Healthy Air Manifesto for Leicester

In 2015, in conjunction with other local campaign groups, we launched our first Healthy Air Manifesto for Leicester. Four years later, we have published a new list of policies that we think are necessary to reduce the levels of air pollution in Leicester. 

Healthy Air Manifesto for Leicester

Version 2: Spring 2019

Air pollution contributes to respiratory illnesses, heart disease, cancer and even Alzheimer’s disease. Half of Leicester residents are concerned about air pollution. We want to live in a city where the air is clean and does not damage anyone’s health. We welcome Leicester City Council’s action on air pollution, with the target for increasing cycling, the electric taxi charging points and road space re-allocation schemes, like that being implemented on London Road. However, with the new understanding about the scale of the environmental crisis facing our planet and the City Council’s declaration of a climate emergency, we believe there is still more that can be done.

Reducing the overall level of motor traffic is the most effective way to tackle air pollution, reduce climate change emissions and create a renewed sense of community. We are calling for the council to take the following urgent steps to protect our right to breathe clean air:

1. Create a city-county transport planning group to co-ordinate transport planning between the two councils.

Reduce pollution from public transport

2. Introduce a Class D charging Clean Air Zone in the Air Quality Management Area. 

3. Conduct a feasibility study into building a tram and/or trolleybus system in Leicester to provide pollution-free (at point of use), reliable mass transportation.

4. Electrify the bus fleet on a rolling programme, starting with the vehicles on the most polluted routes.

5. Adopt the same timetable as Oxford City Council to clean up taxis, with a phased approach that requires all Hackney carriage taxi drivers to have zero-emission capable vehicles by 2025 to receive a licence to operate in Leicester.  

6. Convert the Midland Mainline and CrossCountry train line to run on electricity or hydrogen. Investigate re-opening urban railway stations, like Wigston, and branch lines along heavily populated routes.

7. Follow the example of Paris in establishing a car-free day within the inner ring road every month, to encourage people to explore alternative means of transport and reduce pollution.

Reduce the number of trips by private motor vehicles

8. Re-regulate the bus companies to control ticket prices and increase patronage. Make bus travel free for children.

9. Establish a Workplace Parking Levy to charge employers who provide car parking. Re-invest any money raised through this scheme in public and active transport. 

10. Set a limit for the amount of car parking spaces available in the city centre and commit to a programme to gradually reduce that number. Require all car parks to provide secure bike storage.

11. Accelerate the process of re-allocating road space to more sustainable forms of transport, such as active and public transport, and ensure that new cycle provision is always physically segregated.  

Education

12. Run a campaign to make car drivers more aware of cyclists and improve their safety.

13. Follow the example of York City Council in introducing a campaign to stop drivers idling their engines and enforce the law with a fine.

14. Run a smarter choices travel planning programme for journeys to school across the city, to encourage parents and children to walk, cycle or take the bus and thereby reduce pollution around schools.

15. Enforce Leicester City Council’s Smoke Control Area to ensure that only smokeless fuel is burnt in domestic stoves. 

16. Raise awareness of air pollution to help vulnerable people to reduce their exposure and encourage people to change their behaviour to reduce their contribution to the problem.