What's new? Recent work on Local Air quality being undertaken by the Environmental Initiatives Team to implement the Air Quality action Plan
People with asthma, emphysema, bronchitis, heart disease and angina are more at risk from high levels of air pollution. There are simple steps you can take to reduce the likelihood of any impacts. These include taking your inhaler or angina spray with you, taking extra doses if symptoms worsen, and avoiding strenuous outdoor activity on polluted days. If you care for or are a parent of someone with these symptoms it may help you look after them better. You can choose whether to receive your airTEXT alert on the evening before, or on the morning of a predicted high pollution day. You can also choose which part of London you wish to receive alerts. Based on typical Air Pollution levels in Wandsworth, you are likely to receive around 40 AirTEXT alerts per year. Subscribers to the service will get an airTEXT alert whenever air pollution levels are forecast to be MODERATE, HIGH or VERY HIGH. This depends largely on the weather. Air Pollution levels tend to rise on hot, sunny days in summer and cold, still days in winter. Once air pollution levels increase, they often remain high for two or three days. We call this a pollution episode. You will get a message for each day that the pollution episode lasts. Once the messages stop it means that pollution levels are forecast to be low again.
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Pupils at Chesterton, St Anselm's, Our Lady Queen of Heaven, Sir James Barrie, and Ravenstone schools enjoyed the show and then took part in workshops aimed at raising air quality awareness. Actors from the theatre company were promoting their Sustainable Transport Attitude Revolution (STAR) campaign - a celebration of walking which engages young people with madcap humour, visual storytelling and audience participation. Wandsworth Council's Environmental Initiatives Team organised this event which was funded by Transport for London.
The test was free and with no penalties if a car failed the test. Surprisingly it was not always the older cars that failed the test. Some relatively new cars failed, most probably as a result of damaged catalytic converters. Those failing the test could have been given a fixed penalty notice, but instead were advised to have their car looked at by a reputable mechanic. The two days provided a real opportunity to talk to hundreds of motorists about the impact of vehicles on air quality. Leaflets were handed out which encouraged some lively discussion. Feedback from the public suggested it was a very successful way of raising air pollution as an issue amongst the local community. The tests were carried out in two supermarket car parks in Balham and Wandsworth on 4th October and 5th October 2006 respectively. South London Freight Quality Partnership The SLFQP is funded by Transport for London and is a delivery arm of the London Freight Plan. There are various activities that the partnership is currently undertaking; some of them are as follows: The partnership is encouraging the adoption of the London loading/ unloading code of practice. Wandsworth, Croydon & Sutton have signed up to this so far. The partnership is also taking forward a proposal for a Consolidation Centre for deliveries to retail premises. The consolidation centre aims to reduce the number of deliveries being made to shopping centres thus reducing congestion and pollution. The consolidation centre is initially to be trialed in Sutton & Croydon but could be rolled out to other boroughs at a later date. In addition, freight surveys are being delivered to freight drivers and businesses within the area. These surveys will be used to focus future work of the partnership. For more information on the work of the partnership visit www.southlondonfqp.com Expansion of the Nitrogen dioxide monitoring network |
Heart or breathing problems? Register for free Air Pollution Alerts
Purple Broccoli Theatre
Vehicle Emissions Testing