4. Statement by the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs: Clean Air

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:56 pm on 18 June 2019.

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Photo of Jenny Rathbone Jenny Rathbone Labour 4:56, 18 June 2019

As you say, the single biggest problematic source of air pollution is road traffic, so it isn't sufficient to simply move from diesel to petrol, or even, indeed, to electric cars. You still get loads of particulates from the wheels.

You mention that you're getting these feasibility studies from Cardiff and Caerphilly councils on how they're going to achieve legal limits for nitrogen dioxide in the shortest possible time frame, so I hope your panel of experts will pick up on the fact that whilst the plan for the city centre is very good news, particularly for the residents of Westgate Street, where they are suffering really significant levels of air pollution, there really isn't very much to address the wider issues of the air pollution that Andrew R.T. Davies mentioned in his initial contribution.

Children don't live in the city centre. Whilst I welcome the zero-emission buses that are due to go down Newport Road, which is where there are several schools as well as quite a lot of very built up residential areas, particularly houses in multiple occupation—these are not the people who get choices about where they live—nevertheless, there's another area where there's nothing that will make anything better for the schools around the Llanedeyrn interchange with the A48. There are three schools and a nursery and very significant levels of air pollution, and I know that there are significant respiratory problems there. So, I feel that there is more needed from Cardiff to ensure that people across the city are addressing this matter and are making that shift to active travel.

I particularly would like you, in your clean air plan, to look at the misnomered school run, because it's neither a run nor a walk or even a cycle. And, really, that seems to me one of the first ways in which we reduce traffic because it's evident when the schools are on holiday that there's a massive reduction in traffic. So, for starters, if we could get all secondary schools in urban areas with active travel routes so that young people could either cycle or walk to school, that would be so much better for developing their independence as well as for the environment in general. So, I hope that you might be able to address this in your clean air plan, which we look forward to.