The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has today awarded £4m as part of his Green and Healthy Streets Fund to deliver vital greening projects on the capital’s roads and public spaces in order to tackle the devastating impacts of climate change.
The Fund supports projects like rain gardens and tree pits which integrate green infrastructure and climate resilience measures into local streets alongside interventions that support the Mayor’s commitment to promoting active travel, reducing carbon emissions and improving air quality.
Rain gardens and tree pits reduce flood risk by absorbing surface water run-off from hard surfaces, while creating a more attractive environment for pedestrians and a habitat for wildlife.
The additional investment will help make local areas more resilient to events like the heatwaves seen in recent weeks, flooding, and other extreme weather. They will also support biodiversity and encourage more Londoners to walk and cycle. Eleven boroughs will receive £2.85m from the Green and Healthy Streets Fund and funding will also be provided to enable the development of strategic green walking routes.
This announcement follows a new report by Vivid Economics commissioned by the GLA which found that investment in such measures would generate benefits worth £11.4m annually and that, in terms of social value, the cost of intervention would be offset in just three years.
These projects will not only help improve London’s resilience to flooding but provide attractive and wildlife-friendly spaces.
The funding will also deliver 10 new pocket parks (small parks accessible to the public) and green spaces and hundreds more street trees to help provide shade, reduce the risk of flooding and combat air pollution in the capital.
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Posted On: 08/08/2022