Join me in the campaign for cleaner air in Lambeth!

11 February 2015

Written by: Councillor Jennifer Brathwaite, Cabinet member for Environment and Sustainability

Focus on Brixton - Focus on Streatham - Health and Wellbeing - Transport

The air quality in certain parts of Lambeth is nowhere near as clean as it should be.  Brixton Road’s air monitoring system records some of the most polluted air in the capital and I, as Lambeth’s Cabinet member for Environment and Sustainability, am determined to improve it.

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Join me in the campaign for cleaner air in Lambeth!

The main cause of pollutants in our air in Lambeth is the high number of buses that use our roads.  We all know how neglected South London is in terms of tube lines, so we rely on buses a lot more than other parts of London.

New technology means that buses can be a lot cleaner than the big, diesel-thirsty, carbon-spewing buses that clog up our roads – particularly Brixton Road and Streatham High Road.  Transport for London are already using ‘green buses’ in Oxford Street and have tested more in Putney.

I believe that here in Lambeth we are in most need of these cleaner buses – to improve our air quality and create a cleaner and healthier borough in which to live and work.  That’s why I am lobbying Transport for London and the Mayor, Boris Johnson, to install Green Buses on every route that runs through Brixton Road and Streatham High Road.

Cyclists use these roads every day and children on their way to school are breathing in fumes and pollutants from these out-of-date, dirty buses.

Together, I am certain we can achieve cleaner air in Lambeth.  Sign the petition here and add your support.

The petition reads;

“Brixton Road has the worst recorded air quality in London.  The year limit on NO2 recommended levels was breached after only three weeks of this year.  Gas guzzling London buses are the primary cause of this poor air quality which affects the lives of Lambeth residents. Public Health England has estimated that 112 deaths a year are connected to poor air quality in Lambeth.  We need TfL to clean up the buses so we can clean up our air quality.

“Brixton Road carries the highest number of buses and taxis in the borough and Streatham High Road is not far behind.  We call on the Mayor of London to use retro-fitted, clean buses on these roads to protect the people that use them every day.

“We are neglected by tube and train services in South London and depend on buses more than anywhere else – why shouldn’t we have the best ones?”