Greens believe that the Thames Gateway development will not be sustainable without the Green Grid, a vast network of existing and new green space which link parks, commons and nature reserves across town centres and major residential and commercial areas.
Phase One of the Grid (mapping and establishing principles) has been funded by the London Development Agency and should be complete in November 2003. The Mayor confirmed that the scale of work necessary to implement the Green Grid would cost £447 million, equivalent to a major transport infrastructure project.
Noel said, “The Green Grid has the potential to transform the London Thames Gateway into a really attractive area. It has the power simultaneously to raise quality of life, stimulate regeneration and investment, encourage mixed use communities, and address climate change issues such as flood management.”
Green Deputy Mayor, Jenny Jones, is pressing the Mayor’s Office to lobby government for the scale of funds needed to deliver the Green Grid. Recent funding allocations, as part of the government’s Sustainable Communities Plan, have been massively below requirements.
Jenny said, “If the government is serious about sustainable communities it has got to recognise the importance of major environmental improvement in the form of the Green Grid and find proper funding not just peanuts.”
ENDS
Notes for Editors1. The Green Grid Network would· provide high quality, publicly accessible open space at the strategic level;· promote demand-led green routeway connections between green spaces, town centers, residential areas, schools, and places of work;· enhance ecology;· establish a coherent urban form;· improve flood management;· ameliorate adverse effects of urban micro-climates and pollution;· contribute to achieving economic and social regeneration through attracting investment, businesses and skills training.2. The Green Grid has been promoted by the Thames Gateway London Partnership. 3. Only £4.5m worth of environmental projects submitted through the Sustainable Communities, Making it Happen announcement in June, were supported (out of £14.5 million worth of projects submitted).