Council needs to act on pollution

RECENT letters hit out at potential charges to drive in Newcastle as part of a plan to reduce air pollution.

Some say this is just a greedy Labour council milking beleaguered motorists to fund its own coffers.

However, air pollution is at illegal and harmful levels in a number of areas across the city and by law the council must improve air quality.

The Government says that charging the most polluting vehicles is the most effective way to meet legal limits as quickly as possible.

All the money raised must be ploughed back into other measures that help offset the impact of charges or help people to travel via other less polluting forms of transport, such as improving public transport.

People rightly point out that charges would hit workers on modest incomes, but it’s

important to remember that the lowest income households can’t afford to drive; in Newcastle 40% of households don’t have a car but still suffer pollution.

These air quality limits should have been met back in 2005, so effective action is long overdue. In that time more evidence has come to light on impact of air pollution; stunting the growth of children’s lungs, the development and/or worsening of asthma; new research is pointing towards negative effects on growth, intelligence and neurological development.

In adult life there is a strong link between air pollution and strokes, heart disease and diabetes. It has been estimated that air pollution contributes to 400 early deaths on Tyneside each per year.

If the council doesn’t take effective action to tackle this public health catastrophe, our health will continue to suffer and the council could be sued/ fined for breaking the law – a real waste of our council tax.