Bowes Primary School, with the support of Enfield Council has secured £10,000 in funding for schemes which will reduce pollution in and around their site on the North Circular Road.
The school is looking at the possibility of an air filtration system to reduce pollution the children could breathe inside their classrooms. In addition the Council is seeking to help the school extend an existing green wall, to provide more cycle parking and is looking into the feasibility of introducing rain gardens on the highway to help improve air quality on the major walking routes to the school.
The £10,000 award is part of the Mayor of London’s School and Nurseries Air Quality Audit Programme where 50 primary schools in London were audited with the aim of reducing emissions and primary school children’s exposure to polluted air.
Enfield Council’s Cabinet Member for Public Health, Cllr Yasemin Brett, said: “We have been working closely with Bowes Primary for several years and I am glad we can now help to take positive action for the children and staff of the school. Air Pollution related illness is awful and debilitating. I now look forward to working with the public health and environment teams at the Council to get these propositions moving.”
Cabinet Member for Environment, Cllr Guney Dogan, added: “Enfield Council is very keen to collaborate with Bowes Primary School to work on the range of recommended measures and initiatives that have been identified. The recommendations themselves will not solve the air quality problem but will certainly contribute to improving the atmosphere in and around the area.”
The Council is also interested in joining a London-wide consortium of boroughs who, as part of a Mayor’s Air Quality Fund initiative, will seek to reduce the number of idling vehicles on our roads. Enfield Council is looking at the viability of undertaking enforcement activities, which could include issuing fixed penalty notices. To keep up-to-date on this and other Council news, sign up to our newsletter.