In August, Sutton Council was invited to compete for funds to run an exciting project to tackle climate change by reducing carbon emissions. The project was organised by Transport for London (TfL) and we had to take part in a competitive bid against 10 other London boroughs with the winner being awarded £5 million.The final stage of the bid was ‘sudden death playoff’ against Harrow and I was delighted to lead Sutton’s bid team. The rest as they say is history. We won the bid and we are now working out exactly how to use the money.
Our bid was successful in large part due to the Council’s record on environmental projects, but credit is also due to the Conservative Opposition on Sutton Council who supported the final bid and have continued to support the project since that time.
Sutton will now spearhead the UK and possibly the world’s most ambitious sustainable transport project. During the next three years the Smarter Travel Sutton project, will work with schools, large and small businesses and local residents to develop innovative ways to reduce congestion and offer alternatives to using the car.
The project also aims to improve people’s health by encouraging walking and cycling and by improving air quality. And there will be new car clubs set up around the borough to allow local residents to hire cars by the hour.
Sutton residents have shown how much they care about the environment by consistently recycling more waste than almost every other London borough. We all now have an opportunity to take this environmental action further by working together to reduce our dependency on the car and cut our climate change impact, leaving a positive legacy for future generations.
