Calls for more clean air zones in the West Midlands to tackle pollution

Two major charities are behind calls for new clean air zones to be introduced in cities across the West Midlands, not just Birmingham.

The city council introduced the zone there in June 2021 to help tackle dangerous levels of pollution. It sees drivers of some of the most polluting vehicles having to pay to enter parts of the city centre. For cars, taxis and LGV's it's £8 per day, and £50 a day for coaches, buses, and HGVs.

With the Cop26 climate summit coming to an end, the charities Asthma UK and The British Lung Foundation are putting pressure on local and national leaders to do more to tackle air pollution. They want to see measures, like a clean air zone, extended to other West Midlands cities like Wolverhampton and Coventry.

It comes as their research shows more than 250,000 children in the UK in 2019 were born in toxic air hotspots, where pollution levels exceeded World Health Organization’s (WHO) 2005 recommendations.

In the West Midlands it affected more than 55,000 babies with the local breakdown looking like this;

1. Birmingham; 15,483.
2. Coventry; 4,198.
3. Wolverhampton; 3,257.

The charities have called the data 'A national shame' and are calling on the Government to tackle traffic fumes, the biggest cause of air pollution which can put children at risk of developing asthma, and causing existing lung conditions to worsen. Groups including pregnant women, infants, children, older people and those living with lung conditions are particularly vulnerable to the effects.

Speaking to us Harriet Edwards from Asthma UK and The British Lung Foundation says; "Nationally we want to see the Government put far more funding into public transport, walking, and cycling. And locally, we're supporting clean air zones being rolled out like the one in Birmingham which is really helping to tackle the toxic emissions on Birmingham's roads.

...What we want to see now is the clean air zone extended to other parts of the West Midlands because we know pollution across the West Midlands is at really unsafe levels. We know that many schools, care homes, and hospitals are located in these areas."

The charities are calling for the UK Government to put improving air quality at the heart of its levelling up agenda.