EXCL Top Labour MP: Pave over Parliament square to slash pollution
2 min read
Parliament square should be paved over in a bid to cut London's air pollution and boost tourism, a top Labour MP has said.
Mary Creagh, chair of the cross-party Environmental Audit Committee, said the iconic square was "the obvious next candidate" for pedestrianisation - particularly in the wake of a string of terrorist attacks in the capital that have seen perpetrators use cars.
She told The House magazine: "You go to other countries and they don’t have four lanes of traffic sitting outside their democratic buildings - and it is very congested from a pedestrian point of view outside parliament, and of course there is now the added risk of vehicle attacks.
"So, you’re solving a pollution problem, a vehicle problem and a pedestrian problem, all in one go with that reallocation of space."
Calling for “radical” and “creative” solutions to solve London's ongoing air pollution problem, the Labour MP said: “The only way we are going to cut air pollution is by fundamentally shifting people’s modes of travel to active travel.
"We know it’s good for us. We know that cities where people can move and people can breathe are places where people are happier, and where there is less air pollution.”
Ms Creagh added: "We have already done it on Trafalgar Square and the traffic goes elsewhere."
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has previously vowed to revive plans to pave over parts of Parliament square that were shelved by his predecessor Boris Johnson, branding it a "national disgrace that one of our most iconic squares is choked with traffic".
Meanwhile, Westminster council and Parliamentary authorities are working on a 'Parliament Square Streetscape' project, which includes possible pedestrianisation of the square.
But Liberal Democrat London Assembly member Caroline Pidgeon told PoliticsHome that she believed those plans should go much further.
"Despite its historic importance, Parliament Square at present is little more than a dangerous traffic island, where the needs of pedestrians are totally neglected," she said.
"We need radical thinking if we are to tackle pollution and allow people to safely walk around central London.
"Boris binned these ideas and Sadiq Khan has offered little more than words so far. Londoners deserve more."
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