20 THE RIVER MAGAZINE | Winter 2016 | P R O P E R T Y | 20 THE RIVER MAGAZINE | Spring 2018 A s London grows and gets even better there is one huge repercussion that really needs to be addressed. Our city may be big, beautiful and booming – but no one can say it smells pretty. This is a burdening problem for Londoners. In fact, a recent study by King’s College London researchers discovered around 9,500 people died in the capital each year due to long-term air-pollution exposure. Levels of the poisonous gas nitrogen dioxide in some areas regularly exceed EU standards. Not only is this causing premature deaths it’s leading to rises in asthma and other lung diseases in an unprecedented number of London’s dwellers. Yet air pollution continues to worsen. It’s why many Greenwich residents are so concerned about the impact of a cruise terminal at Enderby Wharf. London City Cruise Terminal’s plans were approved by Greenwich Borough Council in 2015 and cleared in the High Court after a campaign against it. The concerns around it centre on air pollution. This wharf will be capable of handling 240-metre-long cruise liners with around 2,500 passengers and crew. More than 50 liners a year could spend up to three days “hotelling”there. Using diesel engines while moored, they will emit the equivalent of nearly 700 large lorries constantly running their engines. Even larger ships may also be allowed to moor at Enderby Wharf – and they would emit as much diesel fumes as 2,000 lorries a day. “Shipping’s long been a destination for low-quality fuel that no one would be allowed to burn on land,”says Greenpeace campaigner Areeba Hamid. “If ports want to expand, they need to demonstrate they’re not going to worsen people’s exposure to harmful pollution, or they must insist that ships using their ports have much higher standards than those currently in force.” Britain alone is presently witnessing a growth in ships and the popularity of cruise holidays is rising every year. forair COMING UP | C U L T U R E | When the boats come in to Greenwich, will they leave enough clean air for the rest of us? by david hurst