Car dominated streets threaten most vulnerable
Lambeth Council is ambitious for our borough when it comes to creating neighbourhoods that are fairer and fit for the future, with a big transformation programme underway. We know that the impacts of climate change such as flooding and extreme heat are already affecting us, that these issues are going to get worse, and those with least are most impacted.
Our most disadvantaged communities suffer most from poor air quality and poor health outcomes. Extreme heat presents a serious risk to our older populations. In Lambeth around 100 deaths each year are attributed to poor air quality, and across the capital this costs the NHS between £1.4billion and £3.7 billion a year.
Our car dominated streets deny people with disabilities the opportunity to move around their area safely and with confidence, children opportunities to play and present serious danger with hundreds of people killed and seriously injured in collisions every year.
Because we have too many hard surfaces some of our streets regularly flood. Some parts of Lambeth only have 10 per cent tree cover meaning too little shelter from extreme heat and making flooding more likely.
In our inner London borough, where according to 2021 census data only 40 per cent of households have access to a car, we want to make our streets much more accessible, useable, and fairer for everyone, while also making them fit for the future.
Lambeth believes big structural changes are needed to achieve that, and we are putting in place the building blocks for what we want to achieve.
In January 2019, Lambeth Council was the first London borough to declare a climate and ecological emergency and committed to ensuring the council’s operations are net zero by 2030.
In 2020 we held a Citizen’s Assembly where residents told us they wanted it to be easier to walk, cycle, and wheel around Lambeth.
During those discussions residents said they wanted more space for socialising, including safe spaces for children to run and play and greener streets. This shaped our Climate Action Plan (CAP) which launched in 2021.
Reaching our CAP goals will help to achieve other benefits including better jobs and training, boost the local economy, improve mental and physical wellbeing and cleaner air.
Our goal to become net zero compatible by 2030 will be defined by our priorities: adaptation; buildings and energy; transport; waste, consumption and food; and biodiversity and environmental quality.
With changing weather patterns our infrastructure, habitats and communities are at risk from higher temperatures, increased rainfall, and unpredictable weather. In January 2023 Lambeth launched the borough’s Kerbside Strategy, setting out how the kerbside will support the borough’s response to the climate emergency, tackle inequality and enable a wide range of other strategic objectives such as clean air.
In Lambeth, kerbside space is equivalent to 194 football pitches, and we have set out how 25 per cent of this space will be reallocated to support resilience to climate change such space for trees, rain gardens and parklets. Currently 94 per cent of the kerbside is used for car parking so this strategy sets out principles for the kerbside, including pricing.
Our greatest use of energy is in heating and powering our buildings, and best-practice climate action requires us to reduce energy demand by retrofitting buildings to be warmer, more efficient, and comfortable. So, by responding to our Citizen Assembly calls to focus on “retrofits” for low-income residents this means more comfortable, healthier, warmer, and cheaper-to-heat homes.
Emissions from transport make up almost a quarter of the total emissions from the borough, mainly from cars on our roads. Shifting how we travel towards walking, cycling and public transport, means that we can reduce car traffic, reduce congestion, and improve our air quality. For those that still need a car, a switch to electric or other zero-emissions fuels will help to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions within the borough, as will last mile deliveries via cargo bikes.
Meanwhile, every purchase we make drives demand for production, which increases emissions. Whenever we create waste, there is a climate impact; not only in the energy and emissions generated in producing the thing we are disposing, but also how it is disposed of.
In collaboration with Urban Food growing projects such as Incredible Edible Lambeth and Pan-London food waste campaigns we will help to reduce our consumption and by switching to lower carbon goods, we hope to have an even greater influence on the emissions within and beyond Lambeth.
The climate crisis is also entangled with the ecological crisis, with biodiversity plummeting globally. Green space and nature help to lower temperatures and provide clean air, support local wildlife, and absorb rainfall to reduce flood risk.
We want to ensure that as we tackle climate change, we also improve environmental quality and increase biodiversity in Lambeth, by investing in sustainable urban drainage systems, the biggest tree planting programme in Lambeth’s history, a Biodiversity Action Plan, No Mow May among a multitude of community led initiatives.
We know that the costs of inaction are far greater than taking action and in Lambeth we understand that we have a vital leadership role in helping to bring together different organisations and communities.
We need clear direction from central government which, so far, has been lacking. We know that if we do not reduce emissions and take action to adapt our neighborhoods and way of life, we will all feel the effects right here in Lambeth on our economy, our health, and our prosperity.
The actions we take over the next seven years will define our future and if we do not take decisive measures now, then our successors will need to take much more drastic measures in the future.
Rezina Chowdhury is Deputy Leader of Lambeth Council (Sustainable Lambeth and Clean Air) with responsibility for action on the climate, ecological emergency and advancing sustainable mobilities. Rezina has represented Streatham Hill East since 2014.
