Breathe Easy - major campaign to clean up city air quality

Pollution is responsible for 110 deaths in Southampton each year and is estimated to cost the local NHS £50million annually.

Yet say the words "air quality" to most people in the city and you are met with a slightly confused look.

This week the Daily Echo reported on how yet more pressure is being heaped on the UK to rid major cities of deadly pollutants that are being inhaled every day by those who live in them.

A report by the World Health Organisation identified a dozen cities where dangerous pollutants known as particulate matter far exceeded EU limits.

Southampton is in that group of "toxic cities" that not only recorded higher levels than EU limits, but are so far beyond the targets that even the Government admitted it would need a longer more detailed strategy to bring them down.

Today the Daily Echo is launching the Breathe Easy campaign where we will be turning a spotlight on the issue, studying the main causes of the problem and anaylse what is being done to tackle it.

Whilst the WHO report made for uncomfortable reading, it did not tell city leaders anything they didn't already know about the state of the air in Southampton.

Whilst nationally there are calls to hold a public inquiry in a bid to get the country focused on the seriousness of the issue, in Southampton city leaders have already staged their own.

As far back as 2007 this paper reported on a strategy for dealing with the ever-more polluted skies, but attempts to get some tangible solutions have not kept pace with the extent of the problem.

Southampton's air quality it seems, is paying the price for the city's success. A huge business and industry powerhouse, the city rightly prides itself of its thriving port, excellent transport links, an airport linked up to destinations around the globe and a thriving retail and leisure hub.

The city brings people in by land, sea and air whilst distributes trade and cargo in its hundreds of thousands of tonnes each year.

The issue now for the city is to ensure the health of its people does not continue to suffer whilst ensuring business continues to boom.

So-called 'green-technologies' are now rocketing up the priority lists of company directors.

Transport industries are under pressure to introduce greener vehicles to its fleets, whether it be cruise ships, container carriers, HGVs, buses, taxis and car industries. Recent scandals of faking emissions test have done little to build the public's confidence that manufacturers are taking the issue seriously. Yet it is the humble car and the emissions produced by it that is one of the main issues that needs to be dealt with.

Studying how the road network around Southampton can be freed up to ensure traffic is not routinely stuck in jams will be critical to the success of an improvement plan. Whilst frustrating for motorists, it is also having the most damaging effect on the environment as studies have shown the constant stop-start of vehicles chug out vast amounts of pollutants that do not disperse in built up areas.

It is bringing those big issues along with big businesses, city leaders and transport chiefs around the table that is a key part of the city's new strategy to tackle the air quality issue.

Southampton City Council's Clean Air Zone (CAZ) implementation plan has yet to be published, but the Daily Echo has been given an insight into the sort of measures that will be introduced if the plan is approved.

It has identified 48 individual measures to improve air quality. While stopping short of a congestion charge, the plan includes the already well documented Low Emission Zone which is due to be introduced by 2019.

Alongside that city leaders are keen on the idea of introducing a "report card" scheme where companies would be required to publish their emission levels and outline what measures they are taking to reduce them.

Cllr Chris Hammond, cabinet member for transformation projects at Southampton City Council, told the Daily Echo: "I know that is something that we are keen on doing at the council, and I think it is right that other organisations show what their emissions are and what they are doing about it. It wont be mandatory but I think it is right that companies are open with that information."

Another element of the plan is to introduce incentives for residents who use low emissions vehicles and make greener transport choices. Those who do could see reduced parking permit fees, preferential parking spots in the city centre and discounted tariffs over the Itchen Bridge. Taxis too could get priority pick up points if they are in low emissions vehicles.

Cllr Hammond also outlined plans for establishing a forum of key city stakeholders to come together regularly to work on the action plan, share good practice and set targets on improvement measures.

"We obviously don't want to put a sign up over the city saying we are no longer open for business but we need to balance the need to keep trade thriving whilst also improving air quality.

"This is no longer a fringe issue."

The CAZ also stops short of introducing park and ride schemes to bus commuters into the city during peak times. "To do it effectively we would need routes coming in from the east, west and north and the financial implication attached to that is just not realistic," added Cllr Hammond.

Like the Echo's Breath Easy campaign, a cornerstone of the CAZ is to raise awareness of what individual residents can do to help. A huge marketing campaign is being planned as part of the scheme.

"People need to realise it also comes down to individual responsibility too and that those choices can effect the health of all of us in the city. It is a public health issue. We know the harm smoking and drinking can do but we can make decisions to stop doing those things, we can stop going out into the city and we can't stop breathing. What we can do though is make better choices when it comes to how we get around for example."

Other measures contained in the CAZ include: introducing emissions standards amongst bus fleets, establishing a Freight Quality Partnership to support continues improvement in the industry, investigate opportunities to improve the number of ultra-low emission taxis operating within the city and provide better infrastructure and also working with port owners and operators to identify opportunities to introduce clean technologies amongst their non-road fleet and ships.

Funding for the Low Emissions Zone and the rest of the package of measures is being bid for from Defra, the government department in charge of the environment.

Cllr Hammond said he was "confident" the multi million pound package of proposals would get funded but it was incumbent on local industry to also invest in cleaning up the city.