Nitrogen Dioxide episodes down by 80% over three years

Putney High Street

Newly released monitoring data is presenting a more encouraging view of Putney High Street’s air quality with ‘episodes’ of excessive levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) pollution down sharply between 2012 and 2015. The Council claim that the fall is down to measures previously taken to improve air quality and have now approved a new range of pollution reduction measures.

The number of times the hourly nitrogen dioxide limit was breached on the high street’s building façade monitoring station has fallen from 1726 in 2012, to 336 in 2015. The report by King’s College London suggests that Putney High Street has now seen a bigger improvement in air quality than anywhere else in London. The levels of fine particles (PM10) have remained within EU limits since testing began in 2009. We have asked to see more detailed data from the report but have yet to receive it.

The figures do not represent a clean bill of health for the High Street as even after this improvement it was the first road in the country this year to breach annual limits for NO2, a toxic gas produced by diesel vehicles that has been linked to respiratory and heart problems. The annual limits for exceedences of this type of pollutant were breached within the first week of the year. Councillors accept there is still a long way to go before air quality levels reach a safe and acceptable level while welcoming the new data.

The Council say that fall in pollution coincides with the introduction of cleaner buses along the street which were put into service after a research project exposed the bus fleet as the primary source of nitrogen dioxide build ups. At peak times more than 100 buses use this relatively narrow road every hour. Improvements to the street layout and traffic signals have also been made to ease queuing and restrictions on delivery vehicles stopping to unload have also been introduced to reduce congestion further.

Deputy council leader Jonathan Cook said: “We’ve made good progress on Putney High Street but now is the time to intensify our efforts here and in other pollution hotspots. That’s why we have approved a series of new council-led initiatives and we want TfL and the new Mayor of London to work with us on a series of new partnership interventions like establishing Putney as London’s first ‘clean bus corridor’ used exclusively by ultra low emission buses including hydrogen powered models.

“The council has installed the city’s most sophisticated and comprehensive pollution and traffic monitoring system on this high street so there is no better place to trial new measures and prove they can work. It will be some time before the plans for an Ultra Low Emission Zone are finalised and we are committed to maintaining the momentum we’ve made in Putney.”

New pollution reduction measures approved by the council include:

· The council’s civil enforcement officers are to be granted new powers to fine drivers for vehicle idling. These powers can apply to bus, taxi, private hire and commercial drivers, as well as members of the public.
· Expanding the council’s air quality awareness campaign, including the creation of a new Air Quality Champions team made up of trained community volunteers.
· Working with other London boroughs and Kings College London through the London Low Emission Construction Partnership to reduce the air quality impacts from building work.
· A new partnership with Southwark, Croydon and Lambeth councils has been set up to reduce the number of deliveries serving the authorities and to examine the case for creating a freight consolidation centre.

These new measures will supplement air quality projects already underway across Wandsworth, which include new air quality monitoring stations, supporting car clubs (Wandsworth now has the highest car club membership in London) and banning day-time deliveries on Putney High Street.

In addition the Mayor of London is planning a new Ultra Low Emissions Zone which will include all of Putney north of the Upper Richmond Road and in which older more polluting vehicles will have to pay a daily charge to enter.

The Mayor recently announced extra funding for air quality improvements in 'hot-spots' around the capital but Wandsworth's bid to participate did not succeed with the Mayor's office preferring other bids.

You can read the full report on new air quality measures on the council’s website.

August 5, 2016