Council Marks Clean Air Day

Posted July 2021

Last month, we marked Clean Air Day 2021.

Led by the charity Global Action Plan, the purpose of Clean Air Day is to highlight air pollution, build awareness of how it affects our health, and explore some of the things we can do to tackle the problem.

Every year, air pollution causes up to 36,000 deaths in the UK. 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.

The council used Clean Air Day to showcase some of the work we have been doing to improve the air quality in the city.

This includes rolling out Wales’ first fully electric refuse collection vehicle, and installing renewable energy generating solar panels on 27 of our buildings, including the Geraint Thomas National Velodrome for Wales.

Members of staff along with colleagues from our One Newport PSB partners also took part in a bike ride along some of our new active travel routes.

The showcase took in the new routes at Tredegar Park and Monkey Island, as well as some existing routes such as the riverside city centre circle.

Cllr Jane Mudd, leader of the council, stressed the importance of Clean Air Day, saying:

"It is right that we celebrate our work in driving carbon reduction and improving our city’s air quality.

“We have achieved a lot in the past twelve months, and we hope to achieve much more in the coming years.

“Future plans include our work to deliver a local area energy plan, which will help shape the future of a city-wide zero carbon energy system, as well as changing our entire vehicle fleet to electric only.

“We still have a long way to go in making our air cleaner for future generations, but the actions we are taking today will deliver a greener, healthier city for tomorrow.”