The Mayor’s proposed Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) needs to be “sooner, stronger and spread further” says Green MEP Jenny Jones, who calls for Boris Johnson to put funds raised by the existing Low Emission Zone towards expanding the proposed ULEZ.
Responding to the Mayor of London’s public consultation on setting up the ULEZ, London Assembly Member Jenny Jones has called for the Mayor to allocate all the money raised from the existing Low Emission Zone to help boroughs who want to join the proposed Ultra Low Emission Zone. In 2013/14, there was a net surplus of £4,358,688 raised by the London wide LEZ. The public consultation ends today.
Natalie Bennett, Darren Johnson, Jenny Jones, Shahrar Ali and Noel Lynch photographed after securing cross party support for the Low Emission Zone.
Nearly half of London’s main road network will still be over the legal limits in 2020. All of the inner London boroughs will have more than 70% of their main road network over the legal limit for NO2, despite having to originally reach compliance by 2010.
Jenny Jones said:
“The Mayor’s proposed Ultra Low Emission Zone needs to be sooner, stronger and spread further. The Mayor is excluding many London boroughs who have indicated an interest in joining the zone in 2020 and leaving large numbers of Londoners exposed to damaging levels of NO2. There are over 7,000 premature deaths in London each year linked to air pollution exposure, but there is still a reluctance by this Mayor to take the necessary action to protect people’s health. Air pollution is not confined to the boundaries of the congestion charge area, nor should the Ultra Low Emission Zone.”
”Transport for London is going to be left with a major problem in 2016, if the current Mayor continues with this watered down version of the ULEZ and the next Mayor changes everything. Motorists need time to adapt to the changes in pollution rules, but Boris Johnson is failing to generate a political consensus on the tough action required. Unless he starts listening and addressing the weaknesses with his approach, then the proposed scheme could unravel in over a year’s time.”