No relief in sight…
The latest figures for air pollution in Ashbourne have just been released and they show...well not much change really.
There is certainly no sign of any meaningful reduction, which is what the Council might have hoped for. The vast majority of those things listed on the draft Air Quality Action Plan (that goes out for public consultation on May 15th) are currently being carried out. If they were going to have an effect on the level of NOx, presumably we should have seen it by now.
Of the 16 'actions' in the plan there are things like 'Active Travel Promotion', 'Workplace and School Travel Plans' and 'Engagement with minerals and logistics companies'. These 'actions' have been part of Conservative controlled County Council policy for several years now but there is no evidence that they help reduce the dangers of pollution to safe levels here in Ashbourne.
Clearly to move out of the danger zone on pollution, some more effective measures are required.