THE Mayor of London has set aside almost £50 million to tackle climate change in the capital this year.

To get his final £3 billion budget approved by the London Assembly Mayor Ken Livingstone agreed to spend £47 million on measures backed by the minority Green Party.

The money will pay for:

  • £16 million extra for cycling, including a completed London cycle network by 2010, £1.3 million for cycle parking, and £1 million for cycle training in schools;
  • £4.6 million extra for walking, including walking maps in each borough;
  • £5.5 million extra to encourage sustainable travel like car clubs and car share at schools and offices;
  • £8 million to make buildings more energy efficient;
  • 50 new hydrogen and hybrid buses;
  • An £8 million fund to develop energy efficient transport like recycling energy used when Tube trains brake;
  • Adverts promoting ways of reducing CO2 emissions.

The two Green Party members in the London Assembly, Jenny Jones and Darren Johnson, said the measures would provide a "serious framework for tackling climate change in London".

The mayor needs their votes to pass his budget through the Tory dominated assembly, which is due to vote on it later this month.

However, Damian Hockney, leader of the One London Party, called the budget debate "a farce" and claimed it was a done-deal.

"The system is deliberately rigged against the council taxpayer and anyone trying to look after their interests," he said.

"I bet Green voters didn't expect it to cost them £4 million more to walk and £8 million more to cycle in London this year. Most of us manage to walk and cycle at no cost to the taxpayer.

"Only a Ken/Green coalition could waste so much money on half-baked schemes like this when council taxpayers are already at breaking point."

As in the mayor's first draft, the final budget would mean a 29p increase in council tax for the average Band D household in London.

Each week Band D tax payers would pay the mayor £5.84 - three quarters of which would go to the police.

Another 15 per cent (90p) would go to the fire brigade, seven per cent (38p) to the 2012 Olympics and 1 per cent (8p) to Transport for London.

Just three per cent (18p) would go to other services provided at the Greater London Authority following budget savings of £10 million.