Changing our environment

The most effective way to reduce pollution is to move towards more sustainable and active modes of transport such as cycling, walking and cleaner public transport. This also has positive health and lifestyle benefits beyond reducing air pollution.

We need to create an environment that is welcoming and promotes walking and cycling as our preferred means of travel.

We must have policies that promote active travel and encourage a modal shift as a priority for the borough. Our parks need to be protected to ensure safe, clean environments are available for our residents and visitors to use.

The newly built environment needs to support our ambitions for a clean, healthy borough, and help us to deliver policies and actions that promote regeneration that contributes positively to air quality in the borough.

Summary of actions

• The introduction of the borough wide 20 mph speed limit. This will help create an environment that is welcoming and safe for pedestrians and cyclists
• Additional speed reduction measures at: the A310 from Kingston Bridge to Twickenham, the A305 Staines Road Corridor and the A308 Hampton Court Corridor
• Commission an independent assessment of the air quality impact from the new 20 mph speed limit
• Richmond Town centre is the most polluted location in our borough and is also a hot spot for through traffic. We will tackle this by introducing a new Clean Air Zone (CAZ) with the ambition of reducing polluting vehicles and dissuading vehicles from unnecessarily using our town centre as a through route (subject to funding approvals)
• Focus our policies and Local Implementation Plan on prioritising cycling and walking in the borough
• Improve policy for new buildings and development. We have embedded air quality in our Local Plan and will produce a Supplementary Planning Document that will help to deliver our aspirations for cleaner air in the borough. This document will cover all areas of planning and ensure developers focus on air quality throughout the build and for the life of the development
• Continue to roll out Electric Vehicle Charging in the borough
• Invest in cycling infrastructure to promote cleaner transport throughout the borough

Useful resources

Richmond's 20 mph speed limit - Our approach to a 20 mph speed limit across the borough, with more information about on-going monitoring and exclusions.

Drive in a Clean Air Zone - A Government website providing information about Clean Air Zones, where they are and if you have to pay to enter one.

Electric vehicles - Information about Electric Vehicles, grants to help purchase one, home and business charging, as well as linking you to our EV recharging strategy.

Electric vehicle charging points – Regularly updated information about the ever-expanding charging network in the borough, including Source London, Lamp column, Rapid and Public charging points.

Cycling - Our cycling pages have a lot of useful information about cycling in the borough such as where to park your bike, cycling safely, cycle training, tips for looking after your bike and where to hire a bike.

Local Implementation Plan (LIP) – Details what the local plan for transport is in the long term and especially up to 2022. It explains how the Council will implement the Mayor of London’s Transport Strategy, which has a big emphasis on sustainable travel (walking, cycling, scooting and public transport use).

Progress matrix

Action	Current status	Timeframe	Target	Comments
The introduction of a borough-wide 20 mph speed limit. This will help create an environment that is welcoming and safer for pedestrians and cyclists	Complete	24 segments. Finish April 2020	90% of all LBRUT road network	Achieved installation of 20mph speed limit in over 90 % of all LBRUT roads by April 2020
Additional speed reduction measures at A310 Kingston Bridge to Twickenham, A305 Staines Road Corridor and A308 Hampton Court Corridor	On hold	April 2022	3 zones implemented	Delayed due to COVID-19 and changes to funding. Should recommence 2021
Independent assessment of the air quality benefits of a new 20 mph speed limit	In progress	June 2021	3 locations monitored before and after	Due to COVID 19 traffic patterns may change
A new Clean Air Zone (CAZ) for Richmond Town Centre. This is the most polluted location in our borough and a hot spot for through traffic. We will tackle this by introducing a new Clean Air Zone with the ambition of reducing polluting vehicles and dissuading vehicles from unnecessarily using our town centre as a through route (subject to funding approvals)	In progress	Baseline data Autumn 2019, with a view to bring in the proposals for Richmond Town Centre by 2021	Implementation spring 2020	Due to COVID-19, implementation timeline uncertain (possibly 2021)
Focus our policies and Local Implementation Plan on prioritising cycling and walking in the borough	In progress	2020	New Active Travel Strategy containing clear targets for change in active travel and aspiration targets for 2024	COVID-19 has prioritised more policies on walking and cycling
New buildings and development. We have embedded air quality in our Local Plan and will produce an SPD that will help deliver our aspirations for cleaner air in the borough. This document will cover all areas of planning and ensure developers focus on air quality throughout the build and for the life of the development	Complete	2020 then ongoing	March 2020	Delayed due to COVID 19, AQ SPD adopted June 2020. Now applied to all major planning applications
Continuing the roll out of Electric Vehicle Charging in the borough	In progress	2025	400 EV charging points	Total of 262 public charging points available with 71 new lamp column chargers planned for implementation autumn 2020 (total 333). These will comprise 271 lamp columns, 57 standalone (Source London) units, and 5 TfL rapid chargers. A further 70+ lamp column chargers are planned in late 2020/ early 2021
Investing in cycling infrastructure in the borough	In progress	2023	1,000 cycle stands, 30 cycle hangers, 200+ cycle racks	In 2019/20 we delivered 40 on-street cycle parking spaces and 10 off-street cycle parking spaces

For the latest updates, please read the Air Quality Action Plan Progress section in the latest Annual Status Report.