Newham’s Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz and the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, today visited Salisbury School in Manor Park to see the innovative joint work that is being done to reduce poor air quality for pupils and staff.
The two Mayors also took along with them leading British Formula E driver Sam Bird and his Formula E new Gen2 race car to show young people how the sport is helping to innovate electric vehicle technology and support London’s electric vehicle revolution.
The Formula E Championship is returning to London this year with its first ever event in Newham’s Royal Docks in July in and around the ExCeL London exhibition centre.
The visit was arranged because Salisbury School had been identified by the Mayor of London’s air quality audit programme as one of 50 schools across the Capital in need of most work to reduce the impact of pollution on pupils and staff.
The school, which has 600 pupils, and lies close to the congested Romford Road, was awarded £10,000 of Mayor Khan’s £1 million improvement fund. With a further £110,000 from Newham Council the school was able to relocate its Day Care Centre playground away from Romford Road, reducing the children’s exposure to harmful emissions. A Green screen boundary of pollution absorbing plants was also provided around the junior playground.
Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz said: “In Newham we have one of the youngest populations in the country coupled with some of the worst air quality. According to Public Health England, Newham has one of the highest rates for deaths attributable to air quality with seven out of every 100 linked to dirty air – that’s an estimated 96 people dying prematurely each year. We have one of the highest number of children in the country admitted to hospital due to asthma-related conditions. That is why it is absolutely critical that we work together to tackle the pollution that threatens all our lives, particularly our children.
“Working together with the Mayor of London we have identified our most affected schools and I’m delighted that we have been able to make these crucial changes at Salisbury School.
“But it’s not just about mitigating the worst effects of poor air quality; here in Newham we are funding an ambitious project called Newham Climate Now which over the coming months and years will clean our environment and tackle climate change, so that our future generations can grow up in a safer, cleaner and greener borough.”
The two Mayors were given a presentation by the school’s Air Quality Ambassadors, Shaeba, Satnam, Laura and Aatul, who spoke with passion about the need to tackle poor air quality and the Climate Emergency.
Mr Khan said: "London's toxic air is directly harming the health of our children. Working with boroughs like Newham we are determined to do everything in our power to protect them and ensure future generations breathe cleaner, healthier air. It’s wonderful to see Salisbury Primary School leading the way and transforming their environment into a safe, clean space for everyone. I’m delighted that other boroughs will be following their lead in expanding our innovative air quality audits to all state run schools.”
Newham Council has extended air quality monitoring to all its 96 primary and secondary schools as part of a long term air quality study. The monitoring will help target clean air initiatives which currently includes a Healthy School Streets programme and anti-idling campaign.
Mr Khan said: “As Mayor, I’ve moved as fast as I can in London to implement the most ambitious plans to tackle air pollution of any major city in the world. This includes implementing the world’s first Ultra Low Emission Zone, which has already reduced harmful nitrogen dioxide pollution by almost a third in the central London zone.”
All Newham schools will also benefit from tough new Low Emission Zone (LEZ) standards being introduced across London for heavy vehicles in October. The LEZ encourages the most polluting heavy diesel vehicles driving in the Capital to become cleaner. As a result of these measures and the expansion of the Ultra-Low Emission Zone up to the North and South circular roads in 2021, it is expected there will be reductions in toxic road transport nitrogen oxide emissions of around 30 per cent across London, including Newham.
Formula E driver Sam Bird was impressed by the pupils at Salisbury School, He said: “It’s been great to visit to raise awareness of both the Formula E championship and the future of electric vehicles. As a leading Formula E team, we’re working hard through our Race Against Climate Change initiative to engage with those affected worst by pollution – particularly in the cities we race in. It was really inspiring to see that this topic is so important to the next generation, with the children of Salisbury Primary making a change for the better.”