WORCESTER City Council has produced a draft Air Quality Action Plan setting out the actions it will take to improve air quality over the next five years.
A review in 2018 established that air quality over the majority of Worcester is generally good but there are a number of areas in and around the city centre that have elevated levels of nitrogen dioxide air pollution, primarily attributable to road traffic.
Lung disease is the third biggest killer in the UK.
According to the TaskForce for Lung Health, one in five people in the UK are affected by a lung condition and lung disease could cost the country £11billion each year.
Several spots in the city centre have alarming levels of air pollution, all above World Health Organisation guidelines.
The UK’s legal limit for nitrogen dioxide is four times higher than the new WHO limit, but is still not met in most urban areas.
The country’s legal limit for tiny particles less than 2.5 microns in size is five times higher than the WHO limit.
The City Council has worked with representatives from Worcestershire County Council, Public Health, the NHS and the University of Worcester in production of the plan.
Within the plan, the Council has set out a number of measures to achieve the council’s and partners key priorities to reduce emissions from traffic, improve public health and wellbeing, increase uptake of sustainable travel options and plan for future development.
The range of proposed measures includes increasing Electric Vehicle charging opportunities, improving cycling and walking infrastructure, discouraging heavy good vehicles from the city centre, working with schools and other communities, improvements to public transport fleets and the implementation of a public bike hire and share scheme across the city.
Lloyd Griffiths, Worcester City Council’s Corporate Director of Operations, Homes and Communities, said: “This is an important document that maps out how we propose to make the air in Worcester cleaner.
“Working together with our partners we want to improve the air quality for everybody.”
A report on the plan is set to be considered by councillors at the City Council’s Licensing and Environmental Health Committee on 22 May
Councillors sitting on the Environment Committee will then be asked to approve the report for public consultation at their meeting on 6 June.
