‘Green logistics centre’ to cut Bankside van deliveries

A project to improve the coordination of deliveries to and from businesses in the Bankside area of south London has been awarded £50,000 in funding by Transport for London.

Led by the Better Bankside Business Improvement District (BID) the project will involve establishing a ‘green logistics centre’ — consolidating deliveries and reducing the number of diesel vans operating in the area.

Bankside BID has worked with Borough Market to cut van trips

The project will build on work already carried out alongside traders at the iconic Borough Market to cut deliveries made to the site.

Transport for London has funded the project with money from a Deliveries Reduction Fund, through which the BID has also received £17,000 to pilot a waste micro-consolidation scheme seeking to reduce the number of diesel waste vehicle trips made in Bankside.

Donald Hyslop, Chair of Better Bankside and Borough Market, said: “Better Bankside has a reputation for innovation in improving the daily lives of workers and local communities in central London. TfL’s funding for this pilot project has enabled us to test new ways of addressing the issue of air quality, something 79% of our local businesses told us they wanted Better Bankside to prioritise.

“Working in partnership with Borough Market, we’ve already been able to reduce the number of diesel vehicle trips on the road in Bankside by 70 per week. I hope in the future this successful and important initiative can be further developed in our area and across London.”

Clean pedestrian routes

Other projects implemented by the BID include a pilot scheme aimed at promoting ‘clean’ pedestrian routes in the area (see airqualitynews.com story), which received around £36,500 from the Mayor of London’s Air Quality Fund.

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “We have no option but to be smarter in how our streets work.

“With London’s population growing, congestion is not only costly and inefficient for London’s businesses, but has a damaging knock-on effect on air quality and our environment.

“I’m delighted that we are partnering with London’s business groups to fund innovative projects that will reduce the impact of the growing number of deliveries and collections we’re seeing across the capital. Working with businesses, the roll out of these schemes will not only keep our city moving, but improve our health, and improve quality of life for everyone.”