A clean air campaign has been stepped up by Cheshire East Council after it was awarded Government funding.
Among the pollution concerns the authority wants to highlight are idling vehicle engines and out of date or non-compliant wood burners.
The funding follows the council’s Show the Air You Care campaign that aimed to promote air quality awareness.
Air pollution is recognised as a contributing factor in the onset of heart disease and cancer and affects the most vulnerable in society – in particular children and older people, and those with heart and lung conditions.
The council is urging drivers to play their part to reduce emissions by cutting out unnecessary vehicle idling.
Another air pollution contributor is outdated, non-compliant wood-burning stoves. Log-burners have become more and more popular in UK homes as a form of heating, in both towns and rural areas – and, for some, their only form of heating. The council is urging residents and businesses to follow some simple steps to reduce the use of harmful fuels they burn in stoves and on open fires.
Buying a new stove from a reputable dealer, or ensuring an old stove is regularly serviced and maintained, “is highly recommended”, said the council.
As part of the clean air campaign, the council is distributing leaflets to all the borough’s households to help raise awareness on the harmful effects of burning the wrong sort of fuels and the potential health impacts of vehicle engine idling.
Coun Mick Warren, Cheshire East Council’s chair of the Environment and Communities Committee, said: “The council is strongly focused on improving air quality by reducing harmful emissions and that includes doing what we can to promote clean air, cutting greenhouse gases and becoming a carbon neutral council and borough.
“We would like our residents to review the leaflet and take on board the information around the right fuels to burn at home and the importance of minimising vehicle engine idling.
Over the coming months residents will also see vehicle idling information on the back of pay and display car parking tickets and anti-idling signage around the borough.”
To find more about the council’s vehicle idling campaign and domestic burning of harmful materials, visit cheshireeast.gov.uk and search for air quality awareness.
