Grant to improve air quality in Brentford

Residents of Brentford can look forward to better air quality after Hounslow Council received £55,000 in funding from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

People searching for flats to rent in Brentford will be buoyed to hear of the planned improvement in environmental standards, which will be focussed on two areas - Chiswick High Road and the Great West Road.

The practical measures will be aimed at curbing the effects of air pollution. A specialist survey is to be carried out to identify hotspots and then various strategies will be evaluated off the back of this process.

One of the main causes of the problem is easy to spot, as Hounslow's director of environment Michael Jordan revealed that fumes from vehicle exhausts make up two-thirds of air pollution.

"This can clearly be seen in the levels of pollution on major roads such as Chiswick High Road and the A4 Great West Road," he added. The politician hopes the money received from Defra can ultimately lead to an improvement in the overall quality of air. Other factors for poor quality air include gas used in factories and power stations and oil fired central heating boilers.

From April, number plate recognition technology will be used to identify the types of most heavily-polluting vehicles being used in the two areas of Brentford. This, coupled with a traffic count, will form the basis of informing the local authority about what steps need to be taken. 

The Environment Act 1995 introduced local air quality management, which means all councils have a responsibility to execute a plan designed to reduce pollution of this type. At present, Hounslow Council is in the process of implementing a stage four review and assessment. It is hoped once this is completed that an action plan can then be drawn up.

Posted by Ben Carter

Published 26th March, 2012

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