Tony Lloyd MP joins Labour’s Greater Manchester MPs to tackle air pollution levels

Rochdale MP Tony Lloyd has joined forces with other Labour MPs for Greater Manchester, demanding action in tackling the levels of air pollution in Greater Manchester.

Poor air quality is the largest environmental public health issue facing the UK. Road transport causes 80% of harmful nitrogen dioxide (NO2) emissions at the roadside, mainly from diesel vehicles.

Pollutants are linked to a wide range of serious health problems, reduced life expectancy, and contribute to the equivalent of 1,200 deaths a year in Greater Manchester alone.

Research from King’s College London shows that cutting air pollution by one-fifth in Manchester would reduce the city’s number of lung cancer cases by 5.6 per cent.

• www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/131651/living-near-a-busy-road-could-stunt-a-childs-lung-growth-by-up-to-14-per-cent-warn-scientists

The report also shows an increased risk of cardiac arrest, heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, bronchitis as well as reduced lung function in children if you live near a major road.

Writing to the Environment Secretary, George Eustice MP, Labour’s Greater Manchester MPs are demanding that “Highways England develop and execute a Clean Air Plan for its highway network to reduce nitrogen dioxide levels throughout Greater Manchester by 2023.”

Mr Lloyd said: "Nitrogen dioxide is one of a raft of air pollutants considered 'silent killers', linked to 1,200 deaths a year in Greater Manchester through illnesses such as asthma, heart disease, stroke and lung cancer.

"St Mary's Gate, Spotland Road, Whitworth Road and Manchester Road are several of Rochdale's roads that suffer the effects of higher pollution.

"There is no time to waste in combating this silent killer that blights our communities."

Rochdale Council has been working together with other Greater Manchester councils to produce the Greater Manchester Clean Air Plan with the intention of reducing vehicle emissions within our communities.

The Clean Air Plan would introduce a Clean Air Zone across the region, implementing a charge for those driving in the zone. Buses, coaches, lorries, vans and taxis would be charged up to £100 daily when driving in the Clean Air Zone, with taxis, private hire vehicles and light goods vehicles paying £7.50 a day.

In 2018, a project mapping concentrations of nitrogen dioxide previously found that residents living at John Kemble Court, housing for older people adjacent to Sudden junction, are subject to the most polluted air in Rochdale.

• www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/115274/john-kemble-court-subject-to-the-most-polluted-air-in-rochdale

The research did however show that the majority of the borough has relatively clean air, which means there is an extremely low chance of nitrogen dioxide levels exceeding the annual legal limit.

Additional reporting: Alice Richardson, Local Democracy Reporter; Niall Griffiths, Local Democracy Reporter.