JOHN CRAVEN
RURAL AREAS ARE TOPPING THE AIR POLLUTION CHARTS
Air pollution is not just a city problem – it is blighting rural areas, too.
The villages of Chideock and Hickleton may be 260 miles apart but they are linked by a damning statistic – they are among the top 10 most air-polluted hotspots in England. Pretty Chideock on Dorset’s dramatic Jurassic Coast actually tops the chart, ahead of more obvious places, such as central London and Sheffield, while Hickleton in South Yorkshire comes in at number 10.
But how can this be? How can our wide-open countryside pose the same threat to public health as urban conglomerates? Well, look at where these villages are situated. Chideock sits astride the busy A35 holiday route and Hickleton is sandwiched between the M1 and the A1. It’s nitrogen dioxide (NO2) from exhaust fumes that puts them so high in this league table.
“The sad truth is that many of our rural communities are blighted by air pollution,” says Sarah McMonagle of CPRE, the countryside charity. “Whether it’s the morning run to the only school for miles, the rush hour commute to and from distant workplaces or heavy lorries carrying goods across the country, rural life is dangerously dominated by polluting traffic.”
N02, one of the main pollutants from vehicle exhaust, led to 68,000 premature deaths in the EU in 2016. Latest analysis shows 1,360 sites across England breached annual limits for NO2 in 2018. As well as in cities and villages, there are black spots in market towns, such as Boston in Lincolnshire, Sudbury in Suffolk and Banbury in Oxfordshire.
In Dorset, heavy lorries rattle the old thatched cottages of Chideock as a reported 20,000 vehicles pass through every summer’s day; the parish council is demanding an alternative route. “Chideock is as important environmentally as any town or city,” it says, “and the A35 as a strategic route through this village is not fit for purpose.”
Yet not everyone among the 550 residents agrees. Michael Moles, who runs the post office and shop, told me: “The village had a vote a while ago and most people didn’t want a bypass. We’re not putting our heads in the sand. The traffic here is at its height in July and August and for the rest of the year we can live with it.”
What about the village that made number 10 in the chart? “In another setting, Hickleton would be a quintessential
South Yorkshire village with sandstone, red-tiled cottages surrounded by pastureland,” says Simon Bowens of Friends of the Earth, which analysed the NO2 findings. “Unfortunately, the A635 that cuts the village in two links the A1(M) with distribution centres for retailers like Aldi and Next. The resulting high numbers of diesel-powered HGVs brings to Hickleton some of the highest levels of air pollution in the country.”
Can cleaner air be brought back? “The key solutions for the countryside are largely the same as those for cities: more investment in public transport, cycling and walking, and cleaner vehicles, which means phasing out petrol and diesel engines and rapidly moving to electric vehicles,” says Bowens.
Sarah McMonagle adds: “Our research shows that, above all, we need to stop building new roads. The Government should scrap its plans for a massive £27 billion road-building programme and instead invest in transport solutions that reduce air pollution across the country.”
As it is, traffic levels are predicted to grow, meaning an even greater impact on public health and climate change. Not until 2040, says the Government, will sales of conventional cars and vans be banned in the UK.
“Above all, we need to stop building new roads”