Skip to main content
Site logo

Main navigation

  • Home
  • About Helen
  • News
  • Advice Surgeries
  • My Plan
  • In Parliament
  • Contact
  • Cost of Living Help Hub
Site logo

Maidstone's Air Quality

  • Tweet
Thursday, 11 April, 2019

Driving across the junction of Stone Street and Knightrider Street in Maidstone recently I was enveloped by a cloud of black smoke.  I had to close my windows and hold my breath for a few seconds until the car in front stopped spewing out acrid exhaust fumes that would put a 1950’s bus to shame.

I’ve been banging on about the effect of road traffic on our air quality in Maidstone for a few years now, with pollution in some areas on a par with the worst of London’s boroughs.  Upper Stone Street has the 5th worst data in the country and yet air pollution is reported to be the world’s single largest preventable public health risk, and our children are the most vulnerable.

Reducing traffic congestion will help but fundamentally it is also vehicle emissions that need to be reduced, in both toxicity as well as volume, if we are to make headway here.

This week marked the start of a new world leading congestion charge in London for older, more polluting cars entering the city.  It is not without controversy as the ULEZ tax may disproportionately impact small businesses during the transition to cleaner engines.  The benefit to the wider public at large, however, must be the prime driver and I believe there is wholesale underlying support.

Maidstone Borough Council have a duty and a plan to improve air quality and I have, this week, written to MBC’s leader Martin Cox seeking an update on progress.  The Government’s Clean Air Strategy provides £3.5 billion pounds of funding to make road transport more environmentally friendly and I have offered my full support to MBC in accessing any money that may be available to us. 

The smoking ban in public places back in 2007 was once controversial but is now, almost universally, accepted and the public health outcomes wide-ranging.  Let us work together to replicate that success.

You may also be interested in

Southern relief road campaign

Investing in transport

I am seeking investment in transport for Maidstone and the Weald, including a new southern relief road and more frequent bus services, whilst protecting public health through improvements in air quality.

  • Articles

Helen Grant MP backs Guide Dogs 'Open Door' campaign

Tuesday, 17 January, 2023

Anyone reading this column will be blessed with something most of us take for granted - the gift of sight.

Show only

  • Articles
  • News

Helen Grant Member of Parliament for Maidstone and The Weald

Footer

  • About RSS
  • Accessibility
  • Cookies
  • Privacy
  • About Helen Grant
ConservativesPromoted by Robert Findon on behalf of H Grant, both at Suite 3, Paddock Wood Business Centre, Commercial Rd, Paddock Wood TN12 6EN
Copyright 2023 Helen Grant Member of Parliament for Maidstone and The Weald. All rights reserved.
Powered by Bluetree