News Articles Archive - Page 37 of 148 - Cross River Partnership

The Southwark Plan 2022 was adopted by the Southwark Council Assembly on 23rd February. The plan, which replaces several older versions of development plans, sets out the vision, strategic objectives and brings together all the council’s planning policies and strategic targets for new homes, new jobs, open space and different types of development, while preserving and celebrating the borough’s history and heritage for the period 2019 to 2036. It forms the statutory development plan for the borough, along with the London Plan.

More details on the process is available in the Southwark Plan 2022 adoption statement.

Have you heard about the Mayor’s Business Climate Challenge (BCC)? The BCC, developed with support from Bloomberg Associates, is an energy efficiency programme which supports businesses to reduce their energy consumption, to accelerate building decarbonisation efforts in London.

Emissions from heating and powering London’s commercial and industrial buildings currently make up 36% of the capital’s carbon footprint.

The programme provides free support to help make buildings more energy efficient, reduce costs and support businesses on their pathway to zero carbon.

Last year, the Mayor partnered with Better Bankside BID. 19 businesses joined the BCC, agreeing to reduce their building’s energy consumption by 10% within the first year! The GLA are now looking for ten business engagement partnered to hep deliver the expanded programmes. These can be Business Improvement Districts, Climate Change Alliances and Town Teams.

This year, the BCC will support a further 250 businesses to decarbonise their buildings and reduce their energy bills. Businesses signed up so far include London Marathon Events and Paper Round.

Take a look at the BCC case study with BE.Spoke, and hear from CRP’s Air Quality Ambassador Julie Tucker here!

Find out more about the process here.

Earth Day returns this year on Friday 22nd April as we celebrate our planet and collaborate to campaign and act for the future of the Earth. This year, Earth Day’s theme is Invest In Our Planet, as we need to act (boldly), innovate (broadly), and implement (equitably).

Investing in a green, equitable and prosperous future will take public and private sector leadership across the world. CRP has shown the value of investing in projects that incorporate both public and private partners, that lead to improvements in air quality, environmental health, liveability, green infrastructure, and much more. CRP’s Clean Air Villages 4 programme shows cleaner air can be delivered for the planet’s future through ambitious freight solutions with our public and private partners.

So, this Earth Day, invest in the planet and continue to do so moving forward. As it is my partner also celebrates another year of her life on 22nd April, we will be celebrating her B-EarthDay by going to one of our favourite sustainable restaurants in London.

Contact CRP Project Manager Ross Phillips for more information.

World Health Day is on the 7th April every year, the date of the first World Health Assembly by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 1948. The day has been celebrated every year since 1950, with a different theme each time. This year, the theme is “Our Planet, Our Health” focusing on the “link between the health of our planet and the health of humans, animals, plants – all living creatures.”

This theme is aligned with Cross River Partnership’s work, especially our Clean Air Villages 4 project which, in collaboration with 26 partners, seeks to improve the air quality across different London ‘villages’, where both air pollution and population density levels are high. The WHO is calling on everyone to reimagine a world where clean air, water and food are available to all, where economies are focused on planetary and human health and well-being, and where healthy, people-centred cities, villages and communities create conditions for people to lead better lives.

After three years, the Mayor’s Air Quality funded Clean Air Thames project is coming to an end.

Despite difficulties linked to Covid-19 and a labour shortage, the participating vessels – GPS Marine Contractors’ GPS Anglia and the Port of London Authority’s Driftwood 2 – successfully completed their retrofits.

We look forward to discovering how effective the exercise has been in reducing emissions and sharing the results and lessons learned from the project over the next few months.

For more information please contact CRP Project Manager Sefinat Otaru.

CRP partner the Port of London Authority (PLA) has released the draft of its Thames Vision 2050 for consultation.

The consultation document and other information is on this webpage.

CRP is especially looking forward to continuing to work with the PLA on its Trading Thames theme. The PLA are one of the 10 partners involved in CRP’s latest Defra-funded programme – Clean Air Logistics for London (CALL). Shifting more freight deliveries into central London from road to river will have great Air Quality improvement benefits, and using zero emission cargo bikes, electric vehicles and walking freight for the last miles will help too.

The Vision consultation will close on Saturday, 30 April 2022 at midday. Feedback can be submitted via the online survey (you can find it at the end of the Vision webpage), by email, or letter, should you prefer.

There will be several public consultation events – details on the webpage above.

CRP looks forward to working with the PLA and other London partners to implement this exciting vision over the coming years.

CRP’s Healthy Streets Everyday (HSE) Programme has been running a social media campaign throughout March called #HealthyStreetsStories. The campaign celebrates all the amazing work that CRP and our partners have achieved as part of the programme, which will sadly be coming to an end at the end of the month.

