Historic Wiltshire town to monitor its air quality

In order to tackle air pollution, a new monitoring device has been installed in the historic Wiltshire town.

Predominantly, the device will be geared towards tackling traffic fumes, hence its location at the traffic hotspot in Bradford on Avon.

The system gives detailed readings of pollutants in the area, breaking down levels of specific pollutants and where they are coming from.

In addition, it will give advice to the local council about how best to tackle the problem in the historic streets.

It is part of a wider scheme in Wiltshire to tackle air pollution. Already, there has been a successful Lorry Watch Scheme, which is a project operated using local people to identify the misuse of weight restricted routes by heavy goods vehicles in the area.

The schemes have been put in place by Wiltshire Council and the local community. The Bradford on Avon Air Quality Alliance.

The device is just one of four which will be installed across the country.

Maggie Rae, corporate director at Wiltshire Council, has commented on the new system.

"We know many journeys around Bradford on Avon cover only a few miles and we want to encourage people to think of using other forms of transport such as walking or cycling to get around. Placing this monitor at the busiest road in the town will give us detailed readings which can help inform future initiatives."

Keith Humphries, cabinet member for public health and protection added:

"Wiltshire is a beautiful rural county which doesn’t generally have issues with air quality. However, we know where there is a build up of traffic there can be pollution. We are taking it seriously and doing what we can to monitor those spots. This monitor is the start of a concerted drive to look at new ways of tackling 21st century issues in this historic town."