Air pollution in Colchester

Letter to Essex County Standard, Friday 4 March 2016

Dear Editor

Such a lot of ink spilled in last week's letters pages on local transport issues!

Firstly, B and G Martin castigate Will Bramhill with their contradictions about cycling. One of their positive points about cycling is "its mass use (eg for journeys to work)" in "major cities – usually on flat terrain, such as Amsterdam and Copenhagen." But, for their punch line, they remind Will that "the English weather is a consideration. Cycling has its place, but it's always going to be relatively minor in these local environs." Do they realise that Amsterdam and Copenhagen are both north of Colchester and have similar or worse winters and rainfall?

Note also that electric bikes are a popular solution in hillier areas and that Norway and Switzerland rank among the top countries for cycle use.

Secondly, Cllr Annesley Hardy's letter about air pollution entitled "Nothing toxic about our town" is, as she says, not scientific and perhaps misguided. So let’s look at the science instead. The Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants, in its report for the Health Protection Agency (HPA), has shown how human-made air pollution causes the early deaths of 1,000 people per week in the UK.

There is also scientific evidence of misinformation, like the September 2015 fixing of emissions tests by VW, which has led to a million of their cars in the UK pumping out more pollution than expected.

Surely data from the government's HPA is more reliable than what one councillor determines by sniffing the air on a street corner or a large corporation states in order to sell its products?

Yours sincerely

Robbie Spence, Election Agent, Colchester and District Green Party
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And here is one from January 2012, also to ecs.letters@nqe.com

Dear Editors

It is disappointing to find that air pollution in Colchester is getting worse (Essex County Standard, Friday 23rd December 2011) despite the Green Party’s repeated suggestions for improving it. Brook Street and Mersea Road used to be the only two areas that consistently failed the standards, with borough councillors claiming that both problems would soon be solved. Instead, both areas still fail to meet the standards while several other areas have now joined them on the list.

There are several measures that would reduce air pollution in town, all of which Colchester council have so far failed to implement. The Green Party has actively campaigned to tackle air pollution in the centre of town. We successfully challenged one of Colchester Borough Council’s earlier proposals to deal with the problem in Brook Street, which was to demolish houses in order to reduce the exposure of residents to pollution – in other words, to get rid of the residents rather than the pollution. We could do a great deal more if elected to the council.

This is a local issue where local elected councillors can make a difference. We encourage residents in the worst affected areas to use their votes in the May local elections to make a difference, especially in Castle Ward, which includes the Brook Street, East Street, High Street and Queen Street areas, and where the Green Party is close to winning a breakthrough seat on the Council.

Regards, Robbie Spence, Colchester and District Green Party