in the UK outside of London
The Welsh Government should bring forward legislation to clean up air pollution in Wales, according to Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood.
During First Minister’s Questions recently, Assembly Member Ms Wood highlighted Hafodyrynys Road in Crumlin – the most polluted road in the UK outside of London
Ms Wood said: “Air pollution is responsible for 2,000 deaths per year in this country. It’s a public health crisis, and it’s your Labour Government’s environmental legacy.
“That’s why Plaid Cymru has launched a campaign, clean air week, and my colleague, Simon Thomas, launched a comprehensive report on hydrogen’s role in the decarbonisation of transport.
“Now, I would urge the First Minister to read this expert-led in-depth report and to take heed of its recommendations.
“First Minister, this crisis warrants urgent action. Given that a road in Caerphilly is the most polluted outside of London, will you support our calls for a clean air Act for Wales that would phase out the sale of diesel and petrol-only vehicles by 2030?”
First Minister Carwyn Jones replied: “I think that’s too early; I don’t think the technology’s ready.
“I do look forward to a time when electric cars become the norm. I don’t think the technology’s there now in terms of the range, but I think it will become available very, very quickly.”
The First Minister added that efforts were being made to change people’s travelling behaviour to encourage more use by rail and cycling.
Commenting on the exchange, Steffan Lewis AM, Plaid Cymru Assembly Member for South East Wales, said: “Refusing to take action to protect residents in the south east because the ‘technology isn’t ready’ isn’t good enough.
“Norway aims to phase out petrol and diesel-only vehicles in 2025, with many European countries aiming for a phase-out by 2030, yet the First Minister apparently doesn’t think Wales can do this because of technological constraints. If Norway can do it by 2025, why can’t Wales do it by 2030?
“The technology clearly is there to achieve this aim – it’s the political will that is missing when it comes to this Labour Welsh government taking steps to improve air quality in Wales.
“The long-suffering residents who live along the A472 deserve better, which is why Plaid Cymru will continue with our campaign to introduce a Clean Air Act in Wales as soon as is practical.”
• There were just ten new electric vehicles registered in Caerphilly County Borough in 12 months, according to latest UK Government statistics.
From January to March 2017 there were 71 electric vehicles, but by March this year there were 81.
The figures come from recently released Department for Transport data, which shows the number of registered electric or plug-in hybrid cars, vans and micro cars called quadricycles in the county borough over the four quarters of the year.
Plug-in vehicles still make up a tiny percentage of the cars on the road in Caerphilly.
Compared with the 81 electric cars on roads, there are 96,148 cars and vans in total, according to the latest complete vehicle registration data from 2017.
It would probably be better to stop building houses on green sites far away from employment. There is no chance of electric vehicles, in their current state of development, being practical in our terraced house town and valleys.
Additionally public transport that can get people to and from work late at night and early in the morning would represent progress.
To say that this is the most polluted road in the UK outside of London is not really giving the full facts. The air quality monitoring equipment will not be positioned in the exact same conditions in each location throughout the UK, they will not be all at the same altitude, they will not be all positioned on a similar stretch of road so to compare their readings against each other is simply not a true comparison.
Much of Wales is very hilly, a vehicles engine will have to work much harder to get up these hills thus it will emit more exhaust gases. The air quality monitor on the Hafodyrynys Road is most likely positioned poorly in a location where vehicle engines are working much harder to overcome the gradient of the road, producing readings that are not a true representation of the overall air quality in that location.
This is a well used road, the only way to improve air quality is to either by pass these house, electric cars or improve public transport. All of which is difficult and will cost money. We need a more reliable public transport in the valley areas