Lambeth has some of the country’s most polluted air, lacks outdoor space for exercise and socialising for the many local people who live in flats, and dangerous roads resulting in too many people getting injured.
To address this a new Healthy Neighbourhood Plan has been set out to build on the pioneering work already undertaken in Lambeth, and to work alongside local residents to create a better future.
This includes making the borough more equal, because at the moment our Black, Asian and Multi-Ethnic residents are more likely than average to be exposed to air pollution, be injured in a traffic incident and suffer illness through lack of exercise.
The council is planning to mainly fund the work, which is budgeted at £10million, through ongoing Greater London Authority grants for transport projects.
Cllr Rezina Chowdhury, Lambeth’s Deputy Leader (Sustainable Lambeth and Clean Air), said: “Lambeth is a walking, cycling and public transport borough. The vast majority of trips are already made in these ways and most households do not own a car.
“We have managed to get an important amount of money for Lambeth so we can work with local people to create a borough that both builds on this, and better meets their needs.
“That’s a Lambeth where people can walk, scoot and cycle safely, has lower pollution, with more trees and is better adapted to a warming climate which is causing a lot more heavy rain, flooding and some dangerously high temperatures.”
Cllr Chowdhury is appearing at an All Party Parliamentary Group on Wednesday (Sept11) to detail for MPs how Lambeth has consistently been at the forefront of rethinking streets and public spaces to make them safer, attractive and more sustainable places.
She said: “We’ve done a huge amount of work in Lambeth already to reclaim our kerbsides, make neighbourhoods more pleasant, make roads safer, supported cycling and improve accessible. We’ve worked in partnership to cut carbon emissions across the borough.
“But there’s still so much to do if we’re going to meet our 2030 ambitions.
“This new Healthy Neighbourhood Plan has a crucial role in that and I look forward to working with local people as we work together on achieving the changes we need to make, especially for the most vulnerable in our communities.”
Lambeth has seen a series of neighbourhood projects completed across the borough including in Loughborough Junction, West Dulwich, Brixton, Oval, Clapham, Tulse Hill and Streatham. Dozens of school streets projects have been completed to make pick up and drop offs safer for children and more than 300 new secure cycle parking spaces have installed.
Other the next two years the council aims to continue refocusing local streets for local people, creating more cycle lanes, better high streets, walking routes, green spaces, new Healthy Neighbourhoods in Stockwell, the South Bank and Clapham Common, more safe bike storage and more electric vehicle charging points.
