CPRE London in the news in 2025!

CPRE London has had a great year, receiving extensive coverage in local and national media outlets.

This included high levels of publicity for the 2025 Healthy Street Scorecard (The Standard, My London, Time Out, The Islington Gazette,  Islington Council, Public Sector Executive, Newham London, Transport Xtra, Air  Quality News), as well as coverage on a wide range of topics, from London’s ‘new towns’ (The Standard, Metro, London News North) and affordability crisis (The Standard) to the Capital’s continuing battle with water pollution (Local Gov Daily Bulletin) and encroachment on the Green Belt (The Telegraph, The Architects Journal, GB News).

CPRE London’s campaigns to save the city’s parks, including Whitewebbs (The Guardian), Barnet Playing Fields (The Standard) and Wimbledon (SW Londoner), have received coverage in local and national outlets. Other media highlights include interviews on BBC London radio and LBC, think pieces in The Standard (“TfL has a plan to speed up London’s buses – but it’s doomed to fail for this reason”, Alice Roberts) and CityAM (“Building more homes, especially on greenbelt land, won’t solve the housing crisis” – our response to “The Debate: Should we build on the greenbelt?”), and a shoutout in Private Eye.

What else has been happening in 2025?

Some key developments that have occurred this year include the Mayor’s commitment to spend over £1.8 billion across 5 years to improve the health of London’s rivers and prevent road runoff pollution entering waterways, and the government’s promise to halve sewage pollution by the end of the decade. Meanwhile, the London Assembly listened to CPRE London’s call to create a Sewer Connections Action Team (SCAT) and has recommended the establishment of a “misconnections officer”.

In terms of London’s green spaces, the campaign to save Wimbledon Park has been granted permission to take its case to the Court of Appeal. 2025 has also seen many more people join in the push to stop large festivals taking over London’s parks every summer – including celebs like Mark Rylance. Other positive news includes the opening of the 32-acre Springfield Park in Tooting (London’s largest new park since the 2012 Olympics), the creation of over 51 kilometers of cycle routes and the launch of a £12 million Green Roots Fund to increase the number of green and blue spaces in London.

In less positive news, while the conversation has shifted from a crisis in housing to one of affordability (as CPRE London has been saying), affordability quotas have been slashed, families are still waiting over 18 years for council homes, and the green belt (or “grey belt”) is being eyed up by politicians and housing developers (not to mention those looking to build energy-hungry data centres).