Hereford in top 10 for car exhaust pollution

[megilleland]

The top 10 dirtiest towns and cities also include St Albans and Brighton where pollution levels have breached EU safety limits along with congestion hotspots Cambridge and Chelmsford.

 

Lisburn, Hereford, Newry, Oxford and Norwich are also among those places named and shamed for high greenhouse exhaust gases.

 

Along with Peterborough, the cleanest cars are found in Portsmouth, Stirling, Worcester and Glasgow, as well as Birmingham, Durham, Sunderland, Exeter and Gloucester.

 

CITIES WITH MOST POLLUTING VEHICLES - EMISSIONS IN G/KM 

 

1. London: 176.95

2. St Albans: 165.52

3. Brighton: 165.34

4. Cambridge: 164.70

5. Chelmsford: 163.91

6. Lisburn: 163.73

7. Hereford: 163.67

8. Newry: 163.38

9. Oxford: 162.78

10. Norwich: 162.59 

 

CITIES WITH GREENEST VEHICLES - EMISSIONS IN G/KM 

 

1. Peterborough: 142.03

2. Portsmouth: 146.69

3. Stirling: 147.38

4. Worcester: 150.21

5. Glasgow: 150.35

6. Birmingham: 150.58

7. Durham: 151.36

8. Sunderland: 153.10

9. Exeter: 153.43

10. Gloucester: 154.08

[SON OF GRIDKNOCKER]

Isn't it funny (no, actually it's not funny at all; it's bloody depressing) how Hereford comes high up in all the wrong polls?

 

The city with the fewest number of public toilets.  The city which owns the most number of paintings by Turner that its citizens have never seen.  The city with the most dilapidated, under-funded Victorian covered retail market.   The city with too many traffic lights.  And of course, most famously: The only English city with a Cabinet which has undergone collective charisma by-pass

[Aylestone Voice]

And also perhaps the city with the highest number of professional complainers 

[megilleland]

If they are professional they must be worth a fortune!

[dippyhippy]

I think persistently observing, and then blogging about, all the things that go on in Hereford is something of an art form!

 

It takes diligence, perseverance, tenacity and humour to keep at it for any length of time.

 

I wouldn't use the term "professional", but it's definitely a skill......and some might say, a feat of endurance!

[twowheelsgood]

When I saw 'The top 10 dirtiest towns and cities' I thought it was literal, for Hereford is disgustingly dirty, litter and filth everywhere, just generally horrible (and I do realise it is people that make it such, who are equally vile, but the Council do have a duty to clean up).

 

The Edgar Street roundabout was a pollution blackspot, and I vaguely recall we were told it the OLM would sort it all out - well, they were right, but not as expected - they simply removed the monitoring equipment!

 

Dirty old buses belching out dirty diesel fumes. Dirty old cars belching out dirty diesel fumes. Standing traffic belching out fumes - Edgar St, Widemarsh St, Blueschool St, Bath St, Commercial Rd, Eign St - back to the traffic light scenario again.

 

Perhaps Mr Willimont might like to comment on Hereford's shameful position in the league table?

[ragwert]

I'm sure that if we switched a few traffic lights off we would be nowhere near the top of this list.

[ragwert]

Reading into this a bit more it has nothing to do with air quality at all.The Emissions list is based on what cars etc are registered in Hereford.The average mpg of a  registered vehicle in Hereford does around
40 mpg.Pretty much a load of tosh really

[megilleland]

You may be right ragwert, but you cannot ignore that this is only one part of the pollutants coming from our highways. In fact there is so much lying in the gutters that one company is making a fortune from processing the waste and extracting all the heavy metals.

 

From roads to riches: How the streets of London are paved with valuable metals like platinum

[Ubique]

Interesting to know where the tests were carried out , if it's Edgar St by the Tesco Island it's understandable . Most , if not all of the Greenest City's and towns have bypasses so. The " offending vehicles " are not passing through the City / towns .

I know nothing about this BUT I did live in London during the smog period pre 1957 and must say that the air quality has improved since then so in my eyes it's an improvement ! Rubbish I know but it was worth saying.

[ragwert]

The nearest air quality measurement system is in Leominster.Infact the one in Leominster is the only one in the West Midlands outside Birmingham.

