‘Please think about our children’s health before you oppose ULEZ.’

Havering Climate Coalition activist and member of Romford Quakers, Ruth Kettle-Frisby today writes in the Havering Daily.

On Wednesday 16th November – during the time of COP27 – we were delighted to welcome our guest speaker, Jemima Hartshorn, founder of Mums for Lungs (https://www.mumsforlungs.org/about-air-pollution) to our third Havering Green Forum.  Jemima spoke for around 30 minutes and packed in a lot of illuminating information about air pollution.  The truth was sobering to say the least.  As member of Havering Cyclists and HCC, Tim Stout, pointed out, ‘there are a lot of readily available apps you can get for your phone that use the DEFRA (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-environment-food-rural-affairs) system to alert at levels when sensitive people need to take avoiding action. But the point is that people are at risk even if the DEFRA levels are never exceeded.’  Jemima endorses the use of the ‘Address Pollution’ simple website and online tool: ‘the most detailed and accurate national model ever created(https://addresspollution.org/)’ , which monitors air pollution in Havering according to World Health Organisation (WHO) standards.

Indeed, we learned just how pertinent the word ‘health’ is in this conversation, and the results might well surprise you.  Outside our Town Hall in Romford, levels of air pollution are in the 95th national percentile; the situation simply doesn’t get much worse than it is here.

Mums for Lungs was formed by mums for parents, but why? Don’t we all suffer from air pollution? We do: Jemima explained that there are 36,000 premature deaths per year in the UK; 4,000 in London alone. Air pollution increases our risk of cardiac arrest, heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, bronchitis and asthma.  However the evidence is clear that high pollution episodes affect children the most, increasing hospital – including maternity unit – admissions. Air pollution can permanently damage children’s bodies, stunting lung development such that children grow up with much smaller lungs. It also impacts mental health and causes reduced cognitive performance. If you think about it, children are lower to the ground where exhaust pipes are, but they also suffer more because they breathe quicker than we do, and take in more polluted air in proportion to their body weight.

There is also the inevitable element of local climate justice to take very seriously here, when we think about the inequality with which people are impacted by air pollution.  Non-White communities and people who live in areas with higher levels of deprivation – who are often those who can’t afford to drive – are more likely to be exposed to air pollution.  So people who contribute the least to toxic fumes are more likely to suffer from its effects, hence the social injustice.

For readers interested in the science of pollutants, the main offenders are Nitrogen Dioxide (NO₂) and particulate matter (PM2.5/PM10). Diesel is the biggest source of NO₂, and quite simply, we believe this needs to go for the sake of our children’s health. Particulate matter is especially insidious; caused by break dust, tyre wear, and domestic wood-burning in particular, particulates that are too small to be filtered out by our lungs.  They are carried to our bloodstreams, which take them to our brains – and they’ve even been found in placentas!

I think you’ll agree, the reality is gravely worrying, and the picture is much worse than many of us have been made aware of. This is why we, as Havering Climate Coalition, alongside Havering Council, who showed their support at last night’s Green Forum, are passionate about working together to do our bit and help to clean up our air in Havering.

When it comes to strategies, ULEZ – which has been strongly opposed by both residents and cabinet members in Havering – is strongly recommended by Mums for Lungs.  The goal is to get cars off the road and to improve local infrastructure for active travel. The facts are clear, we need to move around more, and we need to reduce toxic carbon emissions for the health of our children, elderly and minority communities, and for the planet during a climate crisis.  

According to the London Cycling Campaign, ‘[t]he existing ULEZ zone has already reduced NO₂ levels in central London by half. We urgently need to do this across London to make it safer for people cycling, walking and wheeling, to improve air quality, and to meet targets for a liveable climate (https://lcc.org.uk/news/the-ulez-expansion-explained/)’. Ian Pirie – coordinator of Havering Friends of the Earth – rightly acknowledged the hostility towards ULEZ expansion in Greater London.  While I appreciate these concerns (people are understandably worried about rising costs – especially during the cost of living crisis as winter approaches – and certain residents take these proposals personally, feeling punished by the charges as motorists). However, it is my contention that the culture needs to change – not because I want to blame motorists or make life harder – but because the alternative entails a health crisis that is much worse, and ultimately simply not sustainable. It’s worth remembering that the vast majority of cars in Greater London (82%) are already ULEZ compliant, and there would absolutely need to be a decent scrappage scheme for ULEZ to work – with sensible exemptions.  Saying that, even as a coalition we are divided about ULEZ, and instead of arguing interminably about this, there is a growing awareness that the conversation needs to shift:

If you are against ULEZ expansion, ask yourself ‘If not ULEZ, then what?’; and if you are for it, ‘ULEZ and what else?’.

The resounding answer from Jemima, cabinet members, officers and residents alike was the ‘School Streets Initiative’ (http://schoolstreets.org.uk/). There are already ten School Streets (which essentially closes school roads during pick-up and drop-off times to prevent toxic fumes, including from idling) in place in Havering, and we strongly recommend rolling these out further, perhaps affording priority to schools on main roads, and – as an advocate for children with disabilities myself – those specialising in SEND education.  Havering Cyclists remain vocal in their campaign for suitable infrastructure for active travel, including more cycle lanes and there are further possibilities to pursue, such as implementing higher parking charges that could fund transport improvements. 

I understand that people don’t want to pay more or feel penalised by relying on their cars, but I argue that in the face of a multifaceted public health crisis – including the cost of living, energy, climate and health crisis of air pollution, something’s got to give and nothing is more valuable than our children’s health.