Private Members Bill calling for this change is currently winding its way through the House of Commons. The bill has recently cleared a number of important parliamentary hurdles and a fresh vote by MPs is expected in the new year.  

According to the campaigners – “The idea is simple: we shift the clocks forward by one hour throughout the entire year. We would still put the clocks forward in spring and back in autumn, but we would have moved an hour of daylight from the morning to the evening, when more of  us are awake to enjoy it.”

Now the campaign has been boosted by the results of a new opinion poll on the Wandsworth pages of the Streetlife.com which shows that 82 per cent of those who took part support the campaign’s aims.  In November 2010 we ran a similar poll where 86% voted for the clocks to go forward.

Wandsworth Council leader Ravi Govindia said:
“We support this campaign for a number of reasons.  Our view is that an extra hour of daylight would undoubtedly improve road safety and make it safer for children as they travel home from school.

“There would be environmental and financial benefits too. The extra daylight would mean households would not need to switch their lights on as early as they do now, and this would mean cheaper energy costs and reduced carbon emissions.

He continued:
“An extra hour of daylight would also boost sports and leisure activities. People could visit parks for longer, and pursue a whole range of outdoor pursuits later into the evenings. In our view the benefits of this change could be substantial, which is why we are backing this campaign.”

December 15, 2011