15 July 2011 – Keith Taylor, the Green MEP for Hampshire and the South East, will visit Southampton today, Friday 15 July, to launch his new air pollution campaign. The launch will take place at Queen’s Park, a pollution hotspot with high levels of the pollutant Nitrogen dioxide (NO₂). Council air pollution figures from last year show that Nitrogen dioxide levels at Town Quay are regularly exceeding the government target, which is set to protect our health.

Keith will be meeting with members of the Southampton Cycling Campaign and distributing a public information leaflet, ‘Air Pollution: The Invisible Killer’ (2), which he has produced to raise awareness of air pollution and its damaging health impacts. The leaflet explains how air pollution is created, how widespread the problem is across the South East region, how it affects our health and how pollution can be reduced.

Southampton City Council declared an ‘Air Quality Management Area’ in 2005 because certain areas of the city are exceeding the government approved level for the harmful pollutant, Nitrogen dioxide (NO₂).

Southampton City Council is currently piloting the Air Alert scheme which notifies people about the level of air pollution on a daily basis. This service particularly helps those with existing health conditions, such as asthma. Keith will also be calling on local people to write to cllr Royston Smith, the Leader of Southampton City Council, to ask him to do more to tackle the causes of this invisible public health crisis.

Keith said: “The right to breathe clean air is fundamental. Yet thousands of lives in Southampton and across the South East are being shortened because air is heavily polluted in many places, mostly by traffic. Government data shows that air pollution contributes to over 200,000 premature deaths every year in the UK. This is an invisible public health crisis which urgently needs to be tackled. ”

“I’m pleased to be joining cyclists in Southampton today to highlight the health impacts of air pollution. In my meeting with the city council I will be calling on them to take action to invest in public transport and to encourage people to walk and cycle more. Only by making it easier for people to be less dependent on their cars will we start to improve the air around us and make our cities more healthy and pleasant places to live and work.”

Local cyclist and spokesman for the Southampton Cycling Campaign, Dilys Gartside, said: “’I cycle most days in the city and where there are areas of heavy traffic and poor air quality, I try and find an alternative route, which is not always possible. The Southampton Cycling Campaign continues to witness a high volume of traffic in the city and more and more cyclists have been voicing their concerns. I understand the Queens Park area exceeds air pollution levels and this is of great concern particularly as students have to use this route to get to and from their university building.”

Earlier in the day Keith will be meeting Simon Hartill, Scientific Officer at Southampton City Council and later in the day he will visit St Bede Primary School, Winchester, to meet children who have been measuring air pollution levels around their school.

Over the following week Keith will be taking his campaign to Hampshire’s ‘Little Green Gathering’, Oxford, Reading, Maidstone, Canterbury, Redhill and Hove.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

1. Photo opportunity: Friday 15 July, 10:30PM at Queens Park, Southampton, SO14 3FU (the south east corner, where Latimer Street and Platform Road cross. Opposite Dock Gate 4.)

2. Air Pollution: The Invisible Killer can be downloaded at http://www.keithtaylormep.org.uk/air-pollution/