Have your say on air pollution monitors in Streatham

Lambeth’s Sustainability team are currently developing plans to install new micro air quality monitoring stations across the borough and we need your help in identifying suitable locations for these. 

As air pollution in Lambeth continues to reach dangerous levels, Green councillors have been campaigning for the installation of these monitoring stations which will measure Nitrogen Dioxide, PM10, PM2.5, Ozone, Temperature and relative Humidity in order to provide accurate data on hyper local air quality conditions.

St Leonard’s Green councillors now want to hear your suggestions for where the monitoring stations should be located to provide the most useful and reliable air quality data for Streatham’s residents.

Suggested monitoring station locations should be:

·         In close proximity to sensitive receptors (schools/ hospitals/ public spaces)

·         In air quality focus areas and sources of pollution (Town centres/ main roads/ major    developments)

·         Easily accessible on public land (preferably lamp posts on the highway)

Please send your ideas to Councillor Jonathan Bartley on jbartley@lambeth.gov.uk

Please note the monitoring stations will need a permanent power source. If you can provide as much of the following information as possible when submitting locations that would be great:

-          Google earth screen shot/link

-          Photograph of power source location 

-          Street name and post code (where applicable)

-          Justification for inclusion i.e outside x school

Safer 'school streets' piloted in Streatham

Cllr Nicole Griffiths and Cllr Bartley: safer streets

Streatham's Immanuel and St Andrew Primary School is the first in Lambeth to trial 'school streets' aimed at making children's journey's to school safer - and the air around their school less dangerous to breathe.

Northanger Road is closed at drop-off and pick-up times in a pilot being looked at closely by other local schools. Staffed gates allow resident access, while children enjoy being able to walk, scoot and cycle to school.

A second trial is being run this term at Jessop Primary School in Herne Hill.

Air pollution contributes to 9,000 deaths each year in London with, on average, three adults and one child being hospitalised every day from breathing difficulties caused by pollution.

Applications open for street parties, Play Streets and Car-Free Day

Thinking of holding a street party, regular Play Street day or a Car Free Day in your neighbourhood this year?  Applications for temporary road closures for 2019 are now open.

Green Party councillors will be urging Lambeth Council to give its full support to temporary road closures as part of its response to declaring a Climate Emergency in the borough - encouraging us all to enjoy the difference when we reclaim our public spaces for children, clean air and enjoyment for all.

Recycling rates down - incineration up as Lambeth pollutes London's air

Lambeth Council have responded to a members enquiry sent by Streatham councillor Scott Ainslie revealing that they recycled an even lower proportion of waste in 2016-17 than in the previous two years. This is despite Lambeth Labour boasting of "improved recycling" in their "greener, cleaner borough" motion at their council meeting on 24th January.

The full details for the last three years can be found below:
2014/5 Recycling 25,977 tonnes (30.32%) Incineration 59,700 tonnes (69.68%)

2015/6 Recycling 26,047 tonnes (30.44%) Incineration 59,520 tonnes (69.56%)

2016/7 Recycling 26,795 tonnes (29.83%) Incineration 63,029 tonnes (70.17%)

The news comes in the week Brixton Road breached annual air pollution limits in one month. 

Where are the clean buses Streatham was promised?

Nicole Griffiths: 'Where are clean buses?'

A promised ‘clean bus corridor’ through Brixton and Streatham has been delayed, the Green Party has learned.

The plan for either hybrid buses or diesels with top-of-the-range anti-pollutant systems to run along the A23 was due to start in October, cutting nitrogen dioxide emissions by up to 84%. Officials now say they aim for it to be in place “by the end of year.”

The Brixton and Streatham low emission zone was due to cover Stockwell Road, Brixton Hill and Streatham High Road, but at present, it is still served by the old bus fleet.

The delay follows news that Lambeth is the second worst borough in London for action to tackle air pollution, according to a report for the Mayor's office.

Have your say on Estreham Rd closure trial

Cllr Scott Ainslie helping to inform motorists

The closure of Estreham Road to northbound traffic as part of the Quietway 5 cycling route is coming to the end of its six-month trial periods.

Lambeth Council and Sustrans want to hear your views on the scheme.

Click here to have your say.

Have your say on Ultra Low Emission Zone

Mayor Sadiq Khan is seeking Londoners' views on his proposals to bring forward the dates of  Ultra Low Emissions Zone to improve air quality in the capital.

Click here to see details of the proposals and take part in the consultation.
 
The proposal is for ULEZ to start on 8 April 2019 - approximately 17 months earlier than the current start date on 7 September 2020 and for it to include limits on Particulate Matter (PM) as well as Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) emissions.

Streatham air pollution breaks legal limits again

Pollution levels in Streatham broke EU legal limits in December - according to data from air quality monitors being organised by Green Party members and other local volunteers.

The levels of poisonous nitrogen dioxide gas were even worse than those recorded in November, when two of three Streatham monitors broke legal limits.

Local campaigner Chris Holt, who is helping to monitor air quality outside Streatham and Clapham High School in Daysbrook Road, Streatham Hill, said: "Even on these quiet side streets away from the busy main road, the pollution caused by diesel engines was dangerously high in both November and December."

Greens accuse TfL of favouring out-of-town commuters over Londoners

Greens campaign for Crossrail 2 at Streatham

Transport for London’s ruling out of Streatham as a stop on a proposed Crossrail 2 is based on flawed data and analysis – and favours the needs of out-of-town commuters over congested & disadvantaged Londoners, says the Green Party

In answer to a question to the London Mayor by Green London Assembly Member Caroline Russell, Transport for London rules out a Crossrail 2 route via Streatham on the grounds that it would add 4.5 minutes to the route into central London by travellers coming from the southwestern outer suburbs: Kingston, Hampton, Chessington, Epsom. 

