Andrew Dismore

Local London Assembly Member, Andrew Dismore AM, has called upon eligible local organisations to urgently submit bids for free water refill points to be installed in the borough, ahead of Friday’s deadline. This comes on the back of City Hall’s recent announcement that £5 million of funding has been allocated towards the rollout of 100 new drinking fountains across the capital.

Applications for the refill points can be submitted by London boroughs, public and private landowners, or leaseholders and managing agents who have the relevant permissions. Applicants are encouraged to bid for water refill points to be installed in areas with high levels of footfall such as high streets and tourist hotspots, and where there is easy access to drainage and a reliable water supply.

City Hall are rolling out drinking fountains throughout London to tackle the rising scourge of plastic waste.

Single-use plastic water bottles were identified as a major pollutant of the River Thames and the capital’s waterways by the London Assembly in the 2017 report, “Bottling It”. Data from the #OneLess campaign has shown that the average Londoner buys more than three plastic water bottles every week.

A joint monitoring programme overseen by the charity, Thames 21, and the #OneLess campaign has also revealed that according to the latest count, 55,533 plastic bottles have been removed from the River Thames since 2016. Mr Dismore said “we need to use all the tools at our disposal to clamp down on the rising tide of plastic waste.”

Local London Assembly Member, Andrew Dismore AM said:

“With thousands of plastic bottles ending up in the River Thames and our waterways every year, we need to use all the tools at our disposal to clamp down on the rising tide of plastic waste.

“It is also important that all Londoners are able to keep hydrated on the go, and that the most vulnerable members of our community have access to a reliable and clean supply of water.

“This is why I am urging all eligible local organisations to urgently submit for free water refill points to be installed across our borough before this Friday’s deadline, if they have not yet done so”.

ENDS

Notes

• More information about the application process, which closes on Friday 7^th December, can be found here;

• In October, City Hall announced that £5 million of funding has been allocated towards the rollout of hundreds of new drinking fountains across the capital;

• Data from the #OneLess campaign has shown that the average Londoner buys more than three plastic water bottles every week;

• A joint monitoring programme overseen by the charity, Thames 21, and the #OneLess campaign has also revealed that according to the latest count, 55,533 plastic bottles have been removed from the River Thames since 2016;

• Andrew Dismore AM is the London Assembly Member for Barnet and Camden.