Bedford’s Green Councillors call for urgent measures to tackle harmful air pollution on Clean Air Day. They highlight that large parts of Bedford, including all of Greyfriars ward, the High Street and Goldington Road, are part of a statutory ‘Air Quality Management Area’. This is because air quality does not meet government standards.
Lucy Bywater (Castle & Newnham) said: “Air pollution represents a public health crisis but you can’t see it, often can’t smell it and most people don’t know where to find data. The finest particles (PM 2.5s) are most harmful.
“They are small enough to enter the bloodstream and then cross the blood-brain barrier. Nationally, areas of worst air quality are where people on lower incomes tend to live, and Bedford is no exception”.
Lucy added, Traffic is the biggest cause of poor air quality and we’re worried that so many children are exposed to this harmful pollution daily. Most people are familiar with the link with physical illnesses such as asthma, but studies also show worrying effects on behaviour and brain functions.”
This year, Clean Air Day aims to draws attention to the growing evidence that shows air pollution can damage our mind and brain health, from increasing depression and anxiety to dementia. This is on top of the more well-known effects on heart and lung health.
Green councillors encourage everyone to do their bit. Above all, they call for ambitious local and national action to enable more active travel (walking and wheeling).
This would help reduce how many vehicles are on the roads. Green councillors want increased frequency of and more reliable bus services and are asking for more ‘School Streets’ and for enforcement against vehicle idling.
Ben Foley commented: “It’s vital the Council avoids doing things which increase how many cars make short journeys. These short journeys can be done by sustainable means. Increasing free parking encourages more vehicles that join traffic jams.
“It’s also expensive for the council! If the council has money to spend, it should spend it on free bus travel into the town centre at weekends. The council should also redeploy the active travel team that was made redundant earlier this year”.
If you want to see what the air quality is like in your street on any day, you can use this tool to check your own postcode: https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/forecasting/locations?q=+M50+3AZ
