Shrewsbury air pollution drop could help society 'learn lessons'
A "significant reduction" in air pollution in Shrewsbury town centre due to lockdown could help society learn lessons about doing their bit for the environment in the future.
That is the view of Karen Collier, Shropshire Council's regulatory services operations manager, who shared graph data from the town's zephyr monitors showing a massive drop in pollution.
It comes after former Quarry and Coton Hill councillor Andrew Bannerman, who lives in the town centre, described the fresh air as "wonderful" since the coronavirus lockdown, and after calls from Shrewsbury Civic Society to pedestrianise areas of the town.
Karen said: “An unintended but welcome consequence of the current lockdown has been a widely reported significant reduction across the world in the levels of air pollution.
"As journeys are limited to those which are deemed essential during the current restrictions to control the spread of the coronavirus, the reduction in traffic, which is a major source of pollution, will have a positive impact on air quality. It should be noted that air quality is also dependent on the weather which can, for example, disperse or concentrate it in an area.
“In 2019, DEFRA awarded Shropshire Council’s regulatory services team with £50,000 grant funding to improve our understanding and knowledge of the air quality in the county and raise awareness of any air quality challenges. As part of this work we are using zephyr sensors to measures air pollutant concentrations in real time. The zephyr monitors are currently located in our two air quality management areas of Bridgnorth and Shrewsbury; additionally, another zephyr monitor is temporarily located in Much Wenlock.
“We have not yet been able to carry out any detailed analysis of the data due to the need to prioritise our response to the pandemic.
"We can, however, provide the following graphs taken from the Shrewsbury zephyr monitors which show the levels of Nitrogen Dioxide: the blue arrow indicates when lockdown started on March 23.
"The raw data shows a general decrease in pollution levels as journeys have also decreased. The red dotted line on graphs shows the annual average 40 μg m3 limit – the readings are showing the hourly average. Therefore the peaks crossing the line are not breaching the legal limits."
She added: "Further analysis will be carried out when we are able to do so. To reduce air pollution and contribute to clean air, everyone living, working and visiting the area has the ability to contribute to improving air quality.
"Perhaps these major changes which we are experiencing will provide an opportunity for society to learn new lessons about changes which it can make to improve the environment, some of which we may have thought would not have been achievable previously.
“We are also developing a public website so that the zephyr monitoring data is accessible to everyone. We will keep you updated when this is available.”
Tim Pritchard, Shrewsbury programme manager for the Big Town Plan, said: “The Big Town Plan vision aspires to reduce traffic in the town centre whilst improving overall connectivity by foot, cycle and public transport.
"This will improve the town’s public realm and its environment, including reducing congestion and thereby contribute to improving air quality.
"A specific goal of the plan is to make it easier for pedestrians and cyclists to access and move across the town, shifting the balance from the private car to walking, cycling and greater use of bus and rail. It is likely that some areas will become pedestrian priority.”
