Up Front
Tighter emissions standards for heavy vehicles
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has announced a tightening of Low Emission Zone (LEZ) standards for heavy vehicles across London.
Heavy goods vehicle (HGVs), buses and coaches must now meet Euro VI NOx (nitrogen oxides) and PM (particulate matter) emissions standards or pay a daily charge of up to £300. These new standards apply to heavy vehicles across most of Greater London and match the emissions standards of the central London Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ). The LEZ was established to encourage the most polluting heavy diesel vehicles driving in the capital to become cleaner. It covers most of Greater London and operates 24 hours a day, every day of the year. The tougher LEZ is already having an impact, with new data from City Hall showing that almost 90% of vehicles are complying with the new standards ahead of their introduction, compared to around 70% in May 2019. The introduction of tougher standards for the LEZ, alongside the expansion of the ULEZ later
this year, is expected to reduce NOx emissions from road transport by around 30% across London in 2021. Sadiq Khan said: “Toxic air pollution causes long-lasting harm and is a national public health crisis. I’ve moved fast in London to implement the most ambitious plans to tackle air pollution of any major city in the world – showing what we can achieve if we are brave enough.” The tighter LEZ restrictions have been welcomedby the London Assembly. Caroline Russell AM, chair of the assembly’s environment committee, said: “As our city continues to battle through the pandemic, the mayor must look at how Londoners live and if our way of life is impacting our own health and the health of others. Measures like tightening the emissions restrictions for heavy vehicles is one of many steps that will be needed to bring down the levels of air pollution on our streets.”
Triple signing at £2.5bn Elephant Park Three fitness brands will be amongst the first companies to take up space at Elephant Park. Property firm Lendlease has announced the trio of signings in the latest phase of the £2.5 billion scheme, which will include thousands of new homes and a diverse mix of shops and restaurants. The new tenants are Fight City Gym, MoreYoga and Tempo Pilates, with the three brands taking space across two buildings. Fight City Gym will take 5,459 sq ft of space on New Kent Road, specialising in boxing, mixed martial arts and other contact sports, while yoga specialist MoreYoga will open its 34th London studio, taking 1,329 sq ft of space on New Lion Way. Meanwhile, Tempo Pilates, which teaches Pilates to the speed of music, has signed up for 2,498 sq ft of space at Elephant Park’s Ash Avenue. Guy Thomas, head of retail at Lendlease, said: “The recent signing announcements for Fight City Gym, MoreYoga and Tempo Pilates add to our
offer for the local community and highlight our commitment to building a sustainable and balanced array of operators within Elephant Park.” Mani Johal, co-founder of Fight City Gym, said: “Elephant Park is an exciting new destination and stands as the perfect location within which to expand our offer in South London. We are very excited to have signed for a space here and look forward to seeing our combat training classes embraced by individuals of all fitness levels within this existing and emerging Elephant and Castle community.” When complete, Elephant Park is expected to deliver 3,000 new homes and space for more than 50 new shops, restaurant and cafes, including affordable retail space. It will also include the planting of more than 1,200 new trees, over 3,000 new cycle spaces and an energy hub that provides net-zero carbon heat and hot water to all homes on the site.
£1m resilience fund open for applications The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has called on the capital’s innovators to help drive forward the city’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. His £1 million resilience fund, which will support innovative businesses in tech and other sectors to respond to key recovery challenges facing the capital, is now open to applicants. The mayor also revealed the partners that will work closely with his team to help applicants develop their ideas: Better Bankside and Kings College London; Ealing Council, Groundwork London, Lambeth Council, Hackney Wick and Fish Island Creative Enterprise Zone, Thrive LDN, Hackney Council, the Royal Docks Team, and the Living Wage Foundation. Each partner – along with the Greater London Authority – is in charge of one of ten challenges. These include diverting surplus food to community organisations helping those most in need, supporting high streets, integrating the latest COVID-19 data and travel information for Londoners, and making workspaces more flexible, affordable and responsive to the changing needs of businesses as a result of the pandemic. Partners will also consider the challenges facing workers in the gig economy and design solutions to tackle the inequalities faced by those who have provided vital services over the last year. Delivered in partnership with Nesta and funded by the London Economic Action Partnership (LEAP), the fund will provide grants of up to £50,000 to develop solutions to help the city emerge stronger from COVID-19 – as well as ensuring it is more resilient to major challenges in the future. The mayor is also calling on public bodies, charities, businesses, social enterprises and educational institutions to take part in Designing London’s Recovery – a new initiative that will harness the capital’s design talent to make a vital contribution to the capital’s recovery from COVID-19. Sadiq Khan said: “I’m doing all I can to support our creative businesses and organisations. I’m calling on them to come forward with their ideas and take advantage of the funding and support on offer.”
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