LETTER: A27 air quality will play part

The Highways England insistence that the September 30th date for the CDC/WSCC decision forced the issue with our councillors.

Had Chichester proceeded with RIS funding for the Highways England Option 2, the impact to air quality during construction would arguably have worsened not only the three AQMAs (air quality managed areas), but also potentially have created pollution problems in the rat runs we already see in the city.

Via the Build-A-Better-A27 community initiative, it would be astute to ensure that an air quality impact assessment is included in the scope of work for the WSCC engaged consultant to cover both the construction period and the final solution.

This has the potential to get the support from Jesse Norman, who is now publicly acknowledging that, quote ‘in the context of air quality we have a joint responsibility on this in my department with DEFRA’ and goes on to say ‘we are expecting local government to play a very significant role in that because every area has specific issues and we have put aside significant amounts of money to help with that transition’ ( visit http://www.airqualitynews.com to read more).

Within the above newsletter, there is a short, independently-produced video which is very educational on air quality and the impact to public health. Hopefully all of our councillors will take a few moments to view that the implication of our congested A27 is about more than traffic movement and, arguably equal if not more, about public health.