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A group of 65 health professionals, including GPs, respiratory specialists and public health experts, have written to Mayor Lutfur Rahman asking him to retain “improvements which have been shown to reduce overall traffic and improve air quality,” in the interest of the “health and wellbeing of all residents in the area”.
The letter, sent to the mayor today ahead of the Cabinet meeting on 20 September, where he is expected to make a decision about the future of the ‘Liveable Streets’ schemes in the area, said:
Dear Mayor Rahman
We are writing to you as a group of health and public health professionals who live or work in Tower Hamlets. We want to express our concern at the measures you are planning to take under the banner of “A Better Bethnal Green”, as well as the Brick Lane changes, which propose the removal of improvements which have been shown to reduce overall traffic and improve air quality.
While air pollution in London has reduced in recent years due to the introduction of low emissions zones, cleaner buses and better infrastructure for active travel, it remains a significant threat to the health of Londoners (1).
Air pollution is associated with a wide range of physical and mental health conditions, including stroke, asthma and dementia (2). Tower Hamlets has the fifth worst air quality in London and we know this is driving ill-health in the borough (3). In Tower Hamlets, 7% of deaths in 2021 could be attributed to particulate matter pollution (4), and the largest source of this was road transport (5).
We also know that increases in active travel, including walking to access public transport, are associated with improved physical and mental health, as well as lower environmental impact (6). Tower Hamlets has more children who are overweight than the London average, and the figures are getting worse. Adults in Tower Hamlets also at higher risk of early death from stroke and heart disease than other Londoners (7).
There is broad agreement across the political spectrum that we need to reduce dependence on cars, and that to do so we need to shift the balance so that active travel is safer, faster, easier and cheaper. When this is the case, many people freely choose active modes because they are more appealing, freeing up space on the roads for buses and those who really need to travel by car. Change won’t happen automatically, and it will set us back to remove improvements which have been shown to reduce traffic or boost walking and cycling. Local residents have also shown their support for the schemes (8).
We need you to use your power to create a safer, greener and healthier Tower Hamlets. Our health is our greatest asset – without it we cannot live our lives to the full. We call on you to reconsider – by retaining the cycle lane and road closures in Bethnal Green and Brick Lane you can promote the health and wellbeing of all residents in the area.
References:
(1) https://www.london.gov.uk/programmes-strategies/environment-and-climate-change/environment-and-climate-change-publications/air-pollution-and-inequalities-london-update-2023#:~:text=The%20most%20deprived%20communities%20of,and%20more%20markedly%20since%202016.
(2) https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/health-matters-air-pollution/health-matters-air-pollution
(3) https://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/lgnl/environment_and_waste/environmental_health/pollution/air_quality/Advanced_information_on_air_quality/What_we_are_monitoring_and_why.aspx#:~:text=The%20primary%20pollutants%20of%20concern,principally%20next%20to%20major%20roads.
(4) https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/
(5) https://democracy.towerhamlets.gov.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=112327
(6) https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/mayors-transport-strategy-2018.pdf
(7) https://democracy.towerhamlets.gov.uk/documents/s214695/230320%20Annual%20Public%20Health%20Report.pdf
(8) https://democracy.towerhamlets.gov.uk/documents/s223340/Liveable%20Streets%20Bethnal%20Green%20Consultation%20outcome%20and%20measures.pdf
About organisation
This group are a minority who are trying to change the democratic vote of the majority of residents who voted for aspire in the local elections in May 2022 overwhelmingly. This group must be silenced.