Cheltenham has a perennial problem with air pollution. Much of this, unfortunately, comes straight from high rates of traffic.
We have almost forty car dealerships in the Cheltenham area, there’s unsustainable competition for offroad parking, and we’re in the middle of an unsustainable trend for SUVs, sales of which outnumber electric vehicles 20 to 1.
Existing landscaping and infrastructure conditions aren’t ideal either. We have a complex one-way system that’s not necessarily the most effective way to move traffic around the town centre. And we’re surrounded by hills that trap dirty air, circulating pollution around homes, schools, and places of work.
Against all this, alternative forms of transportation such as cycling or buses aren’t being given proper investment or support, when they’re very cost-effecting and efficient ways of getting around town.
Cheltenham Green Party is expanding an air pollution monitoring scheme across Cheltenham to try to pin down the scientific evidence and address the situation. We already have two established sites in Leckhampton at the moment, and we’re looking at other locations.
We urgently need better coverage across the whole town.
So we’ve decided to take further action and empower our local community to face up to the situation. We’re launching a crowdfunder campaign in a few weeks time, and hoping to raise around £2500 to £3500. This would pay for ten new monitors, which can give us a huge amount of extra data.
Watch out for more on this in coming days!