Air quality 'better as town jams cut'

Shrewsbury's air is cleaner because there are fewer cars in the town centre thanks to the parking enforcement scheme, council bosses said today.Nitrogen dioxide levels, which are monitored at various locations around the town, recorded a decrease in annual average levels from 36.32ug/m2 to 32.91ug/m3 - about a 10 per cent reduction overall.

David Spode, manager of pollution and housing at Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council, said the improvement in air quality had coincided with the introduction of on-street parking enforcement in the town centre.

The improvement of air quality is one of the policies of Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council to make the town a healthier place to live and work.

The council's air quality action plan contains a number of measures including on-street parking enforcement.

Nitrogen dioxide is a traffic related pollutant and one of the main factors that causes increased levels of the pollutant and reduced air quality are stationary vehicles with their engines running.

Council bosses claim that before the introduction of the ParkRight attendants in 2006, queuing traffic in the main roads of the town was a regular occurrence.

But they claim vigorous enforcement tactics, which free up the loading, bus bays and yellow line restrictions, has made it easier for vehicles to move around.

Mr Spode said the reduced levels were a "positive indication".

He said: "In the last 12 months, our data, compared with the year before, does show a 10 per cent reduction over all as an average across all the monitoring tubes in the town centre.

"It is quite a positive indication. We have to be a little bit cautious because it's not to say it's a continuing trend.

"The parking enforcement is just one of the things that assists the process by insuring less congestion and traffic queuing."

By Rebecca Lawrence