A national framework of Low Emission Zones (LEZ) should be launched to help local authorities cut pollution, according to MPs.
A report by the environmental audit committee also called on Government to issue new guidance to ensure councils prioritise air quality in planning decisions. Local authorities must make better use of planning laws to ensure new schools, care homes and hospitals are not built near ‘air pollution hotspots’, it said.
Urgent action is needed to combat the tens of thousands of deaths caused by air pollution, said the committee, and Government should run a national campaign to raise public awareness.
Despite being one of the most ‘powerful tools’ that local authorities have to combat pollution, few have introduced LEZs. London is planning to launch an Ultra Low Emission Zone in 2020, which would introduce even stronger limits to high emission vehicles.
Committee chair, Joan Walley, said a national LEZ framework was needed to ‘save councils from having to reinvent the wheel each time’ by providing a template with common features, such as a national certification scheme for vehicle emissions.
‘It is unacceptable that another generation of young people growing up in our towns and cities could have their health seriously impaired by illegal air pollution before the Government brings this public health crisis under control,’ she said.
‘Children growing up near busy roads with high NO2 and particle emissions have stunted and impaired lung development. There is also emerging evidence that air pollution can increase infant mortality rates, prompt pre-term births and affect cognitive performance.
‘Well over a thousand schools around the country are 150 metres away from major roads. Protecting children and vulnerable people in the worst affected areas must be made a priority by Government and local authorities. Ministers must pluck up the political courage to take the potentially unpopular decisions necessary to get the most polluting vehicles off the road and encourage more people to walk, cycle or take public transport.’
