AIR quality has been steadily improving in Winchester and it is now at a point where the area monitored for pollutants could be made smaller.

Since 2003 Winchester’s City Centre has been a designated Air Quality Management Area (AQMA), meaning that it must have in place an Air Quality Management Plan with measures designed to improve air quality.

Now, cabinet member for the climate emergency Hannah Williams has been asked if the council taking into account revised advice from the World Health Organisation (WHO) on safe levels of certain pollutants.

Cllr Charles Radcliffe lodged the question which was published as part of a full council meeting.

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Cllr Radcliffe said: “As councillors are aware, Winchester has an acute air quality problem, especially in the city centre.

"The current administration is to be applauded for taking steps to tackle this issue, including improved monitoring, stricter planning controls and measures to encourage more use of car parks on the edge of the city centre. Even so, improvements in air quality recorded to date have, arguably, been modest and, from a public health perspective, insufficient.

“According to these new, global standards, levels of nitrogen dioxide and fine particle pollution in central Winchester are, on average, between two and three times the level deemed safe — on some days in the past few months have been up to ten times the safe level.”

Cllr Hannah Williams, cabinet member for climate emergency, said that she has acknowledged the WHO objectives.

Cllr Williams continued: “During the past 18 years, Winchester’s air quality has been steadily improving such that it is expected that during 2022, we will be in a position to make an application to central government (DEFRA) which would enable a significant reduction to be made to the size of the AQMA, with only a linear section along Romsey Road and the upper High Street likely exceeding current statutory limits.”

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She added: “Cabinet remains undeterred in its objective of improving air quality and public health benefits for its citizens and have tasked officers with investigating the feasibility of the council adopting its own more stringent local air quality standards which go beyond current national requirements.”

The council has started the process to appoint a consultant to validate its current air quality results and what measures need to be put in place to improve air quality.

The contract for this piece of work should be awarded by the end of January and the draft report is expected by the end of April 2022.

Cllr Williams said: “We will then be in a position to undertake an informed review of air quality and to develop a future strategy aimed at delivering further improvements taking into account both national requirements and the WHO guidance.”

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