Air pollution limits could be slashed under new proposals Bath’s sustainable travel chief said should be rapidly adopted into UK law.
The current legal limit for nitrogen dioxide is 40 micrograms per cubic metre but the World Health Organisation is now recommending an annual average of no more than 10 micrograms.
Even that low level is currently exceeded inside some homes in Temple Cloud, where the level has dropped from an “extremely high” 90 micrograms in 2016 to within the legal limit in all but two monitoring areas.
Air pollution is responsible for 80 deaths a year across the district and there are other notable breaches across Bath – prompting the launch of the clean air zone last March – and across North East Somerset.
Councillor Sarah Warren, the cabinet member for sustainable travel, told the climate emergency scrutiny panel meeting on 24th January: “I wrote to the minister last month to urge rapid adoption of the new guidelines into UK law.
“The WHO has indicated that interim targets may be necessary on the way down to 10 [micrograms] because I think it acknowledges that the new guidelines are challenging for cities.”
Cathryn Brown, Bath and North East Somerset Council’s clean air zone manager, said a consultation was asking for views on how the “hugely ambitious” target could be enshrined in legislation.
She told panel members: “It would be good to wait for that consultation to come out and understand what it’s asking and then we can bring a paper to you to look at our current levels and how we will perform against them.”
Councillor Warren said the council is constantly monitoring the real-world impact Bath’s clean air zone is having on areas where modelling forecast an increase in traffic or nitrogen dioxide levels.
She told the meeting Chapel Row and Broad Street were hotspots, likely because of the closure of Cleveland Bridge, and officers will look again when it reopens.
She said residents were concerned about traffic displacement in Whiteway Road but there had only been a “slight increase” in vehicle numbers and the proportion of lorries was the same.
Outside the city, Councillor Warren said effective measures had dramatically reduced nitrogen dioxide levels in Temple Cloud but added: “Two locations are still breaching the objective level where there’s a particular circumstance around the facade of the properties being very close to the road and the fumes that traffic emit as they accelerate up the hill.
“Even though local air quality monitoring focuses on external air quality monitoring officers have also monitored inside the properties that are nearest to the road and have been satisfied that the indoor concentrations are well below the Public Health England threshold. The highest concentration they found was 11 micrograms per cubic metre.”
In Farrington Gurney, air quality has improved but officers will need to be satisfied that some key developments locally will not worsen air pollution.
Councillor Dave Wood said the launch of Bristol’s clean air zone in the summer will have an impact on communities along the A37 as most of the traffic on the road is heading into the city.
In Keynsham, air pollution reduced significantly after the one-way system was introduced in the High Street, and Saltford’s air quality has also improved.
The clean air zone annual report will be published in July. Live information can be downloaded at any time.
The council says it is always looking for pollution hotspots and welcomes input from the public.
Stephen Sumner, Local Democracy Reporter