[Jonny]

I suppose we're all looking to the authoritys to do something about this outrage. But its OUR responsability to do something about it, walk, cycle, take the bus!

[Colin James]

I'm sure that if we switched a few traffic lights off we would be nowhere near the top of this list.

 

Yep!

[Biomech]

Only city without a bypass

Massive lack of cycle routes and support

 

One of the most polluted cities in the country

 

 

Anyone else see a correlation here?

[dippyhippy]

Good Grief Biomech!

 

You're back!

[Biomech]

:)

 

I'm always around, just depends how busy I am / what's going on in the world :)

[mawillimont]

Glad to see there is so much interest in Hereford's air quality. A subject close to my heart, as you'll see below..

 

Ragwert is correct in that the Daily Mail article refers to a report on an insurance survey on the types of vehicles in these cities and not the phsyical pollution levels measured there. Hereford comes out 7th worst because the types of vehicles here apparently have a higher Grammes/kg emission rate for carbon dioxide than most others it seems. I suspect this is due to the fact that Hereford probably has a higher than usual number of 4x4s and sadly an older car fleet due to the low wage economy we currently suffer. There might be other reasons of course.

 

The pollution levels in Hereford is another matter. An 'Air Quality Management Area' has been declared along the A49 corridor because we constantly exceed the 40u/gm3 target for a pollutant called nitrogen dioxide (NO2) which comes from vehicle exhausts, particularly HGVs. An action plan was therefore released in 2006 and a number of the actions have been carried out, although some still remain outstanding, most notably the action recommending various links of a bypass.

 

If you're interested, 2013's data can be found at

https://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/media/7923436/aq_n02_-data_-estimated_-annual_-mean_-2013.pdf

 

The hotspot area can be seen in the map at

http://aqma.defra.gov.uk/1aqma/aqma_detail.php?aqma_id=425

 

The action plan can be found at

http://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/assets/documents/no2ten/Local_zone35_Hereford_AQActionplan_1.pdf

 

As you probably know, a second link road to the south of Hereford joining the A49 to the A465 is planned with funding secured - we anticipate a planning application shortly. If approved this should better the air quality at the Asda end of the A49 corridor and the AQ plan models / predicts this. The action plan also scientifically models the air quality to significantly improve if a bypass is completed and therefore crosses the river. However I am definitely not going to enter that debate.......

 

In the meantime Environmental Health will continue to measure pollution levels and keep an eye on the trend.

 

Hope this might help clarify this for you all.

 

Marc Willimont

Head of Environmental Health & Planning

Herefordshire Council

[megilleland]

Puts things in perspective. Interesting to note that the NO2 figures tend to rise each month up to November and December they being the worst.

 

Pretty nasty stuff

Nitrogen oxides are formed during high temperature combustion processes from the oxidation of nitrogen in the air or fuel. The principal source of nitrogen oxides, nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), collectively known as NOx, is road traffic, which is responsible for approximately half the emissions in Europe. NO and NO2 concentrations are therefore greatest in urban areas where traffic is heaviest. Other important sources are power stations, heating plant and industrial processes. 

 

Nitrogen oxides are released into the atmosphere mainly in the form of NO, which is then readily oxidised to NO2 by reaction with ozone. Elevated levels of NOx occur in urban environments under stable meteorological conditions, when the air mass is unable to disperse.

 

Nitrogen dioxide has a variety of environmental and health impacts. It is a respiratory irritant may exacerbate asthma and possibly increase susceptibility to infections. In the presence of sunlight, it reacts with hydrocarbons to produce photochemical pollutants such as ozone. In addition, nitrogen oxides have a lifetime of approximately 1-day with respect to conversion to nitric acid. This nitric acid is in turn removed from the atmosphere by direct deposition to the ground, or transfer to aqueous droplets (e.g. cloud or rainwater), thereby contributing to acid deposition. 

 

In table 3 - Action Number 1

* Possible relocation of buses from the city centre Tesco bus station 

 

This would be a good idea and relocate all the bus stations to the railway station as a transport hub. No stationary buses with engines running in town.

