The Putney Society asks 'Is someone finally listening?'

The Society will be holding a Members’ Meeting on Thursday 23 October in the Brewer Building at Queen Mary’s Church, near Putney Bridge.

Is someone finally listening? Following our submission to the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee in June there has been a flurry of announcements:

The London Assembly has called for a larger Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) than that proposed by the Mayor, to include all London boroughs seeking to opt in and not just the inner London congestion charge zone;

A group of south London councils, Wandsworth included, have set up a new website called lovecleanair.org to promote cleaner air initiatives and provide information to residents;

TfL has confirmed that over 1,000 older London buses have now been retro-fitted with nitrogen dioxide (NO2) reducing equipment prioritised routes include those using Putney High Street;
The Mayor has announced a package of measures to improve London air quality including an additional £10 charge on diesel-engined vehicles using the planned ULEZ; and bringing in more electric buses.

As a reminder of the scale of the problem, our High Street NO2 levels were still 2½ times higher than EU limits before the bridge closed, while according to a recent Public Health England report there were an estimated 25,000 premature deaths amongst over-25s in England in 2010 (this being 5.6% of total deaths). The estimate for Wandsworth is 116 premature deaths (7.3% of the total). These estimates are based on levels of PM2.5 (minute particulates, largely from traffic emissions) where we are supposed to be WITHIN EU limits, so what these figures would look like if based on NO2, a toxic gas at high enough concentrations, is highly worrying. Our members’ meeting will seek to inform us further about the scale of the problem and what the authorities are planning to do about it.

Where & When?
7.30pm, Thursday 23rd October,
Brewer Building,
by St Mary’s Church,
Putney Bridge
SW15 1SN

Find out more about the Putney Society

September 18, 2014