Last Monday evening I attended a public meeting on air pollution in Islington. It was well attended and a council officer praised the Green Party for getting such a good turnout. The problem with London’s air pollution is that it’s very dangerous, but we can’t see it and we can hardly smell it.
The panel take questions from the floor
At the meeting. Mapping for Change, in conjunction with the Islington Green Party, were releasing the results of a study into air pollution in and around Highbury. I can best describe these results as terrifying. A number of areas were found to have 75% or more air pollution than the EU limits. This is shocking, and though some of these results were from areas near main roads many of the quieter back streets were also above EU limits.
Mapping for Change used a basic method for getting these results but they still give a more graphic picture of air quality in the area than the results released by the council, who only use two monitoring stations. The method used enables pollution levels in specific areas to be plotted on a map which local residents can use to plan their commute to bypass highly polluted areas.
Obviously, walking a different way to work or school is a very partial solution to the problem but with Boris Johnson as Mayor there seems to be no other option. He has systematically ignored the issue even though the problem has been on the horizon for years. Even now with the imminent threat of EU fines, Boris still chooses to try to cover up the problem rather than solve it. You can read a great blog by my fellow Green Assembly Member, Darren Johnson, on how Boris has failed to deal with air pollution.
With all this said the turnout at this meeting did bring me hope. The issue is obviously important for local communities. They seem shocked that even if they live in quiet back streets themselves, their children are still subject to dangerously high levels of pollution. As Londoners we must speak up on this issue and come up with ways to solve it rather than just hide it.