Clean air measures needed for the health of Sheffield residents - Yorkshire Post Letters

In her column (The Yorkshire Post, September 18), Jayne Dowle describes what she considers a “disconnect between council policy and the practical concerns of local people”. The policies involved are those which numerous local councils have introduced to prioritise sustainable transport over cars and lorries.

The particular case she details is the Arundel Gate bus gate. This has been introduced because it is a localised air pollution hotspot.

New measures are needed to bring that pollution down to legal limits which were supposed to be met by 2010. So cars are not allowed to drive northbound along its full length any longer, allowing the constant stream of buses to get through quicker.

We do have some sympathy for drivers that unwittingly stray into the bus gate. However, we have more for the thousands of people in Sheffield who suffer from asthma, dementia, lung cancer, strokes and heart attacks made worse by air pollution.

At least drivers can pay a single fine and thereafter follow the rules. An estimated 500 people in Sheffield die prematurely every year as a result of air pollution.

The root of so many traffic controversies is that ever greater car usage has been taken as a given for so long, despite transport experts warning increasingly strongly of the need to shift to more sustainable modes of transport, to address both air quality and climate change.

Petrol and diesel cars are unfortunately heavy, energy hungry objects which transport a small number of people whilst pumping pollutants out the back. Electric cars are better but still polluting.

Local authorities across the country are now belatedly having to address this state of affairs. Some measures they introduce may turn out too obstructive to justify being continued but we must always remember we urgently need to improve air quality and respond to the climate emergency.