The Mums for Lungs campaign argues that controlled parking zones (CPZs) are good for children's health because by reducing traffic they protect developing lungs from exposure to air pollution from engines and tyres. The campaign urges parents to support CPZs near their homes and schools even if they themselves do not drive.
One the areas where Enfield Council is proposing to introduce permit parking is "Palmers Green East"
Enfield Council's proposals to create four new controlled parking zones (CPZs), one of them in Palmers Green, another around Arnos Grove Station, have met with mixed reactions: a vociferous campaign against the plans, but also supporting voices, especially from people who currently have difficulty parking near their homes. This article, originally published on the Mums for Lungs campaign's website, argues that CPZs improve children's health.
Why Controlled Parking Zones are good for children’s health
It can be hard to connect children’s health with Controlled Parking Zones (CPZs); how can being able to park affect how healthy our children are?
It’s because air pollution emitted by vehicles is bad for our lungs. Too many unnecessary car journeys create air pollution which we have no choice but to breathe in. This affects children and the vulnerable the most. Being able to park enables driving; each journey starts and ends in a parking space.
Below are some common comments and questions we hear when people discuss CPZs. We hope our answers are helpful.
Firstly, what is a CPZ?
They are areas (or zones) where parking is paid for at certain times. Their introduction improves visibility, helps reduce dangerous parking as well as frees up the public realm (street space that is for everyone) for other uses, such as green space, seating and bike parking.
Why do Mums for Lungs support CPZs?
They promote a cleaner and safer neighbourhood for everyone. They encourage a shift from the private car to greener alternatives, as they create financial incentives to choose walking, cycling, public transport or car-club hire. This reduces traffic congestion (an additional cause of air pollution) and creates safer streets which are better for active travel.
How can CPZs reduce air pollution on the school run?
In London and many other urban areas, most children attend their local school and walk, scoot or cycle in each morning. However, at the same time, some parents/carers drive their children in, which means ALL children are forced to breathe up to five times more air pollution during the school run, than at any other time. Extensive and enforced CPZs and School Streets around a school can disincentivise parents from driving to school. We always urge people to ask for CPZ timings that include school pick-up and drop-off times to help reduce these journeys.
I don’t have a car, so a CPZ doesn’t affect me.
Cars affect everyone. They dominate our roads and clutter our kerbs. They cause air pollution, affecting everyone’s health, whether we drive or not. Parked cars also make it more difficult to cross roads safely, reducing visibility, which particularly affects children travelling independently.
Allowing cars unlimited access to car parking spaces, and all the journeys that enables, affects people without cars more, as they have to navigate a car-dominated landscape by foot, bike or public transport. We would urge people without cars to always engage in CPZ consultations where they live, and where their children go to school.
Both sides of one of the many flyers issued by Mums for Lungs which are available on the resources page of their website (click on the images to download the flyer)
CPZs are just a way for councils to make money!
This is often repeated, but it isn’t true. Councils are obliged by the government to use the money they make from charges to run the parking service. Any surplus must be spent on essential transport projects, such as repairing potholes or paying for school crossing patrols. Parking is the private use of public space - storing private property (cars) in the public realm. By charging private car owners, and being legally bound to spend the money on public transport, urban landscaping, zebra crossings or greening, CPZs actually benefit us all.
What other benefits do CPZs have?
Paid-for parking enables councils to charge significantly more for the heaviest and/or most polluting cars. Reducing the number of these on our roads would improve road safety and reduce the likelihood of people developing air pollution-related illnesses, such as asthma. This would also save the NHS millions each year. CPZs are the mechanism that make this possible.
My mum visits me regularly, I don’t want her to have to pay to park.
No-one wants to pay for parking, or for their mum to pay for parking, particularly if their mum is helping with childcare! But unless you are disabled, or parking an emergency vehicle, a CPZ doesn’t discriminate, and your mum will have to pay. This is the hard part of trying to reduce car use, it affects everyone. But looking on the bright side, it may encourage your mum/friends/family to try a more sustainable form of transport - something they may only do if they can’t drive. And if it prompts them to rethink how they move around, that is a good thing and part of the process of reducing car use, which benefits us all.
What about the angry responses on my local neighbourhood forum? They can’t all be wrong?
A CPZ can mean people rethinking their daily lives; how they get to work and see their family. An emotional response is understandable. It can mean responses to a CPZ can be overwhelming. We recommend framing it in terms of children’s health when you have conversations with friends and families. It’s also helpful to explain the political consensus; that road traffic will need to be reduced by 27% by 2030 in London, and that only electric cars and vans will be sold from 2035 to help us reach our Net Zero goals. Nitrogen Dioxide, the air pollutant that comes from burning fossil fuel, helps create greenhouse gases. By driving less, we reduce it and its contribution to climate change, essential when it comes to protecting our future. CPZs are part of that, and we need to embrace them.
