How Does Cornwall Plan to Tackle Pollution?

Located on the south west coast of England, Cornwall is renowned for its friendly locals and beautiful scenery. But in recent years the seaside county has also become notable because of its pollution problem. With a large number of tourists coming in and out of Cornwall at any given time, the problem is thought to be partly down to car emissions. But how will they deal with it?

Life threatening

There’s no doubt about it, air pollution poses a threat to the life of those exposed to it. Around 40,000 deaths a year are linked to it in the UK alone. Nitrogen dioxide is one of the big culprits. It is emitted by diesel engines as well as power plants and can cause respiratory problems, lung disease and even cancer.

Naturally, the EU has set certain standards regarding levels of air quality in an attempt to keep them safe. But they’re not always adhered to. To manage areas that exceed the limits, local councils in the UK have been creating Air Quality Management Areas (AQMAs) where action needs to be taken. Cornwall has identified seven of its own – Bodmin, Camelford, Gunnislake, Kerrier, St Austell, Tideford and Truro.

Controversial plans

To reduce pollution levels in these AQMAs, the local council has proposed that some properties are evacuated. Along with building new neighbourhoods in clean air zones, the plan is supposed to move people away from the bad air and minimise the amount of people affected by it.

The council has suggested that the scheme is the best option because it is cheaper than building bypasses to divert traffic. But critics of the scheme have highlighted the potential side-effects of moving people out of their homes.

“If you look at Cornwall Council's transport strategy, it's all about people living close to where they work so that they can use active transport,” said Camelford Clean Air Chairwoman Claire Hewlett. “To move people to a new town seems to go against that. Surely you want people to stay where they're working so that they can walk or cycle.”

The wider picture

While Cornwall is trying to find ways to work around their polluted areas, there is an even bigger problem with industrial emissions. As with local pollution levels, the EU has introduced regulations to try and minimise the damage. ‘One Directive to Rule them All’ looks at the new Directive on Industrial Emissions and how it has changed the regulatory regime.