Flooding in South End Green

• WE want to hear from residents and organisations about two vitally important issues: how we can best clean up our air; and how we can reduce flooding risk and better deal with it when it happens.

Barely a week goes by without a new study showing how air pollution exacerbates health issues from COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, to dementia.

As the first borough to aim for healthier and safer World Health Organisation standards, we have led the way, from cutting emissions from road transport to reducing the impact of construction, to hosting real-time Airscape air quality monitors to better inform where the problems exist.

There is still some way to go, which is why we want to hear your views on new proposals. These range from cutting the emissions that come from commercial cooking – a bigger issue than often thought – to improving air quality by schools and hospitals.

They include sharing advice on reducing pollution in homes and workplaces and lobbying the government for more powers on domestic wood-burning.

Meanwhile flooding this August and in July 2021 had a huge impact on many residents, turning lives upside-down in some cases.

Three major flooding incidents have been recorded in Camden, taking place in 1975, 2002 and 2021. We are concerned that we will face this problem only more frequently as the climate emergency builds.

There are steps we can take, such increasing the greening (including ramped-up tree planting) on our streets to help mitigate surface water run-off.

And we are pleased to have recently secured funding from Thames Water to introduce new sustainable drainage in the Kilburn / South Hampstead area.

As well as new infrastructure we will also need to find ways to improve communications with residents when flooding does occur and to continue to monitor what progress we are making.

Community groups such as South Hampstead Flood Action Group have been invaluable partners in looking anew at dealing with flood risk.

After a summer of weather extremes, we will also work to do more to understand how people coped. We will need to devise new ways to ensure residents are safe and the borough is more resilient to climate change effects in the years to come.

Please head to: consultations.wearecamden.org to have your say on both.

CLLR ADAM HARRISON
Cabinet Member for a Sustainable Camden