£1million boost for cleaner air in Westminster

Westminster City Council has been awarded more than £1million of Government funding to support clean air projects.

The funding, from the UK Government’s Air Quality Grant, will help the council reduce air pollution in Westminster for the benefit of residents, schools and businesses.

Westminster City Council has been awarded £1,000,000 to support zero emission deliveries across the city. The money will fund a project to move freight to London by river rather than by road, and will support ongoing deliveries in Westminster that are made via zero emission vehicles, bicycles, and on foot. This project will be managed through the Westminster hosted Cross River Partnership, bringing together the London boroughs of Hammersmith and Fulham, Islington, Lambeth, Lewisham, Southwark and Wandsworth.

Westminster will also benefit from £300,000 of funding to support a communications campaign across 13 London boroughs on domestic wood burning and the resulting particulate matter created, which is harmful to human health.

Cllr Heather Acton, Cabinet Member for Communities and Regeneration, said:

Air quality is consistently one of the top concerns among our residents, and the council is taking action in a number of areas to reduce pollution and make our city cleaner and greener for everyone. We all need to play our part if we are to see real, lasting improvements in air pollution and this project helps our partners.

We’re already seeing positive results from our efforts to tackle poor air quality, with transport related pollution down 44% in Westminster. This additional funding will provide a huge boost to our ongoing work to improve air quality and look after the health of our residents.

More information:

• Westminster has published an Air Quality Action Plan which details the council’s actions to improve air quality from 2020-2024.
• Westminster City Council has declared a climate emergency, with a pledge to becoming a net zero council by 2030 and a net zero city by 2040.