Assembly wants to speed up the establishment of Zane’s Law

Zane’s Law follows the tragic death of Zane Gbangbola, who sadly died in his home following the catastrophic River Thames flooding at Chertsey in Surrey, in February 2014.

The London Assembly has today called on the Mayor to write to the Prime Minister to bring forward Zane’s Law to ensure any land which could harm public safety or pollute controlled waters is remediated.

Zack Polanski AM, who proposed the motion, said:

“By agreeing to this motion, I hope we will see the Mayor bring us a step closer to ensuring there should never again be a death from hidden environmental toxins.

“Every Londoner has the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, and I hope that after ten years, the Mayor’s support for Zane’s Law will see it passed into action.” 

The full text of the motion is:

This Assembly agrees that the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment is a human right, as declared by the UN General Assembly.

We also know that for many people this is not the reality of their daily lives. Current and historic chemical and particulate contamination of our air, water and land can and has caused significant negative impacts on lives and health, including fatalities.

This Assembly recognises and applauds the campaign work of the parents of seven-year-old Zane Gbangbola, who died in the early hours of 8 February 2014, during catastrophic River Thames flooding at Chertsey in Surrey.

The flood water passed through the field behind their house, a historic landfill site, enabled hydrogen cyanide gas (HCN) to enter their home with tragic consequences. Zane’s father was also paralysed with a diagnosis of hydrogen cyanide (HCN) poisoning.

There are sites in London that are of concern, such as former gas works being redeveloped for residential use and former landfills near green space. Through proposing a new bill, Zane’s Law, they hope to ensure greater transparency over contaminated land.

The London Assembly notes that Zane’s Law would call for:

• Increased national Government funding and support so that every local authority, including those in London, must keep a full, regularly updated Register of Land that may be contaminated within their boundary.
• The Environment Agency to keep a full, public National Register of Contaminated Land to be regularly updated by information from local authorities.
• Registers of Land to be accessible and available for inspection by the general public.
• Relevant local authorities must fully inspect any land registered that may be contaminated and must fully remediate or enforce remediation of any land which poses harm to public safety, or which pollutes controlled waters.
• Local authorities and London boroughs to have the funding, resources and support necessary to be responsible for inspecting previously closed landfill sites and fully remediating them, or enforcing their remediation, when they pose a risk of significant harm to people or controlled waters.
• The Government must take full responsibility for providing the necessary funds for local authorities to meet these new requirements, following the ‘polluter pays’ principle: to recover costs as appropriate where those responsible for the pollution can be identified.

The London Assembly asks the Mayor to join them in supporting the above calls by writing to the Prime Minister to bring forward primary legislation needed to establish Zane’s Law.

The meeting can be viewed via webcast or YouTube.

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