The following letter from SGP member Tracey Beresford appears in the current (winter 2016/17) issue of the Camberwell Quarterly, and is published by kind permission of the Camberwell Society. The CQ is widely available at local newsagents. See also the Camberwell Society's Facebook page.

Air pollution is a recognised public health emergency. Southwark Council needs to take action. Or rather, actions. There’s no one solution, but the actions taken need to be both immediate and substantial.

Southwark is consulting on its updated air quality plan. Responses need to be in by 31 January. Southwark Green Party will submit a detailed response and publish it here.  But in short – we think the plan talks a lot about meetings and monitoring and not enough about ideas and action!

We encourage you to respond individually. It’s a very simple form - the one question is quite open: ‘What do you have to say about the Air Quality Strategy and Action Plan?’ So why not use this space to explain to the council how air pollution affects you and why you want the council to do more? Please copy your response to us too at contact@southwark.greenparty.org.uk

Read on for some suggestions about what councils can do…

It should be ancient history... but it isn't yet!

In July 2012, Southwark Green Party members made a deputation to Southwark Council calling for urgent action on air pollution. Southwark News reported...

Southwark Green Party has responded to the TfL consultation on measures like the Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) to combat air pollution and improve health. Southwark residents are exposed to some of the highest levels of pollution in London - so this affects us all. What do we want the Mayor to do?

On Thursday 22 December, Southwark Green Party member Tom Venner-Woodcock will appear at Ealing Magistrates Court. He was part of a group of 15 people who blockaded a road near Heathrow last month. His protest highlights the serious risks that airport expansion poses to Londoners' health and the global climate.

Southwark Green Party has been lobbying Southwark Council to take action on air pollution since 2011.

We've carried out our own air pollution studies and informed residents about how they can reduce the amount of pollution they breathe.

The new Southwark Council air quality webpages bring together some excellent resources and information. But they are a little thin on details of the borough's own initiatives to reduce air pollution. [Note: As this is a new/beta version of the page/section and it may move - here is an alternative link]

Southwark Green Party has responded to Southwark Council's proposals for the Old Kent Road. We will be keeping a watching brief on plans for the area and working with local residents and businesses. The full response is below.

Questions:

1.     Do you agree with the overall vision for the Old Kent Road? YES/NO

Southwark Green Party welcomes the development of the Old Kent Road based on appropriately scaled development, backed up by improved transport infrastructure, sufficient social housing, high quality public spaces and built to zero carbon standards.

It was a cold and rainy night, a week after the victory of Donald Trump in the US presidential election – not the best backdrop for Southwark Green Party's 2016 AGM. But with around 40 people present, and Green candidate for London mayor Sian Berry as our guest speaker, the meeting turned out to be an uplifting occasion, showing how Green policies and politicians offer hope in dark times.

Southwark Green Party (SGP) stands in solidarity with Sisters Uncut, a feminist group taking direct action to defend services for victims of domestic violence. As a political party that campaigns for equal rights and better public services, SGP believes that Southwark Council has it within its power to prioritise a sufficient number of its empty council homes to provide refuge for all survivors of domestic abuse. We also call on the council to reinstate Black and Minority Ethnic domestic violence services, which have been cut.

On 9 November, less than 24 hours after the election of climate change denier Donald Trump, Green Party members from Southwark and Lambeth attended the annual Dulwich and West Norwood (DaWN) Speak Up for the Climate meeting, organised by DaWN MP Helen Hayes.

In October 2016, Southwark Green Party responded to Southwark Council's revised plans for the 'old nursery' site in Camberwell New Cemetery.

We are very glad that the council has taken public concerns on board after the previous consultation.The new plans offer good compromise solutions by combining burial spaces with much needed areas of meadow or woodland.

Writer and North Walworth resident Guy Mannes Abbott writes in The Architecture Review...

Typically, the RIBA’s Stirling Prize shortlist leavens starry spectacles with a socially minded gesture or two. In a thin year for the former, the list still obliged with the flawed spectacularity of Herzog & de Meuron’s Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford. In contrast, the ‘housing crisis’ generated a lot of noise but few homes again, so a ‘flagship’ housing scheme designed by dRMM for the Elephant and Castle’s ‘regeneration’ ticked a misleading box.

[Read full article on The Architecture Review website...]

About 20 people attended Southwark Green Party’s monthly meet-up on 7 September, which this month was held at John the Unicorn, Peckham Rye. Eleanor Margolies organised an informal quiz on the subject of air pollution – an urgent issue in Southwark, which has the highest rate of premature deaths attributable to air pollution of any London borough. We learnt

The decision this week by the Government to reject Southwark Council’s application for a Compulsory Purchase Order laid bare how the Council has ignored community objections and prioritised the interests of developers.

Colin Boyle, Chair of Southwark Green Party, responded: “The Aylesbury Estate does need to be regenerated, but this needs to be done in a way that preserves the community, increases the level of social housing, and minimises the environmental impact.” 

The Green Party's new co-leaders, Caroline Lucas and Jonathan Bartley, speak to conference after the announcement of their election

Around 15 of us from Southwark Green Party joined more than 1,000 party members from all over England and Wales for the 2016 autumn conference, held at Birmingham University.

The rich cultural mix in Southwark is one of its strengths. Many Londoners are linked by family, history or love to other parts of the world, whether they were born in London or have moved here.

A new secondary school for our area has been approved by the government after two years of hard campaigning by local parents, with over 1500 choosing the Charter School to be the provider as opposed to national academy chains. But the shortage of school places continues to be a major concern for local parents.

In January much-loved local toy shop, Just Williams, was forced to close after its landlord, the Dulwich Estate, raised rents by 70%. It is clear that the Dulwich Estate does not need to raise rents - the only reason for doing so is, in its own words, to "maximise revenues for the beneficiaries". In its last annual report the Dulwich Estate boasted record profits of £6.78 million (up from £6.26 million for 2013/2014). About 85% of its profits go to the three large local private schools while the four non-fee paying schools it also benefits receive only 15% of the charity's income.

Profit-driven developers continue to take their toll on Rotherhithe's pubs. with recent local victims including the Clipper, the Ship York and the Three Compasses. All now face replacement with yet more flats, reducing our area's character, heritage and amenities.

The latest Canada Water Masterplan has confirmed local residents' worst fears. Colin Boyle, Southwark Green Party Chair and local resident, stated that: "The Rotherhithe we know will be lost, and in its place we will have a high-rise, densely packed urban landscape. We need to develop Canada Water, but this proposal is entirely out of keeping with the area and ignores the feedback that local residents provided in previous consultations."