Red (Route) Alert
Guest blog from Ben Rymer
Stockwell - we have a problem. At issue is a gaping hole in air quality data in Stockwell and Vauxhall, long acknowledged as one of London's traffic and air quality black-spots. Despite a dire record of polluted air, and with Stockwell seeing huge 'health inequity' and other environmental pollution, data on these factors at the local level is sadly lacking.
Exhibit A
Vauxhall Bondway interchange. With a shocking record of emissions, including many years of illegally polluted air, you would think air quality in Vauxhall is closely tracked. But readings from the monitoring station at Vauxhall - one of only three in Lambeth - are disputed by the council, who have rejected recent readings, saying they are contaminated by a nearby air vent. Putting to one side the question of why the site was chosen in the first place, readings from the station suggest contamination might be a red herring, as readings there have broken all borough-wide records for particulate emissions for two straight years, even during Covid lockdowns where Transport for London tube traffic was at 5-10% of normal levels (the vent discharges air from the Vauxhall tube station).
Exhibit B
Stockwell and Vauxhall's network of 'red route' roads - London's busiest highways which, in spite of making up just 5% of the capital's roads, carry 30% of all vehicle journeys. Yet, in central London at least, these roads are also heavily residential. Stockwell and Vauxhall are perfect examples, with Clapham, South Lambeth, Wandsworth and Brixton Roads all homes to thousands of families, not to mention multiple schools and nurseries. Despite this, it has taken a lot of time, effort and head-scratching to try to navigate the alphabet soup of agencies and bodies involved in red routes. This feels like a blocker to community groups being heard action on air quality issues, and is something we're actively investigating how to resolve via Breathe London, so we can learn what best practice looks like
So, what to do? It is hard to disagree with recent calls to radically change how we conceptualise the role of 'red routes' and to turn them green - or at least greener. This has implications for policy; with local transport strategy strongly geared to reducing car use, it may be time to reconfigure the approach by foregrounding other areas, such as shared travel or public transport. This would be in keeping with other boroughs, which, as Louise and Sacha have shown, emphasise the alarming role of wood-burning stoves, particulates from construction activity and non-emission pollutants, as well as private vehicle emissions.
On this last point, an initiative is surely needed to discourage the private ownership of multiple vehicles, especially when around two-thirds of the borough do not own a car or van. Clear pockets of multi-vehicle ownership can be seen in the recently-released 2021 census data map, with some areas of the borough seeing over 20% of homes owning two or three cars or vans.
Progress can be made in all these areas, with the right support and political will. Like Sacha and Louise’s group in Brixton, my group (Stockwell Main Road Communities) works in the Breathe London programme to raise awareness of the need for clean air in urban settings, as well as mobility solutions that truly cater for all sections of our communities. And while some of the science behind air quality is at times complex, the underlying message is compellingly simple: fewer vehicle miles travelled = less emissions = healthier bodies.