Petition Over Pollution Black Spot

11 April 2012, 06:00

Worried residents living near a pollution black spot in St Albans have renewed their campaign to get something done.

Eight years ago studies by St Albans District Council found there were dangerously high levels of nitrogen dioxide at the Peahen Junction and further down the hill.

To help combat this plans to partly pedestrianize St Peters Street were put in place, but these were dropped when the Conservative Council came in last year.

Some people living on Holywell Hill are now worried that nothing's going to be done so they've launched a petition on Hertfordshire County Council's website.

Roger Talbot, chair of the Holywell Hill Action Group says ''The nitrogen dioxide which is caused by vehicles, particularly vehicles in stand and start mode, as they are on Holywell Hill very often, is a health hazard, especially for the young and the elderly.''

Mike Lovelady, Head of Legal, Democratic and Regulatory Services at St Albans City and District Council, said: “We are aware of residents’ concerns about pollution and traffic congestion in St Albans city centre. We are working with Network St Albans to assess the potential impact on air pollution of proposed traffic modelling schemes that are aimed at reducing congestion in the city centre, including at the Peahen Junction. We have obtained £14,000 in external funding from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to tackle pollution which is one of the Council’s priorities for 2012.”