Future Neighbourhoods funding to improve the environment

Old Kent Road is set to receive £50k to develop plans for environmental improvements.

Southwark Council is working with the Mayor of London to tackle some of the borough’s environmental challenges, including the climate emergency and toxic air quality, whilst creating jobs, developing skills and supporting a just transition to a low carbon, circular economy.

The Mayor’s Future Neighbourhoods 2030 initiative has awarded £30k in funding to develop plans to improve the area between Old Kent Road and Queens Road.

These will be combined with a further £20k from Southwark Council to create a joint-funded project.

The plans will include:

• proposals for a retrofit of Brimmington Park sports hub which will incorporate PV panels, an air source heat pump and rainwater harvesting and sustainable drainage
• the Rotherhithe to Peckham cycle link
• street greening and rain gardens (sustainable urban drainage systems)
• recycling projects

Cllr Helen Dennis, Southwark’s Cabinet Member for Climate Emergency and Sustainable Development said:

“We welcome this funding and a collaborative approach to tackling climate change and transforming the environment around the Old Kent Road, delivering tangible benefits for the community.

Working together is vital to making the changes that we need to make Southwark – and the wider capital –  a greener and more sustainable place to live and work.

We will be consulting with residents and businesses in 2022 to help ensure the proposed projects are delivered in line with local need.”

The Future Neighbourhoods initiative is designed to support London’s most disadvantaged and climate-vulnerable areas, or areas where residents have been most severely affected by the pandemic.

The proposed improvements will contribute towards the regeneration of Old Kent Road as well as helping the council to fulfil its commitment to tackle climate change.