(Title Image: © Copyright Lewis Clarke and licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Licence.)
Later this week, Bridgend Council’s Cabinet will be updated on the Air Quality Management Area set up for Park Street in Bridgend town centre, which in 2018 was found to have breached air quality control limits (pdf).
When Park Street was originally found to have breached the limits (set at 40μg/m3 of nitrogen dioxide averaged over a year), it was only slightly over (41.5μg/m3).
The new findings for 2019 found that one of the Park Street monitors – located close to the crest of the hill and junction with St Leonard’s Road – recorded 58.7μg/m3. The report also highlights growing concerns about air pollution levels at the southern end of Tondu Road (near the Newcastle Hill steps), which have been recorded at 38.5μg/m3.
BCBC still has until mid-2020 to produce a draft air pollution action plan for the Management Area but any plan needs to be fully adopted by 2021. The report says meetings with relevant departments and interested parties have already taken place to develop “realistic mitigation measures”. Public drop-in sessions and full public consultation are also planned.
The immediate priority is to improve air quality measuring equipment along Park Street. Planning permission has been granted for an air monitoring station at the Quaker Meeting House – although agreements are being finalised.
