Campaign group will ensure Clean Air pledges are not just hot air

From Left to Right

Victoria Secretan - CAfB steering group member

Prof Martin Williams, Kings College London, speaker

Fiona Mulaisho, CAfB Chair

Robin Sharp, CAfB Treasurer

Jennifer Barrett, Brent Council, speaker

From Clean Air for Brent

The campaign group Clean Air for Brent (CAfB) recently challenged all party leaders to pledge to clean up the borough’s dirty air in the May 2018 local elections, and has now received clean air policy statements from the four main parties. 

At a borough-wide public meeting held in Harlesden on Wednesday 18^th April, all the party statements were made available, and chair Fiona Mulaisho urged residents to think about air quality when they go to the ballot box on 3 May.  She says:

“We as residents all need to do our part, but the Council must lead us with meaningful action to reduce air pollution and enforcement to back it up. We will hold all those elected on 3 May to their promises on clean air.  Securing clean air for Brent should be the defining issue of the next 4 years.”

The party statements can all be read in full on the CAfB website HERE

Keynote speaker at the public meeting, Professor Martin Williams of Kings College London told attendees that air pollution is a significant risk factor for a number of diseases and health conditions. These include respiratory infections, heart disease, COPD, stroke and lung cancer.

The most common sources of air pollution include particulates, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and sulphur dioxide from road traffic. 

In Brent, it is estimated that at least 160 premature deaths per annum are directly attributable to air pollution, with a further unquantifiable number linked to dirty air. 

Editor's note: One rather surprising and welcome pledge is that from the Conservatives backing what has been Green Party policy for some time to divest the  Brent Pension Fund of its fossil fuel investments and ensuring that Brent makes not further investments in fossil fuels.