The Interim Mayor of Greater Manchester, Tony Lloyd, has launched a public consultation on an action plan aimed at tackling air pollution.
The eight-week consultation on the draft Greater Manchester Low Emission Strategy and Air Quality Action Plan offers 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 reducing carbon emissions from transport throughout Greater Manchester.
The consultation is being carried out by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) on behalf of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA).
The plan proposes a range of measures, focusing on ‘key priority areas’ in urban centres and near major roads which currently fail to meet UK Government and EU air quality objectives.
Some of 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 (EV) 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 aim to consolidate orders for one or a group of businesses located in the same area into one consignment for final delivery by low-emission vehicles;
- Investigating the feasibility of introducing a Clean Air Zone (CAZ), targeting high-emission vehicles;
- Improving and increasing the information and data on air pollution monitoring available to the public through the GreatAir Manchester website;
- Continuing the £40m+ development of cycling infrastructure across Greater Manchester; and
- Ongoing promotion of TfGM’s ‘Travel Choices’ programme to increase use of public transport, cycling and walking.
The public consultation runs until Friday, April 29.
Greater Manchester Interim Mayor Tony Lloyd said: “Air quality and carbon emissions are two of the key challenges facing Greater Manchester.
“The draft Greater Manchester Low-Emission Strategy and Air Quality Action Plan set out a range of important measures and policies which can help use solve this problem.
“We want to hear the views of people and organisations across the city region to make sure we take the right decisions here that work for Greater Manchester and improve the lives of our communities.”
Jon Lamonte, TfGM CEO, commented: “Greater Manchester has already made some headway in improving air quality and reducing emissions.
“But we need to do more to reduce air pollution as a contributor to ill-health in Greater Manchester, to meet UK and EU air quality thresholds as soon as possible and, ultimately, to make low-emission behaviours an important part of our culture and lifestyles.
“The need to achieve tough air quality improvement targets will require commitment from a range of organisations to ensure Greater Manchester’s continued development as one of the UK’s foremost city regions.”
INFO
To read the strategy and give feedback, visit www.tfgm.com/GMLES
