On Thursday 21 January at 7pm, St Leonard’s Church, Shoreditch High St will host The London Environment Hustings, inviting all the candidates for the upcoming London Mayoral election to share their vision for the city’s environment. A growing body of evidence points to high density over-development as a contributory factor to poor air quality, according to the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) most recent data on air quality. Coming just days after it was announced that some streets in London have breached their annual air pollution limits – just days into the New Year – the need to tackle air quality is increasingly acute.
According to WHO, air quality is the cause of 30,000 UK deaths a year. The government’s own advisers describe worsening air quality as a plague and warn that our health system will become overwhelmed. The More Light, More Power campaign is calling on the candidates for London Mayor to take notice now, and is challenging them to speak at the hustings.
David Donoghue, a spokesperson for the More Light, More Power campaign said “We have joined together with a wide range of organisations to bring the issue of environmental damage front and centre of the mayoral campaign. In areas such as Shoreditch – where high density development encroaching on local neighbourhoods means lower quality of life – the likely deterioration of air quality and the consequent pressure on social services is a critical issue.
The participants of the debate:
- Caroline Pidgeon, Liberal Democrats
- Sian Berry, The Green Party
- Peter Whittle, UKIP
- Jonathan Silberman, Communist League London
- George Galloway, Respect
- David Dean, Conservative
Info about More Light, More Power campaign: http://www.
