Air quality has improved significantly at six of the 10 air pollution hotspots in Kirklees – including Cooper Bridge at Mirfield.
The Government requires local authorities to monitor air quality and take action when air pollution exceeds national standards.
Kirklees Council introduced Air Quality Management Areas (AQMAs) in 10 locations across the district which had a problem with nitrogen dioxide emissions from cars and other vehicles. The oldest – Cooper Bridge and Bradley – dates back to 2008 but most were introduced in 2017.
The AQMAs were: Huddersfield town centre; Ainley Top; Outlane; Thornton Lodge; Edgerton; Cooper Bridge in Mirfield and the A62 around Bradley traffic lights in Huddersfield; Halifax Road and Leeds Road in Liversedge; Scout Hill in Dewsbury; Eastborough in Dewsbury; and Birkenshaw.
Thanks to an improvement in air quality over the last five years, three of the AQMAs are being removed – Cooper Bridge and Bradley; Scout Hill; and Birkenshaw – and three others – Ainley Top, Liversedge and Thornton Lodge – will be amended to cover a smaller area.
Lindley Moor Road will be taken out of the Ainley Top zone and Longroyd Bridge comes out of the Thornton Lodge zone.
However, the AQMAs for Huddersfield town centre, Outlane, Edgerton and Eastborough will remain in force.
A national move towards taking older, more polluting vehicles off the roads and replacing them with newer ones has improved air quality generally but Kirklees Council has taken actions which have made a difference too.
These changes include upgrades to traffic lights in Blacker Road to cut wait times and improve traffic flow and also roundabout improvements in Birkenshaw.
Clr Beverley Addy, Cabinet member for public health, said: “This is fantastic news for Kirklees.
“Cleaner air brings real benefits to everyone, especially to young children and those with health conditions. The fact that we’re seeing such improvements really does mean people will live healthier lives.
“We want to create more clean, safe and healthy places in Kirklees, and this brings us one step closer.”
Pollution levels aren’t just monitored in AQMAs, air quality is tracked across the district using Government-approved ‘diffusion tubes’ which look out for nitrogen oxides.
The council also has air quality stations which monitor background pollution and levels of particulates in the wider area.
