Plan to tackle "disastrous" pollution in Worcester sees whole city become an air quality management area

The move comes after the city's nitrogen dioxide levels exceeded the national target of 40mg/m2 for three consecutive years, forcing the city council to respond.

Local authorities are required to monitor air quality in its area and to declare an air quality management area (AQMA) when national objectives are not met or unlikely to be met.

The new air quality management area (AQMA) will be created for the entire administrative boundary of Worcester after the plan was backed by the city council’s licensing and environmental health committee at a meeting on Monday (December 10).

Councillor Tom Collins said the AQMA was definitely needed as the level of pollution was “disastrous” in the city.

He said the amount of fumes put him off exercising in the city because he didn’t want to breathe in nasty pollution.

Cllr Louise Griffiths said it would be difficult to enforce when the county council has announced it will be cutting the amount it spends on buses.

She said: “It just seems to me that there is a real lack of joined-up thinking.

“The county council is cutting bus services and not really providing us with the adequate infrastructure for cycling or for park and ride.”

Cllr Joy Squires said: “We have to be doing something about it. We need to tackle it.”

The city’s three existing AQMAs in St John’s, Dolday and one in Lowesmoor and Rainbow Hill will all be revoked as part of the new plan and incorporated into the city-wide AQMA.

Only last year, the Worcester News reported that pollutant levels were breached in London Road, Foregate Street, The Tything, Castle Street, The Butts and Sansome Place with congestion fumes blamed for the high levels of pollution and poor air quality.

Having discussed various options in January, councillors opted for the radical choice of declaring the entire city area an AQMA - despite pollution levels being lower than the legal level in some areas.