News Articles Archive - Page 76 of 148 - Cross River Partnership

Road transport accounts for over 20% of the UK’s total energy consumption [1] and 25% of the total greenhouse gas emissions [2].

In July 2018, the Government set out its long-term strategy to deliver zero emissions from road transport in The Road to Zero. This includes an ambition that all new cars and vans would be effectively zero emission by 2040.

The electrification of road transport will have significant impacts on the energy system, potentially increasing today’s electricity consumption by about 30% by 2050* [3].

Read here to find out how the EV Fleet-centred Local Energy System (EFLES) project, funded by Innovate UK, aims to reduce the costs of fleet electrification and support the wider to transition to electric vehicles. Project partners for EFLES are UK Power Networks Services, UPS and Moixa.

When considered together, the energy and transport sectors can support each other to overcome the challenges of electrification:

While network reinforcements are often expensive, smart charging can be implemented to optimise on-site resources, helping to avoid the need to upgrade the network.
While vital in decarbonising the UK’s energy mix, renewable sources are often intermittent and can generate costs to balance the energy system. By integrating Distributed Energy Resources (such as solar photovoltaic panels or battery storage) within local energy systems, fleet operators can generate flexibility and spare capacity to support the wider network.
Flexibility allows fleet operators to provide services to the grid, helping to generate revenue and reduce the overall costs of electrifying a fleet.
Fleet operators can also offer shared charging to increase public access to rapid charge points.

*Figures based on 2018 electricity consumption of 300TWh and projected 2050 road transport demand of 96TWh.

Central Government is implementing a comprehensive review of planning policy as it relates to the high street, focusing on use classes and permitted development rights. The Secretary of State, Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP, tweeted about changes to the Use Classes Order that will come into force on 1 September:

“Today I have introduced new laws to support the recovery and reimagination of our high streets and towns. As we protect and grow our economy post #COVID19, we must think flexibly about how best to support our high streets and town centres”.

Changes to town centre use classes will allow far greater flexibility to change uses within town centres without the need to obtain planning permission. They will make current shop frontage planning policies obsolete or toothless, restricting the ability of local planning authorities to control the mix of uses.The changes provide for three new uses classes: Class E (Commercial, business and service), Class F.1 (Learning and non-residential institutions) and F.2 (Local community).

Content credit: Lichfields Planning and Development Consultancy

Clean Air Villages 3 (CAV3) has been progressing in leaps and bounds: with ideas simmering in the local ‘villages’, a series of online LiveShares on a whole host of air quality topics taking place and developments on air quality and traffic monitoring gaining momentum. Tailored local ‘village’ solutions are brewing. Ideas in the pipeline range from cargo bike deliveries, supplier consolidation and a shared electric van, to a Clean Air Ambassador programme and a sustainable travel scheme for individuals.

CRP is also implementing some monitoring work that will feed into and support partner activities in the ‘villages’. As part of this work, each ‘village’ will have its own Clean Air Walking Route that will be for local residents, local employees and visitors alike.

For further information, please contact CRP CAV Project Manager Kate Fenton, katefenton@crossriverpartnership.org

CRP’s Laura Jacklin was delighted to speak at EMSOL’s latest webinar event ‘Respiratory Health Challenges for the Urban Supply Chain’ on Thursday 23rd July.

Joined by speakers from the Road Haulage Association and CRP partner Better Bankside BID, the event covered topics on how to restore cities’ supply chain operations to that of pre-Covid levels without the accompanying pollution from delivery vehicles.

A post-Covid outlook for the urban supply chain was also covered, as well as sustainable last mile delivery initiatives in practice, and how noise and air pollution can be mitigated in dense urban areas. You can watch the webinar in full here!

CRP is supporting the new Lambeth Climate Action website – a hub of ideas, solutions, actions, and case studies on tackling the climate crisis at a local level.

The website is a great opportunity for everyone in Lambeth to contribute to the evidence base and ideas that will be considered by the citizens’ assembly, and in the development of Lambeth’s borough-wide climate action plan. Watch our video, and take a look at other inspiring Lambeth projects here.

CRP’s Creating Parklets for Community and Business Resilience is our recently-launched guidance document, as part of the Healthy Streets Everyday programme, to assist partners, local authorities, land owners, and everyone in between, on steps needed to design and implement successful parklets.

A parklet is a temporary pavement extension that sits in a parking bay(s). Parklets are flexible and temporary spaces that can provide extra outdoor space, which has become more important from COVID-19. But this resource attempts to take these learnings and provide guidance for parklets well-beyond COVID-19.

