Air pollution is having a harmful impact on the health of people living, working and studying within Coventry.

The health impacts of air pollution include increased risk of asthma, heart disease, strokes, lung disease and dementia. So, improvements need to be made to air quality in the city.

Since 2017 the Council has been working closely with the Government’s Joint Air Quality Unit [JAQU] to develop an Action Plan to reduce NO₂ levels below the legal limit of 40ug/m³ in the shortest possible time.

In February, the Government confirmed that Coventry does not need to introduce a charging Clean Air Zone, which would have seen older and more polluting vehicles charged for entering a large area of the city.

Instead, the Government has agreed that the package of measures put forward by the Council would be effective in reducing NO₂ levels without the wider social and economic costs that the Clean Air Zone would have created.

The resulting Local Air Quality Action Plan has been based on air quality and traffic monitoring data and modelling,has shown us that we need to improve NO₂ levels on the Holyhead Road and Foleshill Road. The map below illustrates the locations where we need to reduce congestion and improve capacity.

The package focuses upon encouraging local trips to be made by walking and cycling rather than the car. The Council is working with Transport for West Midlands on a Mobility Credits pilot programme which will give Coventry residents with an older, polluting car the chance to exchange their vehicle for mobility credits. The credits could be spent on bus and rail travel, as well as new transport modes such as car clubs or bikeshare schemes.

As part of this, there will also be a new high-quality cycle route between Coundon and the city centre.

The third element of the package includes targeted junction and road layout changes on Holyhead Road and parallel routes to allow freer-flowing traffic, reduce congestion and to provide better walking and cycling routes from both Spon End and Coundon into the city. These measures will allow the traffic flows on Holyhead Road to be reduced through restrictions if necessary to allow NO₂ levels to be brought below legal limits on this route.

On Foleshill Road, traffic management measures will be introduced to remove through traffic, which will be encouraged to use the A444 to access the city centre instead.

Government has endorsed this package and has awarded the Council funding to deliver it.

We are consulting on the Local Air Quality Action Plan. We consulted with the public and businesses on the Plan in March 2018 and have amended the package to reflect the feedback received. Your feedback on the latest consultation will help further inform what will be included in the final LAQAP which will be submitted to Government in June.

For more information on the detailed proposals contained in the plan, please take the time to read the background information and have a look at the Air Quality Council Website(External link) then complete this short questionnaire to give us your thoughts.

We would welcome your views on these measures. Please fill in the Coventry City survey.

The deadline for responses is midnight on Sunday 31 May 2020.