Leamington “one of the worst in the country” for air pollution
Leamington Spa is one of the worst places in the UK for air pollution, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has claimed in a new report on global air pollutant levels.
The research states that particularly underneath the railway bridge in Leamington there has been a considerable increase in dangerous fumes since 2010.
The area breaches the safety levels of a type of pollution known as PM2.5 which the WHO has warned is a threat to human health, particularly of the elderly and the young. Health problems such as asthma, respiratory diseases and cancer are possible outcomes of such high pollutant levels.
The ‘canyon like’ streets and high buildings of Leamington have been blamed for the pollution problems, along with the high quantity of traffic, particularly old buses and diesel cars.
With substantial building taking place and plans for more constructions in the future, it seems that this alarming pollution rate is not going to go away any time soon.
Last year, Warwick District Council published an ‘Air Quality Action Plan’. This is expected to tackle the issue by encouraging low emission vehicles and traffic management.
Councillor Matthew Western (Labour) told the Leamington Observer: “We face a massive problem here and this report serves as a timely reminder to act quickly and substantively.”
Comments (5)
Only allow all electric buses and taxis, encourage people to buy electric hybrid or all electric cars, close off the Parade to traffic, encourage Park n Ride for the town.
Had it got any better? Why not simply pedestrianise the parade and immediately adjacent streets?
Also the university buses should be pushed further from town, they sit with their engines running, choking up the environment!
Better cycle routes should be provided using the Section 106 money, also cheaper public transport. New jazzed up gyms are not the way things are going to be improved! Encouraging cycling in a relatively flat town would be the way to go! We are all killing ourselves with our own fumes, 2 members of my family have had chronic coughs for months (4 years old and 44 years old) both non smokers.
Building new houses attracting more people to the area is going to ruin the area. Traffic is already terrible and encouraging low emission cars is only going to make things worse. Improve the cycle lanes, make public transport cheaper or free and people might consider using either.