MORE than 120 sites across the South West including St Thomas Road in Launceston, have recently been named and shamed for breaching air quality limits.

Last week, Friends of the Earth put together a new map showing the locations with the highest levels of Nitrogen Dioxide and St Thomas Road features in the top ten of the region.

Mike Birkin, South West campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said: “It’s unforgivable to see so many locations across the region over air quality limits, leaving thousands of us breathing dangerously polluted air.

“Air pollution is often an issue thought of as affecting only the biggest cities. The reality is that unacceptably toxic air can be found across much of the UK. even in smaller towns. It is harming the health of people across the country and is especially bad for young children whose lungs are still developing. 

“The Government needs to step up and do more to deal with this air pollution crisis — they can’t just carry on leaving the difficult decisions with local authorities, many of which are severely under-resourced.”

Following the allocation of an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) in Launceston back in February 2018, Cornwall Council have been working on several measures to improve the air quality within the area.

As reported in the Post back in January, Cllr Gemma Massey (Lib Dem) reported to Launceston Town Council that the proposed ‘Two Bridge’ project has had the approval of the senior leadership team in Cornwall Council and will now be presented to the cabinet (within the Capital Programme) during their March meeting on March 27.

The ‘Two Bridge’ project offers two collaborative solutions to the town’s air quality problems, but in addition to that will also help alleviate traffic flow issues and improve pedestrian safety. The projects will see works that bring forward a new pedestrian bridge running from Ridgegrove Lane down to Newport Industrial Estate (positioned behind the Co-op), allowing residents to access Newport without having to negotiate their way down Dutson Road and around White Horse corner. This will improve pedestrian links into town also, as there is then a safe footpath connecting the entire route.

Cllr Gemma Massey, who is the Cornwall Councillor for Launceston Central, said: “There has been so much work taking place to get this project into a position to be place as a recommendation to the cabinet, from the numerous site visits and potential land purchases to looking at the design of a bridge suitable for all users based on the topography of the land, I am really pleased to see it progress to its final stages. Cllr Paynter, Cllr Farrington and myself have been pushing incredibly hard to find solutions to improve the safety of our pedestrians and cyclists, which in turn will also help support the improvements made to our air quality. This has included requesting site visits with Bert Biscoe (who was portfolio holder for Cornwall Highways at the time) and then Jane Black and Kate Kennally (chief executive of Cornwall Council) asking for their support for our projects.”

The secondary part of the project is to make improvements on the Newport Bridge (over the River Kensey), by removing the existing footpath (therefore widening the roadway allowing for improved fluidity of traffic) and placing an additional footpath to the side of the bridge on the Riverside side of the existing road bridge.

This separate bridge will help to improve pedestrian safety and also improve the traffic flow, resulting in lower immersions and supporting the improvement of the air quality within the area.

Cllr Farrington, who is the Cornwall Councillor for Launceston South, said: “I am pleased to see our project finally make it to cabinet, so that we can push for these works to finally begin. The two bridges will go hand in hand to improve both the traffic management and air quality issues within the area.”

Alongside the ‘Two Bridge’ project, Cornwall Council has been looking at additional actions to assist improvements with connectivity and air quality; these include improved bus service frequency (looking to support trips as 65-70% of trips made around town are local), consideration how the volume of HGV’s can be reduced. (This will require additional road-side surveys) and further improvements to pedestrian and cycle routes (through the DPD document and most recent public consultation.). Cornwall Council Leader and Cornwall Councillor for Launceston North and North Petherwin, Adam Paynter, added: “We need to use a collective group of measures to make the improvements required to our air quality for our residents. I welcome the proposal to cabinet on the 27th and hope to see the capital funding programme approved so we can take the appropriate next steps to progress with the much-needed investment in Launceston.”