Manchester's on a mission to reduce carbon emissions which cause thousands of premature deaths
Manchester’s Interim Mayor, Tony Lloyd and Transport for Greater Manchester launched an eight-week consultation to tackle carbon emissions within the region.
A plan has been implemented which provides the public and any interested organisations with the opportunity to have their say on a wide range of proposals aimed at improving air quality and emissions from transport throughout Greater Manchester.
The Low Emission Strategy and Air Quality Action Plan proposes a range of measures to tackle this issue, focusing on ‘key priority areas’ in urban centres and near major roads which currently fail to meet UK Government and EU air quality objectives.
The proposals include:
- Upgrading and renewing the bus fleet, to take advantage of the latest diesel and hybrid engine technology, and trialling the latest ultra-low-emission buses. - Increasing the number of electric vehicle charging points to encourage uptake of electric cars and vans and a review of the success of existing ‘pay as you go’ car clubs. - Developing large-scale urban distribution centres (UDCs) and smaller urban consolidation centres (UCCs). These would consolidate orders for one or a group of business located in the same area into one consignment for final delivery by low-emission vehicles. - Continuing the £40 million development of cycling infrastructure across the region.
A report from the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health published last week suggested that outdoor pollution is linked to the deaths of more than 2,000 people in Greater Manchester.
Interim Mayor Tony Lloyd said: “Air quality and carbon emissions are two of the key challenges facing Greater Manchester”
“We must take action to stop these deaths- doing nothing is an option.”
He added: “We want to hear the views of people and organisations across the city and region to make sure we take the right decisions here that work for Greater Manchester and improve the lives of our committees.”
The public consultation began on Friday 4th March and will run to Friday 29th April.
To read or download the strategy and plan and to give feedback on the plans, visit www.tfgm.com/GMLES
By Inzy Rashid