It appears to be giving more weight to the needs of these commuters than the rapidly rising numbers of commuters from Streatham, who currently suffer much longer journey times than areas better served by public transport.

The TfL report claims Streatham is currently “well-served by rail”, a statement dismissed by Streatham Greens as a fantasy.

Engine idling action in Streatham, 18 January

Giant snakes and ladders with a life-saving message

The dangers of sitting in a car with the engine running will be highlighted in Streatham on Wednesday 18th January.

Volunteers will spread the messsage that air pollution kills nearly 10,000 Londoners each year.

Leaving engines running while stationary is an unnecessary source of air pollution. And combating this is particularly important in locations where there are high numbers of idling vehicle engines, such as schools, outside hospitals and by bus stops.

Air quality action plan 'lukewarm and lacklustre'

Monitoring air pollution in Streatham

It's a week since air quality monitors went up in streets around Streatham - with several Green party members volunteering to measure nitrogen dioxide levels over the next six months.

The Lambeth-wide project, run by UCL's Mapping for Change, involves replacing nitrogen diffusion tubes every month - and sending them off for analysis of nitogen dioxide in the air.

Air pollution in London currently causes neearly 10,000 deaths each year and frequently breaks EU legal limits.

Could you monitor local air pollution?

Are you concerned about air pollution in Streatham? Local Green Party councillor Scott Ainslie is seeking volunteers to monitor nitrogen dioxide outside their home or place of work between October 2016 and April 2017.

When Cllr Scott Ainslie carried out a similar exercise in 2015, pollution levels in Streatham were found to me more than twice the EU legal limit.

Further monitoring now will show if air quality is improving or getting worse. The data collected will help strengthen measures to cut air pollution in the future.

Lambeth Council has teamed up with University College London's Mapping for Change project to provide the diffusion tubes to residents and businesses along with training in how to use them.

The deadline for applying to take part in this project is October 14th. Applications should be made by email to:  lovelambethair@mappingforchange.org.uk, stating:

• The address where you want to locate a diffusion tube and whether it is your home or where you wor
• Problems and concerns with air quality in this location and why you would like to carry out the monitoring
• Your ideas to improve air quality in your local area

If you are selected, every month you will change the diffusion tube, returning the old tube to Mapping for Change, who will send the tube to the lab for analysis.

At the start of the project there will be a workshop to explain how a diffusion tube works and a demonstration of how to change the tube each month. There will be another workshop six months later to discuss the monitoring results.

In 2015 Cllr Ainslie and his team placed diffusion tubes were place in 15 monitoring sites across Streatham. After four weeks the diffusion tubes were collected by UCL's Mapping for Change project  and analysed. The results can be seen here http://new.communitymaps.org.uk/#/project/26?center=51.4926:-0.0625:12&layer=1

More information on taking part from October: http://mappingforchange.org.uk/2016/09/love-lambeth-air/


More stories on air pollution in Streatham:

https://lambeth.greenparty.org.uk/news/2015/05/21/air-pollution-study-reveals-streatham-no2-levels-vastly-exceed-eu-safe-limits/

http://streathamnews.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/mapping-air-pollution-in-streatham.html

http://streathamnews.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/petition-to-get-clean-buses-not.html


http://streathamnews.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/streathams-air-pollution-monitor-back.html

http://streathamnews.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/questions-to-london-mayor-about-air.html

Mapping air pollution in Streatham

You may have seen the coverage on BBC London news today about the Mapping for Change initiative, which monitors air pollution in local areas.

We have taken part in this initiative and mapped the air quality in the Streatham area.

Deaths related to pollution in Lambeth are over 100 a year according to Public Health England (over 10 times the number of road casualty deaths).

You can see the results of what we found here (use the map to zoom in on Streatham). 

They results quite a bit of time to load, but in summary we found that levels of N02 breached EU guidelines at several points, including the St Leonard's junction and the junction of Mitcham Lane and Ambleside Avenue.

Our campaign continues to clean up Streatham's air, including a 20mph limit along Streatham High Road, more local "greening", getting buses through Streatham retrofitted or replaced with new Hybrid's and getting the council to stop using diesel cars in its own vehicle fleet.

Petition to get clean buses (not retrofits) on Streatham High Road

As part of our long-running campaign to improve local air quality, last week we launched a petition to get cleaner buses on Streatham High Road (as well as in Brixton and Vauxhall).

Poor air quality is the second biggest killer after smoking in Lambeth.  

In 2012 we discovered that it was running at dangerous levels.   We then measured air quality in side streets and found it running at 90% of the levels on Brixton High Road. This is of huge concern as Brixton has some of the worst recorded NO2 emissions in London. 

For a while this went unrecorded as Lambeth Council opted out of the London Air Quality Network. However, we successfully campaigned to get the three air pollution monitors back online.  

We are now also running air monitoring projects, as part of the "Mapping for Change" initiative around schools in Vauxhall and Streatham. 

There are several causes of air pollution including domestic and commercial heating systems, construction, industry, cars, buses and taxis. Lambeth Council also incinerates its waste having an impact on air quality outside the borough. 

Using data from TfL published on Green Assembly member Jenny Jones’ “how polluted is my road?” web site, we estimate that between a fifth and a third of pollution in Lambeth comes from buses, so we want TfL to clean up their fleet. This is one part of concerted action that both Lambeth Council and Transport for London need to take to clean up our air.

One option is retrofitting buses to lessen the pollution they give out. But this won't get buses to as high a standard as hybrid or electric options - and with Lambeth's very poor air quality, the issue needs to be taken seriously. 

If you want TfL to get a move on and give us hybrid or electric buses, please sign the petition here: http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/give-us-electric-or-hybrid-buses-in-vauxhall-brixton-and-streatham.html