Zero Carbon Luton - Issue 3, 2023
Parks, cars, and photographs of a changing town
Welcome to Issue 3 for this year. If you’ve been subscribed since the beginning (thanks, BTW!) you’ll have noticed these emails are coming out every two months at the moment. That’s in response to feedback - though I hope that as climate action in Luton ramps up in the coming years, it will have to be monthly to cover everything.
Luton’s new pocket park
How many electric cars are there in Luton?
Picturing a greener town
Hat Gardens - our new pocket park
Hat Gardens opened to the public this month, adding a new pocket park to the town centre and re-opening a previously enclosed section of the river Lea. Located on a busy walking route between the mall and the station, lots of residents will be able to enjoy the new green space. It’s also opposite some well used bus stops on Silver Street, and those waiting for a bus can now look out over soaring flamingos.
With its terraces and square at the top, Hat Gardens is a versatile space that can also be used for events. It has already hosted coronation celebrations and movie screenings, and will be a venue for Luton Pride in June.
New public spaces are good for biodiversity, but they also play an under-appreciated role in climate change. They encourage walking and cycling, and provide a spot to stop and rest along the way. They change the way we think about the town, building pride and a sense of belonging and welcome. It becomes a place to spend time in, rather than somewhere to drive in and out. Public spaces are vital to fostering the kind of community spirit that we need to take on the challenge of climate change. And as Hat Gardens is phase one of the wider Open Lea Project, hopefully there will be more progress to report in future.
The transition to electric cars
In a climate-friendly world, diesel and petrol cars will be a thing of the past. The government has set some dates for this: as of 2030 it will no longer be possible to buy a new petrol or diesel car, and by 2035 they will be phased out entirely. Eventually all cars will have zero emissions, and the streets will be cleaner and quieter for it.
Where is Luton on this journey?
Let’s begin with the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) in the town so far, which we can track with the Department of Transport’s licencing statistics. In 2012 there were just 13 electric vehicles registered in the town. Spotting one was a novelty. Here’s what happened since:
After a few years of slow growth, numbers really began to accelerate. Sales were spurred on by more affordable options on the market, more charge points, and perhaps by fuel shortages in 2021 (remember those?) By the autumn of 2022 there were 523 EVs in the town, and the number will have risen since then.
The infrastructure to support those cars has improved too. Most recently the council secured funding to provide 165 more electric car charging points around the town by 2025. This will serve local residents and those driving into the town from elsewhere.
There has been dramatic growth in the number of EVs on Luton’s roads, but we should put some perspective around those numbers. Luton has a grand total of 88,000 cars, so fewer than 1% of the town's fleet is currently electric. To really make a difference to our air quality and carbon emissions, it’s not enough to add more EVs to the roads. We need to see the number of diesel and petrol cars falling.
Unfortunately, the biggest growth in car numbers of the last decade has been diesels, rising from just under 20,000 in 2012 to over 33,000 today - giving Luton its reputation for air pollution along the way.
It looks as if diesel car numbers may have peaked though, and growing numbers of EVs and hybrids will begin to make a difference. Consider this graph a starting point: in the coming years that blue line will bend downwards, and then the orange one will too. The yellow will rise to meet and then overtake them both.
Keep an eye on these figures in the years to come, and together we’ll be able to watch the transition to clean transport unfold.
Picturing a greener town
What is a greener Luton going to look like? What does climate action in the town look like so far? We’d like to answer these questions with a photo gallery of environmental action in the area. It will be a collection of images that are free to use and solution focused, available for use in schools, reports, media – anyone that needs to illustrate a greener Luton.
If you’re a photographer – professional or amateur – with an interest in environmental themes, we’d like to invite you to contribute. If you have press images in an existing collection that you’d like to add to ours, or links to them, please do get in touch too.
Here’s some of what we have so far, and we’ll be collecting good quality images on the following themes:
Transport and travel – walking and cycling, buses and trains, electric cars. And yes, planes and the airport too, why not?
Buildings, homes and energy – renewable energy, solar power, insulation, retrofitting, and sustainable architecture.
Waste, recycling and repair – waste and how we reduce it, including repair and refurbishment.
Green spaces and biodiversity – parks and gardens, woodlands, growing spaces, wildlife, etc. Let’s put rivers and water in here too.
Protest and action – images of protest and demonstrations, awareness raising, events, volunteering and change-making of all kinds.
Graphs and graphics – a file for infographics, maps, graphs and so on to do with the environment in Luton.
Get in touch at Jeremy@earthboundventures.org for more information.
In other news…
A development of six new council houses has been built with heat pumps, the first time the council has used this low carbon heat source. A further 52 low-carbon homes are due for completion next year.
Buying secondhand is good for the environment as well as the pocket, so it’s nice to welcome Noah Enterprise back to the town centre with their new charity shop at number 5 Wellington Street.
Ryanair has added three new planes to its Luton Airport based fleet. These new planes have 16% lower emissions and are 40% quieter. Meanwhile Easyjet released a report into the future of air travel that forgot to mention low carbon aviation.
Those who don’t think the airlines are quite serious enough about climate change yet can register to submit comments to the current planning review on Luton’s airport expansion. The action group LADACAN can advise.
The Wildlife Trusts are running 30 Days Wild again this year, inviting people, organisations and schools to do one wild thing for each day in June.
If you’re at the Luton Carnival this weekend, keep an eye out for UKCCA’s carnival float made out of recycled materials, part of their ongoing commitment to sustainability.
#COYH
And finally
Thanks for reading! Please forward this on to anyone you know who’s working on climate and environment in the area. And send me your stories - I’d love to feature more projects and organisations and celebrate the difference you’re making.
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