The new London Mayor’s Air Quality Business Fund (AQBF) has announced five new projects that will benefit from a £1 million pot to improve air quality in the city. There will be parcel lockers in Islington, a shared electric vehicle for deliveries, and a ‘micro-consolidation’ scheme for parcel deliveries in Southwark.
The new AQBF projects will be delivered by the end of April 2019.
According to a notice posted on the Greater London Authority website: “Five ‘Business Low Emissions Neighbourhoods’ (BLENs) across five boroughs were selected from a total of 15 proposals, showing the wide support for improving air quality within London’s business community. The BLENs will include measures such as anti-idling campaigns, zero emission delivery services and cleaner walking routes for staff and customers. They are being delivered by local business groups working in partnership with their local councils, who have supported the development of the proposals.”
The Archway Town Centre Group in Islington are to deliver a number of ‘interventions’, sponsored by the AQBF. These include the parcel lockers described above and the shared delivery vehicle. The parcel lockers at the Archway tube station are there to “help residents avoid missing deliveries and provide an alternative to getting their online shopping delivered to work”.
Another AQBF scheme are the Better Bankside and London Bridge Business Improvement Districts in Southwark who are working on certain projects to include a cycle path, walking routes and what they call a “micro-consolidation scheme which involves having all deliveries sent into one location and distributing with a low or zero emission vehicle to reduce congestion and pollution”.
Hammersmith Business Improvement District is working on a project around the Hammersmith Flyover, which will include a secure hub for people to store their bikes.
Camden’s Euston Business Improvement District’s schemes include a new “rapid” electric charging point. (And it is worth noting that Camden is home to a UPS depot which is currently trialling cargo bikes.)
In Westminster, the Northbank Business Improvement District project includes an initiative in which “consultants will work with all the local businesses and organisations to help them cut unnecessary deliveries”.
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