Air pollution harming schoolchildren

[Inthepink]

We at Southwark Greens are concerned about the high levels of pollution near schools in Southwark. We have an ongoing campaign to let the council know how strongly locals feel about the issue.

As a part of this, we are asking Southwark Council to urgently reduce air pollution on main roads near schools. This is needed to protect the health of children and staff. We are also asking them to measure the levels of air pollution near affected schools, and to help the schools to take steps to protect children and staff.

To help get the council action needed, we have an online petition to sign before Wed 2nd April at http://tiny.cc/swkpetition

Air pollution is now one of the leading causes of early death. Young people are particularly vulnerable because their lungs are still developing. It?s estimated that traffic pollution may be responsible for 15-30% of all new cases of asthma in children. Yet there are 48 schools in Southwark within 150 metres of roads that carry over 10,000 vehicles a day.

Children, the elderly and people with existing respiratory illness suffer most from air pollution, but we?re all affected. A study commissioned by the Mayor of London estimated that 4,267 Londoners died prematurely in 2008 as a result of long-term exposure to polluted air ? mostly through heart attacks and strokes.

Thank you for your support. Southwark Greens

[hpsaucey]

Have signed - hope you get the number of signatures you need!

H

[AbDabs]

This is a great idea but how are Southwark going to reduce air pollution near schools?

Will it involve banning cars near schools?

It would be a great idea if everyone walked their children to school rather than driving (and leaving their engines running while they drop off and collect) but I can't see that going down very well with a lot of the parents.

[Burbage]

AbDabs Wrote:

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> It would be a great idea if everyone walked their

> children to school rather than driving (and

> leaving their engines running while they drop off

> and collect) but I can't see that going down very

> well with a lot of the parents.

No. But the smoking ban didn't go down very well with a lot of smokers. Exactly the same principle, though.

But, really, banning motor traffic 'near schools' would effectively mean banning motor traffic entirely. I can see the benefits of that, not least for the handcart industry. However, because we live in a democracy, we have no choice but to tolerate the antics of the thoughtless and lazy, so it's really a non-starter. Which is why our efforts are currently spent setting incrementally stricter limits on the emissions of vehicles in the hope that nobody will notice enough to complain.

A more robust alternative, which I may have suggested before, would be to pro-actively protect children by removing them from the sources of harm. With our current population and its projected rate of growth, it would be possible for the forseeable future to accommodate, educate and maintain all children up to the age of eighteen on the Isle of Wight. Such a strategy would neatly solve the problems of busy roads, childcare costs, the postcode lottery of schooling, the school run, inequalities of opportunity and, most importantly, abolish much of the need for spare bedrooms. As yet, sadly, no government has seen fit to shine its face upon the idea. But hope, as they say, springs eternal.

[Jessie]

How is this going to work with schools on a main road?

[Nigello]

FYI, Goodrich School had a section of the road outside its railings zig-zagged until last year. Now it is zig-zag free. I have no idea why the council has seen fit to remove them, especially as they used to employ wardens to prevent cars from parking there illegally. Far too many cars come to drop off and collect kids. They can't live that far away from Goodrich, can they?

[Loz]

AbDabs Wrote:

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> Will it involve banning cars near schools?

How about we move all schools in Southwark to the Outer Hebrides? Problem solved.

Actually, a number of problems solved now I think about it.

[UncleBen]

Lets put a big plastic bubble envelope around all schools! Sheesh! The clowns have got a lot to answer for! Maybe if all the 4x4 driving parents allowed little Timmy to walk to the prep air quality at school would improve. Oh, hang on what about elsewhere the kids go-oxygen tanks strapped to their backs?

[uncleglen]

Most people 'care' about the environment but don't change their lifestyle unless they have to by laws or bye-laws. There has been an increase in the use of 4x4 and other large engined cars which drink fuel (a finite resource). 20 mph limits mean that cars are in 3rd gear and use more petrol. Most people drive short distances and their catalytic converter does not reach it's operating temperature and so pollution is not reduced there either.

I gave up my car for 3 years when I was a member of Friends of the Earth and then I found out that Jonathon Porritt was flying all round the globe with his entourage- no mate- there is nothing like a bit of hypocrisy to make you wake up and smell the coffee with it's attendant carbon footprint!

