Letter on child deaths to go to Ilford Recorder on Monday 26th July

 The letter below will be sent to the Ilford Recorder on 26th July, the more who sign the more likely it is to be printed along with the photo from the 10th July meeting. Please email at andy.walker@talk21.com with your name and address which will be forwarded to the Recorder. Your name will be listed in a post next week, but not your address.

Dear Sir or Madam

The Redbridge 2020-2025 Air Quality Action Plan executive summary lists its first priority to “Reduce pollution in and around schools” yet Councillors passed the Tesco Goodmayes development on 27^th May 2021 which includes a school beside a busy road as part of the application.

BHRUT, the trust which manages King George & Queens Hospitals have recently released child death statistics showing eighteen child deaths with air pollution being a possible contributor in the year before lockdown. In the year of lockdown, only two child deaths were recorded with air pollution being a possible contributor.

These alarming figures require Sadiq Khan, the London Mayor to call in the Tesco application to investigate the BHRUT statistics further, for example to obtain the full postcodes of where the children lived to see if they were close to busy roads. If Redbridge Council are serious about protecting children's lungs they should write to the Mayor seeking he call in their application. The Mayor has the power to reject the Tesco application if he thinks it damaging to child health.

The statistics are available at the stop the Tesco Toxic Towers blogspot in a post dated 14^th July.

Regards