The Healthy Streets Everyday Programme is a 3 year Mayor’s Air Quality funded programme that aims to make lasting and transformative change to streets throughout London using the Healthy Streets Approach. To bring this to life, the #HealthyStreetsStories campaign has included videos, photos, interviews and testimonials from people in the local community who have benefited from the different schemes.

For example, the campaign showcases HSE initiatives such as:

Play streets
Parklets
School Streets
An Ivy Green Screen
A Nature Walk
Scooter parking
Monitoring Schemes
Dr Bike Sessions
Road Closure events (Christmas markets)
Cargo Bike delivery services
Walking / wayfinding improvements
Cycle lane installations
A Pocket Park

Creating streets that are pleasant, safe places for all Londoners’ to enjoy has become more important than ever, and the #HealthyStreetsStories campaign highlights some of the fantastic ways that the HSE programme has enabled this.

Shirley Rodrigues, Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy, said “It has been great to witness the progress of Cross River Partnership’s Healthy Streets Everyday programme over the past three years. This project, supported by the Mayor’s Air Quality Fund, has helped to empower boroughs, businesses and communities to reduce emissions and exposure to toxic air through positive changes to London’s streets, including school streets, play streets and walking and cycling initiatives. I hope that the programme promotes further action towards tackling air pollution to help create a cleaner, greener city that we can all be proud of.”

For further information about the HSE Programme take a look at our HSE Webpage or contact CRP Project Manager Fiona Coull, fionacoull@crossriverpartnership.org

In early April, CRP will be releasing our new guide ‘Setting up a River Freight Project for Businesses’, which will guide businesses who are interested in using the River Thames to begin a pilot.

The guide includes a case study with DHL, who have been delivering on the river since 2018, as well as information, terminology and relevant groups and contacts which will help businesses to implement a river freight trial.

River freight can help to reduce road traffic and air pollution, as well as being more reliable and providing an easy way to access Central London.

CRP’s new Clean Air Logistics for London project, starting in July 2021, will focus on river freight and further making the underused Thames a viable route for goods coming into London.

Keep an eye out on our Twitter and Instagram where we will be launching the guide in the near future. For any more information on the guide, please contact CRP Project Officer David Ebbrell.

Last week saw the launch of new report ‘Making School Streets Healthier: Learning from Temporary and Emergency Closures’. This report was written by University of Westminster’s Active Travel Academy PhD researcher Asa Thomas and part-funded through CRP’s Healthy Streets Everyday programme.

During the pandemic, many School Streets were brought in as temporary and emergency measures across London, to aid with social distancing, improving air quality and encouraging active travel to school.

This report focuses on two School Street schemes on Fairholt Road and Rendlesham Road in the London Borough of Hackney, to evaluate their impact and effectiveness. The research utilised Vivacity’s monitoring tools to provide spatial, vehicular and time data to examine how the area was used and the changes over time as a result of the School Street.

The report finds that School Streets lead to significant reductions in traffic both during the closure time and over the whole day, a minimal change in pedestrian numbers and use of space and improvements in several Healthy Streets indicators. It also provided recommendations for enhancing the positive aspects of School Streets.

Read the full report and all of its recommendations here. For more information on the Healthy Streets Everyday programme, please contact CRP Project Manager Fiona Coull.

Cross River Partnership (CRP) and London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham are providing businesses with a FREE opportunity to monitor and assess their fleet for electric vehicle (EV) suitability.

As part of the Clean Air Villages 4 (CAV4) project, CRP is collaborating with Geotab to provide businesses with telematic dongle devices in order to carry out a free EV suitability assessment. This is a personalised report highlighting whether switching to an EV is a suitable option for your business.

If you are interested in understanding more, please complete our short Electric Vehicle Survey  or email CRP stating your interest. We will then send you a free telematic dongle(s) to use for three months to monitor your vehicles’ driving speeds, distances, daily mileages, times, and parking locations. This data will provide a unique insight into your delivery vehicle needs, helping to identify whether your business would benefit from purchasing an EV, or from using a shared EV option.

Following the monitoring, you will be provided with your own personalised EV suitability assessment report. This is a personalised report highlighting whether your business can switch to an EV and assisting you with the first steps of your EV procurement process.

For more information, please contact CRP Project Officer Isidora Rivera Vollmer.

Archives: News Articles

Southwark Council Approves Sustainable Plan

Business Climate Challenge Prospectus and Application now live!

Celebrate Earth Day this year on Friday 22nd April

World Health Day

Clean Air Thames Complete

Thames Vision 2050

#HealthyStreetsStories Roundup

River Freight Guide for Businesses Launched in April

New Healthy Streets Everyday Report Launched

Hammersmith and Fulham Businesses Invited to Use FREE Dongles