We’re sure you’ve heard that recently we declared a climate emergency. As part of developing our decarbonisation plan, we’re looking at ways to reduce air pollution in Wrexham.
One of the problems that can affect air quality is leaving car engines running whilst being parked and waiting, or ‘idling’ as it’s often referred to.
If you’re going to be stationary for 60 seconds or longer, it’s less polluting to switch off your car engine and restart it when you’re ready to leave. It’s a small, simple step to improving air quality in Wrexham.
Cllr David A Bithell, Lead Member for Environment and Transport, says: “We’re looking at how we can improve air quality and reduce emissions, and a change we can all make is switching off our car engines when we’re idling.
“It can be easy for people to leave their engines running if they’re only stopping somewhere for a short period of time, but this means unnecessary and harmful emissions going into our environment. Now, more than ever, this is the type of thing we need to cut out to make a better, greener Wrexham.”
The Defra clean air strategy 2019 showed that over 30,000 deaths a year nationally are linked to air pollution, and children are suffering life-long health problems from poor air quality.
Idling often happens at level crossings (waiting for trains to pass), outside schools, outside supermarkets and in residential areas. Being aware of when we’re doing it is the starting point to cutting it out.
“We’re all pulling in the same direction”
Over the past few months, we’ve had residents pointing out suggestions for improvements we can make as a council and we’ve welcomed this.
Cllr Bithell explains: “We’re currently developing our decarbonisation action plan and we’re happy for residents to raise issues on things where we could do better. This costs no money at all, but in the long term has real benefits. It shows they’re on-board with what we’re trying to do and we’re all pulling in the same direction.”
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