A reminder of the current situation with the Bradford-Shipley road scheme:
Bradford Council are working up revised options for the scheme that will be put out to public consultation in ‘early 2023’.
We have challenged Bradford Council to consult now on the revised option as an outline, before they do detailed planning work.
Despite writing to request this back in April we haven’t heard back from them. Why the silence?
At this stage we simply don’t know what the changes to the plans will be.
We will continue to push for early consultation to any changes to the scheme so that the public can have input into the plans as they are developed. If you use social media, please like our Facebook page and share the recent post there about the need for consultation now, before detailed work is done on new options for the scheme. If you could help us more regularly with social media (not a lot) please let us know.
Our Health Factsheet is available online and we can give you printed copies to distribute to friends or any organisation you are involved in. Please let us know by emailing admin@bsta.cleanairbradford.uk.
On Clean Air Day June 16th, Born in Bradford drew attention to its new evidence on traffic pollution’s harm to children’s brain development. Professor John Wright said “The evidence of the toxic nature of the emissions coming out of our car exhausts has become overwhelming. These are invisible poisons that we churn out into our pure Yorkshire air every day – harming the lives of our children. Fifty years ago we thought that smoking was harmless, but high quality epidemiological evidence has lifted the scales from our eyes. We are in a similar position today with traffic-related air pollution – waking up to the immense harm that this is causing to our health and wellbeing.”
BSTA has recruited Merle Collett to contact GP surgeries. She will be inviting health staff to discuss with BSTA their experiences of respiratory diseases known to be worsened by traffic pollution.
In April, government Transport Minister Grant Shapps wrote to the West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin, on government funding for road schemes. He stated that: “Schemes should promote the use of active travel and public transport; not lead to overall increases in car use or car modal share; tackle traffic congestion; and improve air quality.”
BSTA has asked Bradford’s political leaders of all parties to give a clear pledge that the Canal Road scheme will not go ahead unless it delivers the positive changes demanded by the transport minister and backed up by many UK and international climate reports.
The T&A reports BSTA’s demand that consultation is needed on alternatives before current proposals are developed. In the Council’s response, they promise only consultation after the proposals have been developed. That is not good enough.
Air quality is worse than the World Health Organisation’s danger boundary for more than 97% of UK homes. www.addresspollution.org is a newly launched website which tells you the air quality for any address in the UK. The score is based on estimated particulate matter (PM size 2.5 or 10) – the small particles that enter your lungs and blood stream causing a multitude of health problems – and Nitrogen Dioxide – the gas made by burning fossil fuels which also contributes to poor health. Children and the elderly are most at risk, but they affect us all.
We used the tool to investigate addresses along the Bradford-Shipley route. We found most schools and residential areas have levels of air pollution more than double the World Health Organisation’s recommended limit.
Air quality in Bradford-Shipley
Postcode
How bad in the UK: 0 (best) – 100 (worst)
PM2.5 (WHO Limit 5mcg/m3)
PM10 (WHO Limit 15mcg/m3)
NO2 (WHO Limit 10 mcg/m3)
Shipley CE Primary School
BD18 2PT
76
11.20
17.30
24.08
Wycliffe Primary
BD18 3HZ
78
10.86
17.21
26.46
Saltaire Primary
BD18 4NR
57
10.32
16.31
19.85
St Warburgas Primary
BD18 4RL
51
10.36
16.10
17.59
The Terrace Cafe Bar
BD18 4SB
84
11.05
17.91
29.10
Flat 100 Wycliffe Gardens (on Saltaire Road)
BD18 3JB
74
10.83
17.24
23.43
18 Ashdown Court, Bradford Road
BD18 3PL
97
12.39
21.56
32.53
Salt Beer Factory Saltaire
BD18 4DH
78
10.79
17.38
26.17
Coop Food Store Saltaire
BD18 4SD
76
10.75
17.22
25.48
High Craggs Primary
BD18 2ES
68
11.07
16.96
20.37
Frizinghall Primary School
BD9 4HP
67
11.07
17.08
19.70
Bradford Grammar School
BD9 4JP
64
10.99
16.86
19.12
Al Mu min School
BD8 7DA
68
11.11
17
19.99
One in a Million Free School
BD8 7DX
68
11.12
17.02
20.23
Green Lane Primary
BD8 8HT
67
11.02
16087
20.07
203 Manningham Lane
BD8 7HP
81
11.48
17.82
24.91
Consulate of Pakistan
BD1 4SJ
95
12.37
19.91
31.91
We are particularly concerned at the asthma rates in Bradford. Air pollution contributes to a third of Bradford’s childhood asthma, but it affects all ages.
The figures above are based on the measurements made by local authorities at specific monitoring points, and estimated for addresses between them by Imperial College London.
Can an image be more convincing than this? Reading University have plotted the temperature from 1900 to 2021 for each country of the world. The colours showing change from the average 20th century temperature in the country. There’s no doubt about it. It’s up to us and our representatives to bring the red back to blue. Click on the image for the full story.
