Children in Islington are breathing illegal levels of pollution everyday. Their highest exposure on a school day is on their journey to and from school. This is why we want Islington Council to implement low traffic neighbourhoods across all residential streets now and create safe, clean air streets for children to walk, cycle and scoot to school.

The majority of air pollution in Islington comes from road traffic. Islington has one of the lowest car ownerships so most of this traffic is from vehicles travelling through the borough. Low traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs) restrict traffic travelling through residential neighbourhoods by introducing traffic calming measures such as closing exits and entrances to some roads. This would reduce rat-running through residential streets, discourages residents from choosing to use their cars for short journeys and makes streets safer for children to cycle, scoot and walk to school. This would reduce traffic overall across the borough.

We demand action be taken and soon, whilst our children are young enough to benefit from cleaner air and safer roads. Our members, parents and guardians of children in Islington tell us they want more action and faster. Toxic air is exposing our children to long term health issues: asthma, wheeze, heart disease, mental health problems, cancer. It has been proven that toxic air reduces the ability to learn, putting them up to one year behind pupils in clean air environments.

Islington Council needs to declare they are a people-first council and put children at the heart of their policies.