News Articles Archive - Page 80 of 153 - Cross River Partnership

Being part of CRP has been a truly rewarding experience. I have learned a lot about collaboration, partnership and working together for a cleaner and sustainable future. Looking back at the last 9 months, my highlight has been broadening my knowledge around sustainability and Air Quality, as well as working with such a great dedicated team. Considering we have been working remotely for the last 4 months, I will remember CRP as being resilient and taking a hands on approach as we have been trying to adjust to the new normal. I will particularly miss working on the Clean Air Villages 3 project which has been a really great learning experience for me. I have been lucky enough to see and contribute to successful implementation of solutions such as the Brixton EV. I look forward to seeing CRP’s projects becoming a reality, in particular the expansion of the CRP Clean Air Villages Directory and The Clean Air Thames project. I will be sure to keep up to date on all CRP’s ventures.

Thank you CRP!

The last few months of lockdown have been tough for many of us, in many different ways. The pandemic is bringing about a seismic shift in how we will continue to live in our world in the future. This can add to underlying feelings of concern and stress. But there are lots of things we can do to look after ourselves, our families, our neighbours, our wok colleagues. Just as we look after our physical health, it’s important to look after our mental health.

The Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families is running a #selfcaresummer campaign every day over the school summer holidays.There is a self-care resource page with contributions from Young Champions, plus Challenge Tuesdays are an opportunity to share photos, poetry, arts and craft on-line.

Let’s all get involved! We owe it to ourselves!

Chain Cyclists are holding a bike ride on Saturday 1st August. In support of Black Lives Matter, every London based black cycling collective are being encouraged to ride together from Walthamstow Central Station to Brockwell Park, Brixton in the name of unity, love and equality. All confident road cyclists over age 11 welcome – ride safely and do remember to bring a face mask and water.

CRP was honoured to join in with 300 other attendees from London and other UK cities for this second virtual meeting of the BAME Network on 22nd July 2020, organised by Serena Simon on behalf of Westminster City Council and its Chief Executive Stuart Love.

The meeting was about “Communicating Effectively with Communities – Leading through Crisis”. An impressive array of passionate external speakers highlighted the disproportionate effect of COVID-19 on BAME communities, and outlined the opportunities we now have to create a more positive future for all of our communities.

The meeting focused on the need to start actions NOW. In the words of Mahatma Gandhi, “If you do nothing, there will be no result.” CRP looks forward to making an active contribution to the Economic Growth and Enterprise Support Working Group that it has signed up to. Thank you very much for the opportunity to participate. The responsibility to create positive change lies with all of us. Together we can make a difference.

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

Archives: News Articles

Reflections on my time at CRP

Lockdown and Self Care

Chain Cyclists – Riding for Unity, Love and Equality

Pan-London Black and Minority Ethnic Network

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