Friends of Limehouse

03/02/2026

📢 Have your say on cleaner air!

The UK government has launched a public consultation on reducing smoke & harmful particulate emissions from domestic solid fuel burning (like wood and smokeless fuels). This targets one of the big sources of fine particulate pollution (PM2.5).

The proposals include:
🔥 Stricter smoke limits for new stoves so they release less pollution
🏷️ Mandatory labelling for stoves and fuels with clear health impact info
⚖️ Stronger enforcement penalties for suppliers who sell non-compliant fuels or appliances
📅 Consultation open until 19 March 2026.

🧠 Why it matters locally:
Even in urban areas like ours, domestic burning contributes to poor winter air quality. Cleaner rules could mean fewer tiny particles in the air we breathe, especially on cold evenings when traffic and home-heating emissions pile up.

⚓️ We know how important this is, particularly for people living on boats, and vote for supported phasing out of domestic fossil fuels burning.

➡️ We encourage residents of Tower Hamlets and Londoners to read the proposals and share views on how solid fuel burning affects health, homes, budgets and neighbourhood air.

📍 Head to the link in bio to learn more and take part in the consultation before 19 March.

03/02/2026

📢 Have your say on cleaner air!

The UK government has launched a public consultation on reducing smoke & harmful particulate emissions from domestic solid fuel burning (like wood and smokeless fuels). This targets one of the big sources of fine particulate pollution (PM2.5).

The proposals include:
🔥 Stricter smoke limits for new stoves so they release less pollution
🏷️ Mandatory labelling for stoves and fuels with clear health impact info
⚖️ Stronger enforcement penalties for suppliers who sell non-compliant fuels or appliances
📅 Consultation open until 19 March 2026 — everyone can respond, not just stove users!

🧠 Why it matters locally:
Even in urban areas like ours, domestic burning contributes to poor winter air quality. Cleaner rules could mean fewer tiny particles in the air we breathe, especially on cold evenings when traffic and home-heating emissions pile up.
We know how important it is, particularly for the community living on boats.

🗳️ We vote for supported phasing out of domestic fossil fuels burning.

➡️ We encourage residents of Tower Hamlets and all Londoners to read the proposals and share views on how solid fuel burning affects health, homes and neighbourhood air.

📍 Head to the link in bio to learn more and take part in the consultation before 19 March.

02/02/2026

Air quality update — Branch Rd, Limehouse

Our air-quality monitor on Branch Rd is currently showing an Air Quality Index in the 50s. That’s a reminder that air quality often worsens in winter — with colder weather, more vehicle use, and pollutants lingering closer to the ground.

🚗 What residents are noticing
Many of us have observed increased congestion on Commercial Rd since tolls were introduced at the Blackwall Tunnel and Silvertown Tunnel. Drivers seem to be diverting to avoid tolls and using the Rotherhithe Tunnel, adding pressure to already busy routes through Limehouse.

🌬️ Why this matters
More congestion = more idling traffic = higher NO₂ and particulate pollution, right where people live, walk, and send children to school.

📣 Our ask
We’re calling on to review current traffic patterns and air-quality impacts on Commercial Rd and surrounding streets, and to check whether displacement from tunnel tolls is worsening local pollution.

💚 Clean air is a public health issue. We’ll keep sharing local data.

CommercialRoad LondonBreathe HealthyStreets

01/02/2026

🚦 LTNs are controversial — here’s what the court said

Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) divide opinion. Some people love them, others really don’t. This week, the Court of Appeal weighed in, and its message was clear.

The court ruled that Tower Hamlets Council acted unlawfully when it removed the Bethnal Green LTN. Judges said that because the scheme was part of the borough’s Local Implementation Plan, the council did not have the power to remove it without approval from the Mayor of London.

In short:
📖 LTNs included in approved transport plans can’t just be scrapped
👩‍⚖️ Councils have a legal duty to retain measures they’ve implemented
✅ Community-backed safer-street schemes are protected in law

We are happy for to win the case. Debate will continue, but this judgement sets an important legal line.

What are your thoughts on the topic?

07/06/2024

Here’s the second part of my conversation with Dr Jonathan Grigg, Professor of Paediatric Respiratory and Environmental Medicine at Queen Mary University of London. Dr Grigg analyses the important lessons brought by and

💨 environmental justice
🚗 diesel cars, SUVs and ULEZ
🚂 costs of public transport
🩻 linking patients’ data to their postcodes and the amount of air pollution exposure they get
🧑‍⚖️ the need for a new national air quality policy

Please share your thoughts in comments.

07/06/2024

Recently, I had the pleasure of speaking to Dr Jonathan Grigg, the leading British paediatrician in the effects of air pollution. Spare a few mins to get an insight on

💨 how pollution affects the human body from the moment of conception until retirement
🚗 whether you’re safe if you live away from big roads
😷 what is done in Tower Hamlets to help children with asthma
🤧 the connection between hay fever and air pollution

Tomorrow, I will publish the second part of the interview, focusing on the policies we need to implement so we can all breathe freely.

07/06/2024

part one

23/03/2024

We’re calling for a with Mums for Lungs - School Streets & a coalition of London groups.

London needs:
💚 To meet WHO guideline limits.
💚 .
💚 A clear website with all pollution data & info in one place.

The London Mayoral election will be held on 2nd May 2024. Despite the amount of progress made on cleaning up London’s air over the last few years, we need London’s next Mayor to go much further if we want children to be truly protected from the lifelong health impacts of air pollution.

12/03/2024

Join us on Saturday 16th March at 10-11.30 am for a coffee and a walk around Ropemakers Fields. We will talk about the air we breathe, share the insights from a portable air pollution monitor and come up with a plan to improve air quality together. This is part of the Air Quality Awareness program uniting the communities in Tower Hamlets, Hackney, Newham, and City of London.

See you at the bandstand!

05/02/2024

Come to our FREE half-term exhibition of children’s artwork on air pollution at .

Get crafty and messy with us and chat to team about data from our monitor outside Limehouse station.

Stepney City Farm Classroom
Stepney Way, Stepney Green, E1 3DG
The exhibition is open at 10 am - 4 pm from Tue 13th until Thu 15th Feb