Measures that the City Council is planning to take in a bid to improve air quality in Worcester are ready for approval.
Councillors will be asked next week to give the green light to an Air Quality Action Plan for the city - which will be implemented over the next five years.
Some of the measures in the plan include increasing electric vehicle charging opportunities, along with improving the city’s cycling and walking infrastructure.
Lorries will be discouraged from driving through the city centre and improvements to public transport fleets are also highlighted in the plan.
The Council will also work with schools and other communities on further ways to improve air quality.
The proposals in the action plan follow a seven-week public consultation held earlier this year. Feedback given from the public and Government has been incorporated into the plan.
Worcester City Council’s Environment Committee will be asked to approve the plan at their meeting on Tuesday 5 November.
Councillor Zoe Cookson, Chair of the Environment Committee, said: “Poor air quality can have a negative effect on both people and our environment, leading to increased potential for illness and, in cases where someone suffers long-term exposure to heavily polluted air, death.
“That is why it is so important that we put the right measures in place to tackle this issue now and into the future.
“Thank you to everybody who gave their feedback and helped us to shape our Air Quality Action Plan.
“We have also received advise from the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs and amended the plan accordingly.”
The previous Air Quality Action Plan for Worcester, adopted in 2013, resulted in several infrastructure changes – including the building of the soon to be opened Kepax pedestrian bridge – and a successful bid to the Government for 10 low-cost real time sensors to provide a live air quality monitoring network.
The monitoring data is available for public viewing here.
The live data will help focus measures to continuously improve air quality in Worcester.
Worcester City Council has worked with representatives from Worcestershire County Council, Public Health, the NHS and the University of Worcester in production of the new plan.