Research has shown that parklets and green spaces can:

Improve revenue and footfall for local businesses,
Improve mental health and wellbeing
Provide places to stop and rest, with shade and shelter
Encourage active travel
Reduce the effects of pollution through healthy greening.
Improve accessibility and safety

Businesses and communities should be an integral part of the design process, so it is important to engage with local artists, schools, gardening groups, businesses and communities. A parklet that is reflective of its community is likely to see more people using it, easier maintenance, and more likely to be successful. Most importantly, designing a parklet should be fun, so get creative and think outside the box!

To find out more, please contact CRP HSE Project Manager Fiona Coull,
fionacoull@crossriverpartnership.org

With the summer holidays now in full swing, there is a brilliant opportunity to start implementing School Streets in time for schools reopening in September. The Hackney School Streets Hotline provided by CRP’s Healthy Streets Everyday (HSE) project is a free telephone service aimed at helping HSE Partners and London Boroughs to design and implement successful School Streets.

The Hotline service, which has been extended to the 28th of September, is also now available to ALL London Boroughs and provides tailored one-to-one support as well as up-to-the-minute, site specific advice from The London Borough of Hackney – a HSE partner who has years of direct ‘on the ground’ experience in implementing School Streets. As the service continues to be well used, we encourage booking a 30 minute time slot in advance of the hotline’s weekly Monday operating hours to avoid disappointment.

As schools reopen, School Streets will play an important role in enabling social distancing at drop off and pick up times by creating more space outside of schools. The Hotline Service can help HSE Partners and other London Boroughs to quickly implement School Streets that facilitate social distancing, support travel to school by walking, cycling or scooting, and that are in line with TfL’s Streetspace programme. CRP and its partners are extremely grateful to the Mayor’s Air Quality Fund for making this Schools Streets Hotline Extension possible.

For further information about the service, including how to book a session, please contact CRP HSE Project Manager Fiona Coull, fionacoull@crossriverpartnership.org

With the fast approaching 2021 ULEZ expansion and the proposed 2035 petrol and diesel car sales ban on the horizon, now is the time to start thinking electric.

We’re excited to be joined by the Environmental Defense Fund and Brixton BID for our next Live Share session on Thursday 30th July, 2pm. We will be discussing why moving to electric makes sense for businesses, featuring some of the pioneering initiatives that have been adopted around London in order to work towards an economic and environmentally sustainable future.

The summer season is well and truly here! Many of us will be enjoying Home Holidays, or Staycations, this year. There is a silver lining to every cloud, and there is certainly the opportunity for domestic tourism to replace at least some of the usual London summer overseas visitors and their expenditure. London & Partners’ #BecauseImaLondoner campaign is something we can all get behind and support in helping promote London’s hidden gems to new and expanded audiences – just register online and start uploading your area’s attractions.

There will also be a Heritage Open Days festival from 11-20 September 2020. Again, register online and start promoting interesting buildings and sites for people to visit, including heritage walks and cycle rides.

For any of you lucky enough to be taking any holiday over the coming summer months, have a fantastic time, and we look forward to continuing working with you when you’re back!

As reported in The Guardian, High Street spending enjoyed a much-needed boost as lockdown eased on 4th July, but hairdressers benefited more than pubs and restaurants, according to an early snapshot of consumer behaviour. As economists wait for hard data on the strength of consumer spending for this latest easing of lockdown restrictions, analysis of 3 million UK customers’ spending habits by the digital bank Revolut suggested that high-street spending on Saturday 4^th July was double that of the previous weekend, despite only England relaxing lockdown restrictions, and ran at 86% of an average pre-Covid Saturday.

CRP’s High Streets as Havens LiveShare session on 2^nd July showed the 92 attendees how High Streets can re-open safely and sustainably. Please see CRP’s Toolkit for all sorts of advice, guidance and top tips on how to make High Streets good for business, good for our health, and good for air quality.

While spending in pubs was up 91% on the weekend before, Revolut said its data suggested sales were around half the levels it would expect on a normal Saturday. Diane Wehrle, a director of Springboard, said: “Despite what are positive signs for the hospitality industry on the first weekend of reopening, it is essential to recognise that footfall remains at around half of the 2019 level, with a decline of -57.7% across all destinations in England on Saturday 4^th July. As the industry takes small steps in reopening post pandemic, we recognise there is still a long way to go before the industry returns to normality.”

Archives: News Articles

Co-ordinating solutions between the Energy and Transport sectors

Changes to Town Centre Use Classes

Clean Air Villages 3 accelerates forwards – via zero emission of course!

Challenges for the urban supply chain: How can we improve respiratory health?

CRP supports Lambeth’s new Climate Action website

Creating Parklets for Community and Business Resilience

School Streets for September

Ditch Diesel: Your Electric Vehicle Options Explained

Home Holidays

The New Normal