Hackney,
15
June
2017
|
14:44
Europe/London

Hackney Council marks Clean Air Day

Hackney Council is marking Clean Air Day by showing off its ever-expanding electric vehicle fleet.

By April 2018, the Council will be using over 40 electric vehicles, ranging from pool vehicles used by street engineers, vans used by maintenance teams, buggies for parks staff and mobile community library vans.

The Council also has a number of pool bikes and cargo bikes that are used by staff to cycle around the borough.

Cllr Feryal Demirci, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, Transport and Parks
Air pollution is a problem that we’re doing all we can to tackle, and this includes replacing diesel vehicles with electric ones in our fleet.

We’re also increasing the size of electric vehicle charging points across the borough, which means that more residents will have easy access to low emissions charging.
Cllr Feryal Demirci, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, Transport and Parks

The expansion of the electric vehicle charging network, which has seen the number of charging points in Hackney increase from 16 at 12 locations to 46 at 23 locations, reaffirms the Council’s commitment to improving London’s air quality. It’s the Council’s ambition that, from 2025, all households in Hackney will be less than 500 metres from a vehicle charging point.

Hackney, Islington and Tower Hamlets councils have also partnered with the Zero Emissions Network to launch a new ‘parklet’ on Calvert Avenue on the city fringe, which replaces two car parking spaces with seating, cycle parking and greenery.

The parklet was opened today by Cllr Feryal Demirci, Cllr Claudia Webb, Islington Council’s Executive Member for Environment and Transport, and Cllr Rachel Blake, Tower Hamlets’ Cabinet Member for Strategic Development and Waste. It will be maintained by gardeners from the Shoreditch Crypt Trust, who are recovering from addiction and homelessness.

Businesses, delivery riders and local food businesses in Hackney, Islington and Tower Hamlets are also being encouraged to go electric. They can access grants from the Zero Emissions Network to go towards electric vans and scooters, cargo bikes and even showers!