Village air quality must be improved

Air quality is improving in Bath according to an official report. Pollutants that contribute to heart disease and cancer are down by nearly a quarter in parts of the city but congestion is causing issues in more rural areas. An annual status report on harmful levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in Bath and North East Somerset found an average decrease of 10 per cent in 2017 compared to the year before, when there was an eight per cent drop. Concentrations dropped by 23 per cent in Lambridge, which the report put down to the extension of the bus lane to the A46 roundabout, and the location of queuing traffic away from the roadside. In Keynsham High Street there was a 15 per cent decrease in NO2 concentrations after the introduction of a trial one-way system, and in Saltford all the monitoring sites were below required levels. But new air quality management areas are being imposed along the A37 in Temple Cloud and Farrington Gurney. Temple Cloud with Cameley Parish Council chairman Tony Hooper said: “Traffic levels along the A37 are so high. Two HGVS can’t pass each other between the Temple Inn and the doctors’ surgery so they stop and sit there with their engines turning over. “The pollution at the roadside is as high as 2.5 times the permissible level. It’s a noticeable issue.” Cllr Hooper said he asked B&NES Council officers what their solution was if not to reroute the A37, and was told that residents along it could put plants in their front garden to absorb the noxious gases. Parish councillors are set to update on options when they meet next month. Councillor Bob Goodman, cabinet member for development and neighbourhoods, said: “The main pollutant is road traffic, which is exacerbated in Bath with the city being set in a valley which can trap the pollution. “We are working on many measures, including the introduction of a charging clean air zone in the city, to rapidly improve the air we breathe.” An air quality management area is not being declared in Whitchurch but monitoring is continuing as levels of NO2 are near the limit. This will be reviewed in 2019. The report says monitoring sites in Saltford, Pensford, Batheaston/ Bathampton, Radstock, Midsomer Norton, Westfield and High Littleton/timsbury are below the 40ug/ m3 objective limit. Council leader Tim Warren said: “While it is welcome news that there is a decrease in the levels of nitrogen dioxide across the district more work is needed to reduce these levels even further because poor air quality is a serious public health risk to us all. “We are working towards a cleaner Bath but this means everyone using more sustainable ways to travel.” B&NES Council proposals to improve air quality include a clean air zone where drivers of highemission vehicles would be charged to enter the city centre. The council has to make a decision by December and have a clean air zone in place by 2020.