LAST Thursday marked Clean Air Day and improving air quality is, of course, a top priority for Kingston Council. We have already launched an Air Quality Action Plan and are committed to making the council carbon neutral by 2030. Our action plan was developed after the council initiated a citizens’ assembly on clean air where members of the public gathered evidence and provided recommendations about how we could improve Kingston’s air quality.

We are also continuing to invest in Active Travel initiatives to encourage more cycling and walking in the borough as well as piloting several more School Streets schemes and we have just launched a consultation on the installation of new electric vehicle charging points.

While we support any initiative that aims to improve air quality for current and future generations it is important that these initiatives are sensitive to the impact they may have on people’s daily lives. That is why I would like to encourage as many of the borough’s residents and businesses as possible to have their say through the consultation on the Mayor of London’s proposals to extend the Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ).

The mayor, Sadiq Khan, introduced the ULEZ in April 2019 and the boundary of the zone was only extended to include neighbouring Richmond last October. It now covers all the areas within London’s North and South Circular roads. However, the mayor’s new proposals would see it covering the whole of our borough from August next year.

The ULEZ means drivers of the most polluting vehicles have to pay £12.50 a day to drive in the zone. Toxic air caused by traffic is still leading to children growing up with stunted lungs and nearly 4,000 premature deaths a year.

While improving London’s air quality is of critical importance, it is also crucial that this is in balance with the impact people are currently experiencing from the cost of living crisis. The impact of the proposed extension of the ULEZ is likely to be significant for many residents and businesses. We all have very different lives and we are all being affected by the cost of living crisis in different ways. That is why it is so important that as many views as possible are captured in this consultation.

I welcome that the ULEZ proposals include introducing a scrappage scheme to help Londoners on low incomes, disabled Londoners and businesses. In the current economic climate, it is vital that this and any other support genuinely reaches as many people as possible who will be adversely impacted.

While we welcome initiatives that aim to improve air quality for current and future generations it is important that these initiatives are sensitive to the impact they may have on people’s daily lives. That is why I would like to encourage as many of the borough’s residents and businesses as possible to have their say through the consultation on the Mayor of London’s proposals to extend the Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ).