1) Poor Air Quality
In many areas of the city, air quality is below levels laid down by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). Councils are obliged to monitor air quality where they fear that pollution levels might exceed DEFRA guidelines and to implement action plans to deal with the problem when levels are found to be in breach. In 2006, air quality in
Nitrogen
oxide (NO2) is the pollutant which is particularly troublesome in Canterbury (and
elsewhere). According to the Clean Air Trust, “…short-term exposure [to
nitrogen oxides] may cause increased respiratory illness in young children and
harm lung function in people with existing respiratory illnesses. Long-term exposure
may lead to increased susceptibility to respiratory infection and may cause
alterations in the lung. (Nitrogen oxides also can be transformed in the
atmosphere to ozone or fine particulate soot – which are both associated with
serious adverse health effects.)” Other studies have shown that NO2 exposure
increases allergic responses to inhaled pollens. People with asthma and
children in general are considered to be more vulnerable to NO2 exposure.
2)
Traffic Congestion
Recent
surveys of traffic congestion in Canterbury
indicate that driving times in the rush hour from one side of the city to the
other average 45 minutes and even 28 minutes during the daytime. Congestion
itself is a serious problem since it causes higher absenteeism from school and
work, it leads to stress, cars are running in low gear thus releasing more
pollutants, and additional traffic impedes cyclists and pedestrians.
3)
Climate Change
Most
vehicles run on diesel or petroleum, both fossil fuels. When fossil fuels are
burnt, the carbon that has been stored in them for millions of years is
released. This carbon dioxide adds to the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere,
contributing to global warming. Kent ’s
largest sources of CO2 emissions are from energy, housing and transport.
4)
Decline of the high street
Evidence
from Transport for London
and others also shows that cyclists, pedestrians and public transport users
contribute significantly more to the economic survival of our high streets than
do car drivers.
5)
Poor Quality of Life
i. Noise
If
you live in the city you’ll be aware of various degrees of traffic noise, from
windows rattling as an HGV lorry goes past to the deafening roar of a
motorbike. Even in rural areas traffic noise now constitutes a problem.
According to a 2008 report by Transport for Quality of Life for the Noise
Association, “... even in lightly populated rural areas disturbance from
traffic noise has become problematic, in places severe… Parts of the
countryside are subject to levels of traffic noise that are a significant
source of unpleasantness for people living, working or taking leisure there.”
ii. Accidents/Injuries
Although
the number of those killed or seriously injured on the country’s roads is
coming down, it is still too high. Figures published by the Department for
Transport[i] (DfT) show that 2,671 children under the age of 16 were killed or
seriously injured on UK
roads in 2009.
iii. Concrete/Park and Ride
For
each car in Britain, approximately 170m² of land is tarmacked over as roads and
car parks, yet too often the default planning solution to the problem of
congestion is to build more roads. Canterbury City Council intends to build
more slip roads around the city, at huge cost. It also wants to build a fourth
Park and Ride.
We
think that other measures would be more effective.
Sustainable
transport initiatives in other UK
cities have shown how it is possible to encourage people out of their cars and
onto public transport, cycling, walking, or a combination of these, instead.
This is why we strongly support the measures contained in the Sustainable
Transport Blueprint for Canterbury (link) and have, with others, urged the
Council to put the Blueprint at the ‘heart’ of transport planning for the city.
[1] Source: Child Accident Prevention Trust
(This article written by Russell Page and Geoff Meaden)