Their faces fill the screen one by one. “Ocado, why are you building a depot in our school’s backyard?” “Air pollution is unsafe for us, why don’t you care?” And a direct question for Ocado’s co-founder and CEO: “Tim Steiner, would you like to live next to a depot?”
Last month, the online supermarket asked for “feedback” on its plans to open a round-the-clock delivery hub on the Bush Industrial Estate in London’s Tufnell Park.
These words come from a campaign video which was the response from kids at Yerbury Primary School, just three metres from the site.
Today, they were backed by Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, whose nine-year-old daughter Ella became the first person in the UK to have air pollution listed as the cause of death on her death certificate, following a landmark inquest ruling in December.
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“Children in London and around the world are recognising the health emergency we live in and are taking matters into their own hands – whether it’s asking companies to act responsibly or asking politicians to step up and protect their health and future,” said Rosamund, founder of the Ella Roberta Family Foundation and World Health Organisation advocate for health and air quality.
“It’s time for policymakers and companies to listen to what children are demanding.”
Campaigners say Ocado’s consultation is a “sham” – as the grocery giant is already fighting the cash-strapped local council, and crowdfunded “concerned residents” in the High Court.
The hearing was attended by dozens of children from the school, carrying banners saying “NOcado!”, who protested outside the court earlier this month as the hearing was streamed live into classrooms.
“Ocado has to drop the depot,” Honor Bolton, 11, said. “We are defending our rights as schoolkids to a safe playground and healthy classrooms.
"We are fed up of not being heard. Ocado needs to find another site. We can’t find another school.”
Ocado, which often boasts of its green credentials, says the site would be “one of the greenest and quietest grocery facilities in the UK” featuring a fleet of green delivery vans and heavy goods vehicles that run on natural gas, with 65% lower emissions than diesel.
Ocado’s Twitter account reported yesterday that the company currently has just 17 electric delivery vehicles in circulation nationwide.
Campaigners say this ignores the pollution from 90 staff cars, and the motorbikes and cars which power Ocado’s Zoom one-hour delivery service, one of the purposes of the site.
The proposed depot is right next to the children’s playground, nursery, classrooms and playing fields, as well as local housing.
A supermarket spokesperson said: “Ocado is committed to making our site on the Bush Industrial Estate the greenest and quietest grocery facility in the UK, with a 100% electric van fleet.
"We delivered to one in six households in Islington in 2020.
"Had our proposed site been open then, it would also have reduced the number of miles travelled by our fleet by over 45% for customers in the borough.
"Our aim is to be the best possible neighbour to the local community, while bringing a faster and more sustainable service to our Islington customers.”
Yerbury Primary has been there for 120 years. Ocado’s site is “literally along the length of our whole playground,” headteacher Cassie Moss says.
“It’s about health, it’s about pollution, it’s about air quality and it’s also about noise pollution.”
Andrew Grieve, a campaigning air pollution scientist at Imperial College London, says: “Children are susceptible to air pollution as their brains, immune system and lungs are still growing.
"We have a duty to protect children who have no voice in the planning process.”
The site’s owner, Telereal Trillium, was granted a lawful development certificate by the council in 2017 allowing storage and distribution, and the food delivery giant applied to open its hub two years later.
But last October, the council revoked the certificate after campaigners gave evidence that the site had not been used for storage and distribution since 1992.
Ocado’s response was to take Islington Council to the High Court.
The delivery giant’s plans come as it expands its Zoom service as part of a joint “Ocado Retail” venture with Marks & Spencer.
Fast deliveries, competing with Uber Eats and Deliveroo, will be supplied by so-called “micro CFCs” – Customer Fulfilment Centres.
But Ocado CEO Steiner, a former Goldman Sachs banker, has admitted land can be harder to find in cities for smaller warehouse space.
In last week’s trading statement Ocado said: “The first micro site, in West London, Ocado Zoom, is already full, a year ahead of schedule.
A second London site has been secured and we are looking for an additional dozen sites within London’s M25 orbital motorway to support the ambitious rollout plan of Ocado Retail.”
Finance chief Niall McBride added that Ocado would love to bring the model to other cities.
The result of the High Court case is expected in the next few weeks, with ramifications for towns and cities across the UK.
Ocado says local fulfilment centres can bring down “last-mile emissions”. But there will also inevitably be more “dark stores” – fully stocked but with no in-person customers – and depots in residential areas.
We want our food faster, but the issues facing Deliveroo, and now Ocado, suggest there may be no such thing as having our cake delivered in under an hour and eating it, without consequence.
- Nocado.org
- #OcadoVsKids
