Parents and teachers are fighting plans to build an Ocado distribution hub yards from a north London school over fears of a spike in air pollution.
The online supermarket company wants to use the road outside Yerbury Primary School, Archway, as the new centre’s access route, which would see diesel delivery trucks driving centimetres from children in the playground.
Three diesel refuelling pumps are planned for the hub at the Bush Industrial Estate, which is behind the school.
A study published in the British Medical Journal earlier this year found that diesel emissions, including nitrogen oxides and particulate matter, was linked to asthma, reduced lung function and cognitive impairment in children.
On Wednesday morning around 100 parents and pupils arrived at the school gates, wearing pollution face masks and waving placards in protest.
Andrew Grieve, a parent at the school and a senior air quality analyst at King’s College London, said: “The kids don’t get an official voice. They don’t get to fill in the objection forms. That’s an injustice — we have to act on their behalf.”
Yerbury Primary is currently one of the few schools in Islington with a nitrogen dioxide reading below the European Union’s legal limit.
The plans would see delivery trucks enter and leave the site between 10am and 4pm, when children are at school, and also between 11pm and 7am.
Cassie Moss, head teacher, said: “There is a large body of evidence that links air pollution to negative effects on the respiratory, cardiovascular and neurological systems, with young and growing children particularly vulnerable.”
An Ocado spokesperson said: “We are very sorry for the anxiety that the application process has caused and we are looking forward to addressing these concerns directly with the school.”
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An Islington council spokesperson said the application has been subject to two public consultations since September and it had extended the current consultation to January because of “the high level of public interest.”
