London
needs a comprehensive plan to bring its air within legal limits as soon
as possible, using every tool at our disposal, the Green Party mayoral
candidate said today.
With air pollution estimated to cause
more than 9,500 premature deaths in London every year, Sian Berry lists a
wide range of actions that she would carry out as Mayor to comply with
air pollution laws by 2020 at the absolute latest.
Immediate measures include enforcement of
the existing ban on idling for parked vehicles, a higher congestion
charge for all but the cleanest vehicles in Central London, and
accelerating the programme of replacing diesel buses with hybrids and
electric vehicles.
In the longer term, she will create a
much larger Ultra Low Emission Zone, write much stronger car-free
policies into the London Plan, commission a cleaner version of the ‘New
Bus for London’ and expand the electric car charging network to create
25,000 charging points.
Sian Berry said:
Sixty years after the Clean Air Act
helped put an end to the deadly smogs that came from coal fires and
power stations, we are now faced with a comparable problem.
The time for half-hearted efforts to
clean up our polluted air and ensure compliance with existing laws is
past. If I’m elected Mayor I will immediately exclude the most polluting
cars, vans and lorries from central London, and speed up the switchover
to make all new buses and taxis zero-emission. I will cancel
road-building plans and oppose all airport expansion.
I also believe in telling Londoners the
truth, and I will provide warnings about bad air days so people can
protect their health by cutting car use and avoiding outdoor exercise.
In the longer term we need an effective
new Ultra Low Emission Zone to keep polluting diesel vehicles out of
London, along with fair charges on motoring to reduce traffic levels.
That’s the only way we can bring pollution down to levels that we can
genuinely describe as ‘quality air’.
The full details of her policies are:
Immediate action:
- Tighten up the standards on the
current Londonwide Low Emission Zone for vans and make sure they are
properly enforced through vehicle checks, with enforcement of the
existing ban on idling for parked vehicles.
- Introduce a higher congestion
charge for all but the cleanest vehicles in central London, to create a
Very Low Emission Zone. This will ensure that where drivers have a
choice of vehicle they never bring polluting cars into London and
provide a strong incentive for London’s car owners either to give up
their vehicles or to change to petrol or hybrid cars as quickly as
possible. We will invite boroughs to opt in some or all of their area to
expand this zone into illegally polluted parts of inner and outer
London.
- Accelerate the programme of
replacing diesel buses with hybrids and electric vehicles, ensuring the
entire fleet is moved to these technologies by 2020 at the latest and
that the Ultra Low Emission Zone can be extended to all of London
without affecting bus services.
- Maintain and extend scrappage
grants and loan schemes for black cab drivers so that all their vehicles
are zero-emissions capable by 2018, ensuring there is a suitable
charging infrastructure for them to run on electric power in all areas
of inner London at least.
- Join car owners and those affected
by high air pollution in bringing legal action against car makers for
cheating on their emissions tests and misleading all of us about the
pace of change in the pollution caused by our vehicles.
- Begin consultation immediately on
introducing emergency traffic reduction measures to protect Londoners
from the worst air pollution days we currently experience.
- Lobby government for a scrappage
scheme for all diesel vehicles, and changes to Vehicle Excise Duty and
the new Roads Fund to encourage Londoners to give up car ownership by
switching to walking, cycling, public transport, car clubs or at least
low- or zero-emission vehicles.
Longer term plans:
- Begin consultation immediately on a
scheme to replace the ULEZ that will cover all of London and be
effective in complying with the law. This could be combined with the new
traffic demand management scheme we will develop to replace the
Congestion Charge.
- Put much stronger car-free housing
policies in the London Plan to support the trend for lower car ownership
in both inner and outer London. This will be supported by our transport
policies to improve public transport and make living without a car
easier in all parts of our city.
- Ensure all planning applications
are air quality neutral, requiring new developments to reduce air
pollution in the most heavily polluted areas.
- Oppose all road and airport
expansion in the South East and London, as well as putting together
proposals for City Airport to be closed and replaced with a new city
quarter for homes and businesses, working with local authorities,
businesses, developers, large and small, along with academic and
cultural institutions.
- Revisit plans for the ‘New Bus for
London’ to explore a number of newer, more accessible, higher capacity
and cleaner versions of the new design, more suitable for Londoners’
varied needs.
- Ensure the electric car charging network is properly maintained and funded and aim to expand it to provide 25,000 charging points across London.
- Develop further electric vehicle
charging networks for vans, car clubs and private cars in local areas in
collaboration with local councils.
NB Sian will reveal plans to promote
walking and cycling in her forthcoming People-Friendly Streets
manifesto. This will complement the public transport policies she has
already announced – flattening the fare zones, making travelcards fairer
for part-timers and allowing interchange between different modes of
public transport at no extra cost – which are also designed to reduce
private car dependency.
