{"id":20902,"date":"2025-02-04T12:20:43","date_gmt":"2025-02-04T12:20:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/satellite.mmu.ac.uk\/northernquota-old\/?p=20902"},"modified":"2025-02-04T12:20:45","modified_gmt":"2025-02-04T12:20:45","slug":"greater-manchesters-clean-air-plan-needs-more-ambition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/satellite.mmu.ac.uk\/northernquota-old\/greater-manchesters-clean-air-plan-needs-more-ambition\/","title":{"rendered":"Greater Manchester\u2019s Clean Air Plan needs \u2018more ambition\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Manchester’s alternative Clean Air Plan<\/a> \u2018does not go far enough\u2019 campaigners have said, after the government backed the controversial scheme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government announced on Thursday<\/a> its support for Andy Burnham\u2019s \u00a386 million investment into low-emission buses and taxis as an alternative to charging motorists for driving in clean air zones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The decision finally brings a close to a 3-year battle, after the original clean air zone plan to charge motorists up to \u00a360 were put on hold in 2022 following a huge public backlash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/NTIA_Scotland\/status\/1884209881005142102\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

However, Regional Clean Air Lead at Asthma + Lung UK<\/a> Maddy Dawe has called for \u2018more ambition\u2019, with Greater Manchester sitting at the highest level of air pollution in the UK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhilst we welcome the measures outlined in the plan, they are only designed to cut air pollution levels to just below legal limits, far above the internationally recognised guidelines set by the World Health Organization (WHO).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWithout striving to meet WHO guidelines, Greater Manchester will not achieve the rapid reduction in air pollution necessary to safeguard people’s health, particularly those with lung conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Latest figures from the Government show nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels have risen in Manchester in the last two years, sitting at 55 micrograms per cubic metre – well above the UK’s 40 microgram legal limit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WHO guidelines currently set a lower limit of 10, a target Greater Manchester agreed to when it signed up as a BreatheLife city-region in 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Government set out air quality targets in 2010, but Greater Manchester’s councils did not take action until 2017. They were initially told that air quality must be legally compliant by 2024, but this was later pushed back two years following a row.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Liz Godfrey, Manchester co-ordinator for Mums for Lungs<\/a>, said: \u201cWe’ve just got this generation of children now who’ve grown up breathing dirty air. You know, my daughter was born in 2017 when we were supposed to have done something about this. So, she has been breathing toxic air since then and it’s just doing untold damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“[I’m] very disappointed with the decision. Overall, I think it lacks ambition. I think we shouldn\u2019t just be aiming to try and scrape under the UK legal levels. We should be aiming for the World Health Organisation’s guideline levels if we actually want to tackle people’s health, especially children’s health in Greater Manchester.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We are so disappointed with the #GreaterManchester Clean Air Plan. It won\u2019t deliver #CleanAir, & the actions include new funding for diesel buses! This is despite NOx emissions from vans rising over the past 10 years. @heidialexander.bsky.social @andyburnham.bsky.social: much more needs to be done.<\/p>— Mums for Lungs (@mumsforlungs.bsky.social)<\/a> 2025-01-24T14:03:21.130Z<\/a><\/blockquote>