Air pollution on the London skyline
Residents are invited to help tackle the deadly problem of air pollution by joining a panel investigating the causes, risks and potential solutions.
Members of Hammersmith & Fulham’s Air Quality Commission will work to make our air cleaner and reduce the risks estimated to cause 203 deaths in the borough each year.
Hammersmith resident Rosemary Pettit will chair the commission, which will engage with external experts and residents in examining the causes and dangers of local air pollution. She is the former chair of the Hammersmith Society and was membership secretary of the Brackenbury Residents’ Association before that.
Rosemary said: “H&F is full of traffic generating pollution, but construction works, gas emissions and other sources of pollution also infect the air we breathe. The Commission will be looking not only at the available data but also at what actions the council, business and residents can take to clean up our air.”
The commission will run for about six months and will require just a few days’ work from those appointed as commissioners. The commissioners will make recommendations for action and will have the opportunity to feed into the council’s new air quality action plan. They will issue a call for written evidence and invite expert witnesses to give further evidence at a public hearing.
If you are interested in sitting on the commission please forward your contact details and a summary of your knowledge and expertise on air quality issues to peter.smith@lbhf.gov.uk by Thursday 1 October.
Residents will be consulted on the council’s air quality action plan next year.
Nearly one in seven deaths (15%) in Hammersmith & Fulham are caused by nitrogen dioxide air pollution – the eighth highest level in London according to King’s College London. A further 8.1% of deaths per year are caused by small particulate matter.
