Hackney environmental lawyers welcome London Mayor’s vow to combat air pollution

Cleaning up: London Mayor Sadiq Khan

Hackney environmental lawyers have welcomed a promise by the newly-elected mayor of London to clean up London’s toxic air, whilst critics point out his support for the expansion of City Airport which will bring more air and noise pollution.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan is to launch a formal policy consultation on measures to tackle air pollution, set to begin in a matter of weeks.

Hackney is the joint-fourth most polluted borough in London, according to a 2014 Public Health England report.

Proposals in the Mayor’s consultation will include extending the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) to the North and South Circular roads, introducing ULEZ standards for heavy vehicles entering London, and implementing a levy on the most polluting vehicles entering London from 2017.

The £12.50 levy would be on top of the congestion charge and is expected to include cars, vans and lorries.

ClientEarth lawyer Alan Andrews said: “This is a hugely positive announcement from the new Mayor and shows clear ambition to clean up London’s dirty air.

“We welcome his plans to extend the Ultra Low Emission Zone and to bring it in earlier. This is vital if we are to take the dirtiest vehicles out of London.

“We will have to wait and see if the detail of the Mayor’s proposals matches his ambition. With air pollution causing over 9,000 deaths a year in London it is vital that all options to solve this problem are on the table.

“It will be crucial that the ULEZ ensures vehicles meet the most stringent emission standards when driving on London’s roads, not just in discredited laboratory tests.

“Today’s announcement, coming so early in the new Mayor’s term, should send a clear message to the UK government that ambitious and bold action is needed.

“The government must now up its game so that the whole country can breathe cleaner air.”

Other proposed measures by the London mayor include a diesel scrappage scheme, clean bus corridors, expanding the ULEZ retrofit programme to 3,000 buses outside the central zone (up from 2,000) and bringing in ULEZ standards for TfL double decker buses a year early.

Announcing the consultation, Mayor Khan said he had been elected with a “clear mandate to clean up London’s air”.

He added: “The previous mayor was too slow on this issue and the government has been hopelessly inactive and it’s Londoners who are suffering as a result.

“We need to speed up our efforts so I’ll be launching a consultation before the summer to kick-start the process. As well as my proposals, I’ll be seeking views on other ways we can do more to clean up the city’s air.

“In the past, London has only responded after an emergency, like with the Clean Air Act, which followed the Great London Smog of the 1950s.

“I want to act before an emergency, which is why we need big, bold and sometimes difficult policies if London is to meet the scale of the challenge.”

However Mayor Sadiq Khan’s announcement was met with some criticism by those who regard his support for the expansion of City airport as incompatible with his aim of cleaning up the capital’s air.

Newly-elected Green party London Assembly member Caroline Russell said: “While I warmly welcome the Mayor’s intention to expand the ULEZ to the North and South Circular, it’s essential that all outer London boroughs should also have the ability to opt in right from the beginning.

“There are a lot of heavily polluted main roads beyond the ring road where residents will want cleaner air.

“People in East London will also want to know why he is helping City Airport to expand. All the extra flights and traffic will create huge amounts of noise and air pollution.”