Assembly examines potential of Clean Air Zone for inner London
The London Assembly’s Environment Committee today heard conflicting views on the feasibility of banning some of the most polluting vehicles from parts of London to help improve air quality in the capital.
(Media-Newswire.com) - The London Assembly’s Environment Committee today heard conflicting views on the feasibility of banning some of the most polluting vehicles from parts of London to help improve air quality in the capital.
It has been suggested that London could follow the example of Berlin and create a low emission zone to exclude pre-Euro 4 vehicles [1] from inner and central London.
Transport for London today presented a report to the Committee concluding that the social and economic costs of such a scheme would far outweigh any environmental benefits. Its feasibility report, released yesterday[2], said older vehicles are more likely to belong to low income households, small businesses and the voluntary sector.
It also said it did not consider a scheme enforced using window stickers, as Berlin does, because the UK does not have a national vehicle classification scheme based on air quality.
However Simon Birkett, of Clean Air in London, insisted that such a scheme could work in London and said the TfL research failed to consider the health impacts and costs of poor air quality, which is linked to an estimated 4,300 extra premature deaths in the capital annually[3]. He also highlighted a recent report for the City of London which showed that 2015 emissions targets were technically achievable[4].
The Committee has now agreed to contact the Government to explore further the national framework within which a London scheme could operate.
Murad Qureshi, Chair of the Environment Committee, said: “Poor air quality is a serious problem in London which is affecting people’s health and contributing to thousands of premature deaths each year.
“We have heard differing views on what could and should be done to tackle polluting vehicles. We will now pursue this with Government to establish whether a Berlin-style scheme would be possible for London.“
Notes for Editors:
Euro 4 is an emission standard for vehicles introduced by the European Commission to tackle air pollution. See the TfL feasibility study See P3 of the GLA-commissioned report by the Institute of Occupational Medicine on the health impacts of air quality in London See the report of Emission Reduction Scenarios for the City of London corporation The Chair of the Environment Committee, Murad Qureshi AM, is available for interview. See contact details below. As well as investigating issues that matter to Londoners, the London Assembly acts as a check and a balance on the Mayor. For media enquiries, please contact Julie Wheldon/Lisa Moore on 020 7983 4228/4283. For out of hours media enquiries, call 020 7983 4000 and ask for the London Assembly duty press officer. Non-media enquiries should be directed to the Public Liaison Unit on 020 7983 4100.
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