Poor air quality is leading to premature deaths, says Lib Dem Councillor Linda Wade
March 8, 2011 9:12 AM
By Councillor Linda Wade in Kensington & Chelsea Chronicle
By Councillor Linda Wade in Kensington & Chelsea Chronicle
TfL must put residents first says Earl's Court councillor Linda Wade
Current levels of air pollution cause over 1,000 premature deaths a year and affect hundreds of thousands more, particularly the very young, the elderly and those with conditions such as asthma, and road transport is a major contributor to air pollution.
Five monitoring stations are being removed in RBKC, the reason given is the removal of the Congestion Charge area, despite the fact that the red routes (Earls Court one-way system) remain in place.
The Earls Court Road and Cromwell Road junction has been identified as one of the most polluted in Europe due to the volume of large lorries, buses and general vehicles.
Air quality in this area, with residential properties on these roads, routinely breaches national and European limit values for particulates and currently seems certain to do so for nitrogen dioxide from 2010.
These high levels have serious health effects.
This decision clearly demonstrates a lack of understanding of the pre-existing poor air quality in parts of the borough, particularly in Earls Court, and it would appear that this cost cutting initiative is going to cost the health and well-being of many of our residents.
It begs the question, when are measures going to be put in place that actively reduce pollution, and when are TfL going to put their residents first?
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