[dippyhippy]

I could never understand why anybody thought having a bus station on a busy roundabout would be a good idea.

 

Some really interesting stuff in those links!

[Clarkester]

mawillimont, I am not an expert by any means, but I fail to see how linking the A465/A49 will improve the air quality at Asda by very much.

Most traffic is going North or South, so just by linking the two roads south of the city I just can't see how will this help?

But, as you say, you have an action plan that predicts this, so it must be right.  Action plans and predictions are never wrong...

[Biomech]

I used to think I'd like to see cycle lanes around town. I don't, I want to see cycle *routes*. Lanes or no lanes, car drivers couldn't give a **** and drive through them anyway, it's just not worth cycling with such a high level of danger. Whether it's the heavy traffic on inner city roads or the speeding drivers in the middle of country roads as they go around blind corners.

[Biomech]

..or perhaps a barrier between a cycle lane and a car lane - I'm sure the Netherlands had something that someone posted here not too long ago...

 

I don't think this was it, but here's an idea. HCC missed the boat on a cheaper, shared, alternative

 

 

[ragwert]

I could never understand why anybody thought having a bus station on a busy roundabout would be a good idea.

 

Some really interesting stuff in those links!

I'd love to see the one behind the old cinema for local bus services, getting rid of the in Tescos and a new County bus station next to the train station.

[dippyhippy]

Hi Ragwert!

 

I would also love to see the County Bus Station moved to the railway station, and create the transport hub, which we have been told WILL happen.

 

But! I would then like to see the new fire station built on the County Bus Station site!

 

There would now appear to be another site for the fire station in the pipeline......so if that was the case, then yes, your suggestion would sound like a good one!

[greenknight]

mawillimont, I am not an expert by any means, but I fail to see how linking the A465/A49 will improve the air quality at Asda by very much.

Most traffic is going North or South, so just by linking the two roads south of the city I just can't see how will this help?

But, as you say, you have an action plan that predicts this, so it must be right.  Action plans and predictions are never wrong...

As a newbie to Hereford Voice I'm no doubt coming in on some topics that have been around a long time however I do agree with mawillimont. A North/South bypass ( either side) would sort the problem out however we,'ve seen some free money from Wales as they continue their dualling of the A465. Will this stop at Abergavenny or march on to Hereford where probably it will link with a new western relief road taking heavy traffic away from the town centre until we get our own orbital dual carriageway.(I know your laughing now) I like many long distance drivers travel south down the A49 then turn right for Monmouth when heading west or run down to Trumpet before heading to the M50 . I appreciate there seems to be a thing about traffic lights.. well to be honest it's been my observation that during the dark hours a lot of people ignore them so I would switch them off and abolish speed limits as well as these are all so ridiculed because there are few resources to enforce and the people in the county know it. I'm pretty comfortable that I could sit my emergency vehicle up at the trumpet lights and just wait for custom.

[greenknight]

As a newbie to Hereford Voice I'm no doubt coming in on some topics that have been around a long time however I do agree with mawillimont. A North/South bypass ( either side) would sort the problem out however we,'ve seen some free money from Wales as they continue their dualling of the A465. Will this stop at Abergavenny or march on to Hereford where probably it will link with a new western relief road taking heavy traffic away from the town centre until we get our own orbital dual carriageway.(I know your laughing now) I like many long distance drivers travel south down the A49 then turn right for Monmouth when heading west or run down to Trumpet before heading to the M50 . I appreciate there seems to be a thing about traffic lights.. well to be honest it's been my observation that during the dark hours a lot of people ignore them so I would switch them off and abolish speed limits as well as these are all so ridiculed because there are few resources to enforce and the people in the county know it. I'm pretty comfortable that I could sit my emergency vehicle up at the trumpet lights and just wait for custom.

Sorry Clarkster it was your comment I agree with..flipping newbies

[dippyhippy]

Morning Green Knight, and welcome to Hereford Voice!

 

Don't worry - it has taken me an age to get used to all the whistles and bells on this forum! It's just great to see a new poster commenting, so don't let the odd technical mishap stop you!!

[greenknight]

Thanks Dippyhippy..I would like to add that considering the Asda traffic Lights are new it appears to be a real hash.