Air pollution a top priority during construction of A55 Deeside red route

An Air Quality Progress Report, received by Flintshire Council's environment overview and scrutiny committee, revealed air quality in Flintshire has been deemed as "good," and has not breached the warning levels set by Natural Resources Wales.

However, committee members agreed the council cannot be "complacent" when it comes to maintaining low air pollution levels.

Cllr Chris Bithell said: "Flintshire has a good air quality by large, and we should all be aware of this as it is the air that we breathe. As a local member, questions have been raised by some members of the public about the air quality in Flintshire, especially about the red route on the A55, by residents in those locations along the new route.

"Planning applications, industrial developments, and concerns of traffic on the A55 and A494 have been raised.

"According to a report by Bureau Veritas, the overall quality in the region is good, and there is no cause for concern to public health. But there is still work to be done by us."

Sian Jones, public protection manager, said despite the positive report, the council must persevere to lower the levels further - especially as the red route's major construction plans are on the horizon.

Ms Jones said: "The air quality in Flintshire and North Wales is good at the moment. However that does not mean we can be complacent. We know the A55 corridor is the single most significant contributor to air quality in the region, and that it brings our air quality down."

She added that it is the responsibility of the public services board that the standard of air quality is kept up as it impacts everyone in the county, and that the council will carry on working closely with its partners to ensure these aims.

The report also revealed that Flintshire contains more than double the amount of non-automatic air pollution monitoring sites compared to the other five local authorities in North Wales.

It reads: "The main source of air pollution in Flintshire is road traffic emissions from major roads linking England to the rest of north Wales. These include the A55 towards Colwyn Bay in the north and the A494 towards Snowdonia in the south.

"Flintshire County Council undertook monitoring at 52 locations, including duplicate diffusion tube monitoring at three sites."

Only 26 sites were monitored in Denbighshire, and 24 in Wrexham, while Conwy county and the Isle of Anglesey had 15 monitored sites and Gwynedd undertaking only 12.

Dave Jones, pollution manager for Flintshire Council said the monitoring is done by a "chemical gauge" in the diffusion tube, which are left open for a month in a chosen location, to allow the air to diffuse in.

Mr Jones said: "They are all at good levels, but they are not indicative of everything being safe - there's no safe level of nitrogen oxide. If levels are consistently high, by law we have to introduce more monitoring using expert scientific equipment to properly gauge the levels as the current monitoring sites are merely indicative.

"We have placed several monitors along Aston Hill, Sealand Road, Garden City and Deeside Industrial Park."

Mr Jones's statement, that "taking away the source of air pollution will lower the levels," prompted a debate among committee members about reducing traffic and the use of cars.

Cllr Paul Shotton, of Connah's Quay Golftyn, was concerned about the levels of air pollution near Aston, and pressed for the use of electric vehicles which will "lower air pollution levels greatly."

Cllr Owen Thomas, of Cilcain, also expressed his concern about traffic in congested areas. He said: "In lower Shotton, the traffic lights are not in sync and cause hold-ups of traffic. This concentrated area is terrible for pollution, and road works across the county take far too long and cause more traffic hold-ups."

Ms Jones, public protection manager reiterated that public services will make air pollution a "priority" and will be looking at electric vehicles.

The committee also agreed that Flintshire schools should be approached to encourage environmental awareness from a young age.

Cllr Bithell added: "It's not just industrial areas which show high levels of pollution, which goes to show how vigilant we need to be. We should encourage children to walk and cycle to school, as the last place we want to see pollution is schools."

The chair of the environment and scrutiny committee, Cllr Ray Hughes, backed that schools must be approached to "preach" the importance of maintaining and reducing air pollution in the county.