[Huguenot]

I'm fascinated to discover the solution that Southwark Greens propose to solve this crisis.

The practicality and applicability of their solution will go a long way to resolve outstanding questions I have about the role of the Greens in modern society - tin foil hat loons or progressive capable politicians that deserve a vote.

I look forward to finding out.

(BTW a failure to propose any workable solution to this challenge puts the needle in the 'loon' camp)

[computedshorty]

Are you becoming a bit of an alarmist at your Green Party about polution.

We had to put up with this, if you did then you have cause to put forward your ideas.

I would be more alarmed that a motorist could not see what the Crossing man has writen on his board.

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

As I live opposite a school, forgive me if I don't sign up.

However, show me where the online petition for the IOW Kibbutz is and I'll happily put my name to it.

[dulwichtoo]

And those that sign up will hopefully be abandoning their cars for their kids to ensure consistency and uber safety.

http://www.lead.org.au/lanv3n2/lanv3n2-9.html

Boris is right on this one.

[Marmora Man]

computedshorty Wrote:

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> Are you becoming a bit of an alarmist at your

> Green Party about polution.

> We had to put up with this, if you did then you

> have cause to put forward your ideas.

> I would be more alarmed that a motorist could not

> see what the Crossing man has writen on his board.

I remember being sent home from school in East London due to one of the last ever smogs - would have been 1957 / 58 I think. It was so thick that we had to run our hands along the garden walls to find our way home.

BTW - back then it was seen as OK that I was led home under the guardianship of an older pupil, who was 8 or 9, to my 5. Most parents didn't deliver or collect children from local schools in those days.

[bodsier]

Ah this is an interesting one, 'temporarily renting' accommodation near a preferred school then moving back to a more affordable area further away would inevitably give rise to having to drive your child into school would it not? I fear this petition could open up a can of worms......

[Inthepink]

It's good to see we all care about air pollution and the harm it can do to the children exposed. There are some very practical steps that can be taken to mitigate the harm - eg re-positioning play grounds, planting vegetation to absorb chemicals, road glue patches, traffic calming and more.

There's more in-depth info to read online at http://dulwichonview.org.uk/2013/01/25/smog-hits-our-green-lungs-once-again/

Please do continue to support our e-petition - we only need a few more signatures to reach the 500 required by Tues 2nd April.

http://moderngov.southwarksites.com/mgEPetitionDisplay.aspx?ID=50000022&RPID=500504125&HPID=500504125

There is also a paper petition you can sign in the Blue Mountain Cafe, Se22. Thank you. Southwark Greens

[mynamehere]

Another 387 signatures are needed for this to be "discussed" at a cabinet meeting. Amazing that Southwark cabinet councillors need to be "told" to discuss this and shame on the people who belittle this post. If you find it so uninteresting that all you can do is mock and jeer then don't read it.

The people who drive to primaries should be told to STOP. This conversation has been going on for 20 years. Walking buses, green routes are well established but a large minority have no idea that the world has moved on. Schools should have "extended hours" serving breakfast so working parents might have a quality walk a few hundred metres looking and talking starting children's days with thinking and talking and love and then leaving their kids for a good breakfast and or play and getting off on their own working day thinking how wonderful their kids are and how nice it is to have quiet/ quality time with them first thing.

What a terrible way to start the day with late chaos driving replete with horrible manners. I live near a primary and drivers pull onto my forecourt because they're rushed and it's convenient. I invite them in to look through my closets and rooms for anything else that they might find of use.

It is NOT a "nanny" state to talk about better ways to use common resources.

[bodsier]

Not dismissing the idea myself, I haven't done my research on suggested ideas so wouldn't dream of it. One of the factors brought to my attention when choosing schools was their close proximity to main roads and phone masts.... like I said, a whole can of worms...

[Huguenot]

So InThePink, you're suggesting that....?

[Inthepink]

Just for everyone's info, we have over 250 paper signatures to add to the electronic ones, to reach our quota.

Please do sign if you would like Southwark Council to start monitoring and tackling the problem. Thank you,

[Marmora Man]

Inthepink Wrote:

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> Just for everyone's info, we have over 250 paper

> signatures to add to the electronic ones, to reach

> our quota.

