The Liberal Democrats motion to Hampshire County Council tackling air pollution outside schools has been successful.

The Motion was proposed by Jackie Porter, a Lib Dem Councillor from Winchester. The motion was seconded by New Forest member, Malcolm Wade, and is as follows:

This Council resolves to:

1. Work with districts, schools and local partners to swiftly identify those schools in the county that could put a “school streets” scheme in place.

2. Work with districts, schools and local partners to enable all schools that wish to take part in the “school streets” scheme to do so – taking advantage of experimental traffic orders and new statutory guidance over fast-tracked Traffic Regulation Orders where necessary.

3. Measure air quality around a sample of schools in all six districts at child-head height to identify the level of air pollution children are being exposed to at school drop-off and pick-up.

4. Pilot additional measures to improve air quality near schools in 2020/21, such as ‘living green walls’ and tree planting.”

I know that there are a number of schools in the local area that will benefit from a focus on this, so I am very pleased to see Lib Dem Councillors lead on this with such success.

Speaking after the meeting, Leader of New Forest Liberal Democrats Cllr David Harrison said:

“We had one of the better meetings of Hampshire County Council today, with the ruling Conservatives deciding to support a Liberal Democrat Motion to start tackling the issue of air pollution risks to children attending local schools.

“I know that there are a number of schools in Totton and Marchwood that might well benefit from a focus on this, so am very pleased to see cross party support.“