Council marks Clean Air Day

As Wales and the UK marks Clean Air Day, Bridgend County Borough Council wants to share some of the work it is doing to improve our environment.

Led by Global Action Plan, Clean Air Day brings together communities, businesses, schools and the health sector to improve public understanding of air pollution, building awareness of how air pollution affects our health and explaining the easy actions everyone can do to tackle air pollution, helping to protect the environment and our health.

The annual campaign sees thousands of people across the UK come together to collaboratively voice support, hold events, make pledges and take action on toxic air.

This year’s theme is to ‘protect our children’s health from air pollution’ and aims to highlight the urgency to safeguard both our children’s short-term and long-term health from the impacts of air pollution and build a clean air future as we recover from the coronavirus pandemic. 

The World Health Organisation and the UK Government recognise that air pollution is the largest environmental health risk we face today. Poor air quality causes heart and lung diseases, is linked to low birth weight and children’s lung development and may even contribute to mental health issues.

As a local authority, we are continually striving to find ways to reduce our own carbon footprint as we support Welsh Government’s commitment to achieving a net zero carbon public sector in Wales by 2030. This includes using open spaces to enhance biodiversity and tree planting, optimising the use of buildings, reducing energy use, designing new builds to the highest standards of energy efficiency, and seeking out renewable energy opportunities.

As individuals, communities or organisations, we can all make a difference and you can find lots of ideas on the Clean Air Day website.

The council’s cabinet member for future generations and wellbeing Dhanisha Patel

Projects being progressed by Bridgend County Borough Council include:

• Increasing the number of Active Travel routes across the county borough by improving or introducing footpaths and cycle lanes, enabling short-distance trips to school, shops, work, services and transport hubs
• Commissioning a tree feasibility study to identify new areas where more trees can be planted to benefit the local environment. Thousands of trees have already been planted in places such as Sker, Kenfig, Caerau, Pyle, Heol y Cyw, Glanrhyd, Bryngarw, Porthcawl and land surrounding Bridgend Ford. Meanwhile, 2,000 trees are due to be planted at Newbridge Fields in conjunction with Bridgend Town Council, including a heritage orchard in association with Mental Health Matters Wales.
• Boosting wildflowers and improving local biodiversity by managing council-owned land to promote ecological diversity wherever possible
• Piloting the use of ultra-low emission vehicles with a planned full electrification or hydrogen fuelling of the council’s fleet of vehicles
• The conversion of all street lighting to low-energy street lights which has resulted in reducing associated emissions by up to 70 per cent overall.

• Implementing multi-million pound energy efficient measures in council buildings
• Producing an action plan to address air quality concerns for the Park Street Air Quality Management Area. As part of the measures to improve air quality in the area, a new monitoring station has been installed at Park Street, Bridgend
• Installing a number of electric charging points at sites across the county borough for electric taxis and private hire vehicles as part of the Cardiff Capital Region Ultra Low Emission Vehicle strategy

• Progressing the Bridgend Town Heat Network and the Caerau Heat Scheme

For more details on Clean Air Day visit www.cleanairday.org.uk