> Please do sign if you would like Southwark Council

> to start monitoring and tackling the problem.

> Thank you,

In summary ITP you appear to be proposing that "someone should do something" but have no specific suggestions or proposals to make. If I've misread this then please let me know what should be done.

[edhistory]

How much will it cost to have this "petition" discussed?

John K

[likansuk269]

WHY DONT WE ALL JUST GET RID OF OUR CARS AND USE LONDON TRANSPORT....ANSWER COZ ITS CRAP...

[Penguin68]

Amazing that Southwark cabinet councillors need to be "told" to discuss this and shame on the people who belittle this post

1. Air quality in London has substantially improved over a relatively short time - I too remember the last smog, and I also remember how most surfaces were constantly grimy. Although, obviously, air quality could improve further the low hanging fruit have now all been plucked - a huge expense and disruption would be required to significantly (so we actually noticed) further reduce the problem - over and above the continuing impovement to e.g. reducing car emissions already being planned in to new vehicles.

2. The council cabinet is made up of mainly part-time elected members who already commit a lot of time to discussing stuff - hopefuly stuff where they can reasonably make a difference - it's not clear, worthy as the idea of improving air quality actually is whether that is the best use of the limited resource of their time that we have access to.

3. If they are obliged by this petition to discuss the issue, other than deploring poor quality air, I doubt whether much will come of it - the amount of resources and leverage required to make any noticeable difference are far more than a cash-strapped local council has at their disposal. And the time taken up will (may) mean that something they could actually make a difference about will go undiscussed.

So - I do think that this exercise is about political flag waving and not about anything which can be done practically by Southwark council.

Frankly, my asthma is triggered by the clouds of rape and other pollens which come blowing in from Kent - perhaps the greens can propose paving over the fields and stopping this nuisance and (indeed) damaging incursion into my life. It is the countryside in spring and summer which blights my breathing, not cars.

[ellabrunswick]

Woke up this morning, put on my tin foil hat, munched a bowl of hand-knitted muesli and thought I'd have a go at Huguenot's challenge ("I'm fascinated to discover the solution that Southwark Greens propose to solve this crisis").

First, is Southwark Green Party being 'alarmist' as computedshorty suggests? No, I don't think so. Air pollution is now the second cause of early death after smoking. Computedshorty points out that you can't see modern air pollution, unlike the smogs of the 1950s, but that doesn't mean it's not there. 4,000 people died in the 1952 Great Smog. Now, as many die each year through heart attack and stroke caused by air pollution (according to the Mayor of London's study quoted by Inthepink at the top). I'm afraid this Guardian article starts with Justin Bieber, but once you get past that, it's pretty good: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/mar/19/uk-air-pollution-health-crisis

I'm not writing on behalf of Southwark Green Party, and I don't have 'the solution'. I don't think there is one single solution. The one-off answers seem to be suggested by people who just want to knock them down, to say: Ban driving - well that's never going to happen, is it? No, it's not. But a 15% reduction in car journeys? More possible. Have you ever heard a parent say they *love* doing the school run by car? So if it felt safe and normal for children to walk or cycle to school, parents might be happy to stop driving the mile or half mile along rush hour East Dulwich streets...?

To make it safe and normal to walk or cycle takes lots of small changes - but a council is in a good position to oversee lots of actions in different areas (e.g. Transport Dept - putting in cycle lanes, making junctions safer, putting cycle stands and hangars on streets; Housing - installing cycle lockers on estates; Education - putting cycle + scooter sheds in schools). And councils are (from April) responsible for Public Health. That's why I think it is worth asking Southwark council to discuss this issue.

Here are some of the other approaches that are being talked about more widely: lobby TfL to convert buses to cleaner fuel (they did it in Putney http://www.richardtracey.co.uk/newsdisplay.php/2012-03-30/85_of_putney_high_street_buses_will_be_cleaner_by_2013); ban the oldest diesel engines from London; return to a stricter emissions testing schedule for taxis; discourage idling by coaches, delivery vans etc; plant hedges of pollution-absorbing plants... But I'd better stop before Huguenot gets distracted from the solutions by my tin-foil hat!