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BEAT public meeting: bats and air quality

Wednesday, 27 February 2013

On Wednesday 13 March Blackshaw Environmental Action Team (BEAT) has a public meeting at which Hugh Firman will be talking about bats. Hugh is part of the West Yorkshire Bat Group and a conservation officer at Calderdale Council.

In the second part of the meeting, Sally Jones will talk about her work at Bradford Council to improve our air quality. The air quality in the West Yorkshire Zone is the fourth worst in the UK.

The worst air quality in West Yorkshire is in Hebden Bridge along the A646 from Bankfoot Terrace to Station Road, covering a significant portion of the town centre and several residential areas.

This meeting will be held at Blackshaw Head Methodist Church at 7.45pm.

Improving our air quality

Our local Blackshaw Head resident Sally Jones is a Pollution Control Officer at Bradford Council, working on improving the air quality in West Yorkshire. She will be speaking at a BEAT public meeting on 13 March and has told BEAT, "My role at the Council involves reviewing and assessing air quality to meet statutory responsibility under the Environment Act 1995.

"I assess whether or not we are meeting the objectives for air quality pollutants set in the Air Quality England Regulations, and report findings to DEFRA. The objectives are passed down from European legislation and are based on evidence provided by the World Health Organisation.

"Along with other European countries the UK has failed to meet the objectives for nitrogen dioxide and we are currently facing infraction fines (estimated at £1 million/day).

"There are also issues with high levels of particulate matter in many parts of the UK. There is no safe level for these pollutants and the latest estimate is that they are responsible for 5% of all deaths brought forward, responsible for the deaths of 29,000 people annually and represent a UK health cost of around £20 billion.

"The West Yorkshire Zone has the fourth-worst air quality in the UK and has widespread exceedances of the objectives due to pollution from traffic. We have Air Quality Management Areas (exceedance areas) in all five local authorities: the most relevant to us is in Hebden Bridge along the A646 from Bankfoot Terrace to Station Road, covering a significant portion of the town centre and several residential areas.

"I will be speaking about some DEFRA funded work that Bradford Council has developed to reduce emissions from vehicles through the development of a Low Emission Strategy. This work has recently been supported further by DEFRA to fund its extension across the five local authorities of West Yorkshire."

Based on a press release from the Blackshaw Environmental Action Team (BEAT)