Hackney Friends of the Earth highlights air pollution problems

The European Commission has declared 2013 the ‘Year of Air’ and will be reviewing air pollution legislation in an attempt to tighten air quality standards.

Bringing air pollution into the forefront this year might seem a little outdated – after all, the Great Smog that loomed over 1950s London has long gone. However, air pollution is not a problem that went away with the Clean Air Act of 1956.

Environmental concerns are either in or out of the spotlight, and today it seems air pollution has fallen off the radar. But recent statistics, which may come as a surprise to many, should make us give poor air quality our full attention.

A report for the GLA shows that air pollution causes over 4,000 premature deaths a year in London. This makes it one of the biggest causes of premature death in the city, second only to smoking.

Poor air quality reduces the life expectancy of the average Londoner by eight months. And for those of us living within 500 metres of busy roads the problem is significantly worse. In areas with the highest levels of pollution, life expectancy is reduced by as much as two years.

Hackney, like many other London boroughs, is regularly in breach of the European air quality thresholds and nitrogen dioxide levels are often twice the legal limit.

The numbers are alarming and the impact of air pollution is unfair. Why does our life expectancy have to go down just because of where we live?

And if the threat to our health isn’t enough of a concern, the continuous breaches of the EU’s legal limits may result in fines of millions of Euros. The Localism Act 2011 means the government could pass down the responsibility of paying these fines to local authorities, who will most likely pass them down to residents in the form of council tax increases.

An exit from the European Union could mean London would be off the hook to pay the fines, but at the cost of public health this would hardly be welcome news and makes the need for tougher national rules even more important.

To date there has been a serious lack of commitment to dealing with our air quality problem. The biggest cause of air pollution in urban areas is transport emissions.

However, instead of investing in walking, cycling and public transport, recent Transport for London plans favour the car. One of TfL’s current proposals is to add a new river crossing in East London. The ‘Silvertown Tunnel’ is a road tunnel that will run between the Greenwich Peninsula and Silvertown. Four new lanes of traffic will bring more pollution to Tower Hamlets, one of the poorest boroughs in the country, where people are already experiencing heart and lung diseases linked to air pollution.

Similar plans to add a river crossing at Gallion’s Reach back in 2004 were met with fierce opposition and were scrapped in 2008. In the past, expanding roads across the river has increased traffic rather than eased it. Even with tolling, these schemes would increase traffic significantly and worsen congestion in the wider area, adding to air pollution.

However scary they may be, these statistics need not reinforce the idea that we all need to get out of this city before the city gets us. Cities are great places to live. Not everyone wants to move away and not everyone can. So instead of packing up and moving to cleaner, greener pastures, we should stick around and make this city a good place to live, settle down and build a life.

Concerned about air pollution? Join the Hackney and Tower Hamlets Friends of the Earth at their next meeting this evening, Monday 11 February. To get in touch go to Hackney Friends of the Earth.