I recently visited Harlesden & Kensal Green with Cllr Matt Kelcher and Cllr Mili Patel to learn more about Street Schools and how they are helping to clean up air polution.
Transcript
Cllr Matt Kelcher: Hi there. I’m Matt Kelcher, Councillor in Harlesden & Kensal Green. We are delighted to welcome Toby Perkins MP down to Crownhill Road today. Toby is Chair of the Environmental Audit Select Committee in Parliament. Toby, tell us a bit about your work.
Toby Perkins MP: So, the Select Committee is a cross-party committee and at this moment in time we are doing a new study about air quality. 70 years since the Clean Air Act so it’s a great time to look at how policy has moved on and great to see initiatives like this. From your perspective, tell us what a School Street is.
Cllr Kelcher: Yes, so this is one of three school streets we’ve got across the Borough now. This one is particularly good because it protects three local schools. If you’re a resident and live here, you’re exempt but it just generally means that at school drop off and pick up time children are able to walk to school with more confidence because the amount of traffic on the road is reduced.
Toby Perkins: Mili, you were explaining on the way down here that this has been tremendously popular with parents and children just tell us about the reaction you have had from local residents here.
Cllr Mili Patel: So, yeah. The response has been overwhelmingly positive. Parents are delighted that their children can walk, scoot, or cycle to school in safety and not have to worry about cars or the pollution they cause. Many residents are seeing the success of the School Street and come back to us to ask for the zone to be expanded into their own streets, which is why this p[articular school street is expanding. In 2023 Brent finalised our Air Quality Action Plan with School Streets being a key part of the strategy. This shows that we are serious about cleaning up the air, which in a place like Harlesden is a social justice issue with those who suffer the most from bad air contributing the least to cause it. Whenever we visit the area it’s great to see how affective the School Street is and how many children and families enjoy it.
Toby Perkins: Another promise delivered. Well, that’s great. It’s great to see this sort of initiative. Air quality is the silent killer. It has massive health impacts on young lungs but also on people right across the age profile. It also is worse in areas of greater deprivation and seeing here in Harlesden the steps that you have taken to keep people safe is really brilliant. So, thanks for what you are doing and it’s really helpful to us on the Committee.
Cllr Patel: Thank you for coming to Harlesden to have a look and we are really looking forward to you bringing that back to the Committee and hearing their responses about what we have done.
Toby Perkins: Great.
Cllr Kelcher: Thank you.