Kingston Council launched a consultation on their proposed air quality action plan in late 2015, but local Liberal Democrats say that the plan is not ambitious enough.

Despite the pressing need to improve air quality in the borough, the action plan is very weak. It aims to ‘prevent, wherever possible, a deterioration in the levels of pollution experienced in the Borough’ and we believe that is not good enough. Despite evidence that pollution is a factor in deaths from respiratory disease and there appears to be some correlation between the prevalence of COPD in parts of the borough that are close to busy roads, the plan does not address the health needs of residents.

Some of the ideas we’d like included:

• Residents and schools get involved in monitoring and understanding air quality
• Enforce new developments to use the latest technologies to mitigate pollution caused
• Push for more low emmission vehicles
• Educate drivers, especially taxis and around schools, not to sit with their engines idling
• More tree planting around pollution hot spots
• More measures to encourage walking and cycling, such as 20mph in residential roads

We have submitted our full response and hope the administration take up some of our suggestions when the plan is discussed at committee in March.

says Councillor Liz Green, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group of Councillors