Ben Howlett, the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Bath, recently welcomed Therese Coffey, who was responsible for air quality in the previous Government, to show her the problems that the city faces.
The meeting followed on from frequent meetings in Parliament where Ben championed the case for a Clean Air Zone in Bath.
Speaking in Bath, Therese Coffey said: “It is a great pleasure to visit Bath and I know Ben has been passionate about trying to improve air quality for Bath residents.
“We need to work with Tim Bowles, the new West of England Mayor, as well as Bath & North East Somerset Council to look at some of the local solutions we can pursue such as the link road.
“It really matters that Bath is given its fair share of the £7 million grant that was given to try and accelerate the transition to low emission vehicles because that is exactly the kind of thing that will certainly help Bath air quality.”
Tim Bowles spoke to Ben and Therese about the number of different aspects which need to be considered including ways to reduce congestion and encourage people to use public transport as these are expected to make a ‘big difference to the whole of the Bath area’.
Following the meeting, Ben said: “During my time as MP for Bath I lobbied the Government for funding and support to improve the air quality in the city.
“More needs to be done to reduce the toxic levels of air pollution and if re-elected I will be working with the new West of England Mayor and the Government to look at introducing a Clean Air Zone in the city.
“Alongside my work for the building of an A36-46 link road, this Clean Air Zone could improve the air quality across the city.”