London Environment Strategy consultation

Maybe I've missed something, but the responses to this question show the limitations of this so-called consultation process. Many people wish to express particular views, in my case here specifically on waste fires, but are constrained to the subjects chosen by the Mayor's office and commonly stray off-topic. So will I.

Yes, I'll help measure the pollution if you want but the problem is already known to be a serious one and there are more profitable ways of using resources.

Domestic "bonfires": Still legal in the UK apparently (though not in many other countries) but a significant source of particulates and toxins. If they were only limited to wood, which they aren't, they would still be causing similar problems to wood-burning stoves but with additional major hazards depending on treatments used. Eg, older timber may be coated in lead paint, or impregnated with the persistent pesticide lindane; later material may be pressure-treated wood(the green stuff) containing arsenic.

A few years ago, my borough reported that 4 or 5 letters A DAY were being sent to perpetrators by Environmental Health as a result of complaints from members of the public, presumably to satisfy the borough's minimum obligations under the 1990 Environmental Protection Act. A lot of people are therefore upset by this activity and it has to contribute significantly to the overall pollution burden, especially as fires tend to be lit in good weather when atmospheric pressure is high and pollution is trapped. I was informed this year by another council in Kent that the incidence of rubbish fires had increased due to the increased cost of disposing of waste in that area - so no cuts to London bin collections please.

It is no good assuming, as the Draft Strategy seems to, that 1) the issue of waste burning in the open is not particularly important, and 2) as such it can be left to increasingly cash-strapped local councils to deal with. If lack of legislation precludes, try education.

Could all new drivers learn to switch off engines whilst waiting in traffic please as part of their Driving Test?

The Black Cabs are the worst culprits. Could The Knowledge include no idling whilst cabs are waiting, no matter the circumstances.

Pollution from boats on the Inland Waterways in London is a serious threat to the health of Londoners, especially for visitors and residents of nearby properties. The burning of solid fuel whether smoky or smokeless emits large quantities of pollutants which seep into homes and are difficult to eradicate especially in winter months. Boats are allowed to idle their diesel engines for as long as they like whilst vehicles on land are prohibited. This is equivalent to a line of lorries idling and emitting noxious fumes on a main road. It is difficult for Borough Councils to prevent this pollution as vehicles on water are exempt from the Clean Air Act.

London's canals could be a healthy green space for everyone if electricity points were provided for all boats and the Canal and Water Trust took measures to reduce the number of boats. This could be attained by bringing in a special London license for limited numbers of boats. Instead they continue to take funds from licenses allowing more and more boats onto the canals.

I would like to have a monitor - it would stop me looking at my phone so often. I would also like vehicles to be checked for their pollution levels and their speed. Installing more speed cameras and enforcing laws on idling would be great. I would like large commercial vehicles to be banned from built up areas. Goods can be delivered by bicycle.

Why did the government not take VW to court for the fraudulent software? After all, it was not the buyers of VW cars with dodgy emissions software who should have been compensated as much as those who suffered from the pollution generated, i.e. the general public. VW should be footing a large part of our NHS bill for those needing treatment for e.g. lung problems as a result of pollution.

Far too many car drivers sit at the side of the road with their engines running while they use their mobile phones, or simply waiting for a passenger. Why? This should be made a traffic offence. Traffic wardens would have a field day!

Why can't there be a policy that vehicles are designed with their exhausts on the right-hand side of the vehicle, i.e. furthest from cyclists and pedestrians? Exhaust pipes of buses and cars are usually placed on the left-hand side of the rear, which is closest to pedestrians on the pavement and cyclists i the gutter. The measure won't reduce pollution, but it might reduce the concentration that is being breathed in at any moment.

I have just filled in the questionnaire but I nearly gave up as it was not well designed. it assumes that you do have a car and that you don't live in central London, for example.

Time to stop pussyfooting about, London is overcrowded and we do not have the infrastructure to cope with all these people. They do nothing but build more houses and cram more people in without the services that are required to support them properly. Time to start building new towns with companies and shops close by providing jobs to stop all the travelling and reduce the necessity of cars. Monitoring the air won’t help whilst we have all this traffic pollution and building sites and buses that constantly run their engines whilst stopped. And why do I have to wait so many years until the air is cleaner, I will probably be dead by then.

The greatest increase in pollution and reduction in air quality in Enfield has been caused by the local council - in conjunction with the Mayor - installing £43m of cycle lanes which are unused by cyclists yet snarl up traffic so that the congestion is unworkable. So the main roads have major pollution issues - but people are now diverting away from the main roads in order to get to their destinations without sitting in queues behind buses at stops - and are using side roads - which are now becoming polluted because of this massive increase in traffic!! A no-brainer and one which was pointed out at the (flawed) consultation stage. The council is now trying to introduce 'Quieter neighbourhoods' and restricting traffic on these roads - and also parking for residents. The council has realised that the ill conceived cycle scheme has caused this problem and is trying yet another problem-causing policy in order to dig themselves out of the first expensive mistake! So what will the motorists do...? Yes, use yet more side and back roads just moving the pollution problem around. The only way to cure this is dig up the cycle lanes! You and i can see this but the Council - especially the 'Cabinet Member for the Environment' must be wearing dark glasses!!! There seems to be some 'denial' going on!!!!!

Not a very helpful survey as it limits the options to relatively innocuous and ineffective actions, leaving no possibility of saying what we really think should happen. For example: option to "update taxi fleet" but no option to reduce number of taxis altogether; option to charge certain vehicle users but no option to charge all vehicle users more or to ban certain vehicles, etc. Also in many cases options for motivations for taking or not taking individual action are insufficient: eg a good reason for not installing a water meter is because water use (as opposed to HOT water use) is a triflingly insignificant issue compared to energy use: actually we have enough water in this country.

I would like to see on-the-spot emissions tests for vehicles, with fines and bans from driving inside the ULEZ for the worst offenders.

My bugbear is how Black Cabs keep getting let off the hook. They are exempt from the T-Charge, will be exempt from the ULEZ and the only plan to get them off the roads is a voluntary only scrappage scheme plus new cabs to be electric from 2018. Considering there are around 22,000 on the streets, it's going to take years and years for the current fleet to be replaced. I understand up to 2032 until the current fleet is decommissioned. These are filthy diesel vehicles whose sole purpose is to drive non-stop around the central zones all day every day. Getting them off the streets would have a big positive impact on air quality in my opinion.

This is one thing Sadiq should have a lot of control over, but he is being weak.