Representation by Lynn Tumilty
- Date submitted
- 3 September 2022
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I object to the A66 project. I specifically object to the Temple Sowerby to Crackenthorpe Section. Air pollution is an increasing concerns as respiratory conditions increase. We are just exiting a Pandemic where those with respiratory condition were most impacted. Children are extremely vulnerable to air pollution and coroners courts are now attributing child death to pollution. No choice of road on the Temple Sowerby to Crackenthorpe section take the road approx 800 metres closer to Kirkby Thore school. Whilst the impact is not yet understood by local residents as the increase in air pollution has not been explained, this is a risk to children at the school and residents of the village as a whole. No should have included this information in consultation documents but have purposefully failed to do so. This has the potential to make the school less attractive to people in the area. Several local children already attend other primary schools. Schools Kirkby Thore School numbers fall due to the impact of the road during construction it would be devastating for the village. Several families attending the school do not have access to cars and walk so they could not send their children elsewhere if the school declined or numbers dwindled. The impact of increased air pollution on the school does not appear to have been assessed by NH . Air pollution is an increasingly recognised concern. The WHO limits are quoted in various property supplements. For instance the Times newspaper property supplement gives each property air pollution performance as against the WHO standard. What will Kirkby Thores air pollution levels be if this road goes north. Will they fall below WHO levels. This information should be disclosed to thePlanning Inspectorate as part of its decision making process. Other areas are already reducing speed limits eg Wrexham to control air pollution. What should Kirkby Thore be exposed to increased air pollution. Why is the tax payer being asked to fund increased air pollution in proximity to a school and a village when there are alternatives which do not bring the problem closer to the village . Other objections I would like to raise are more general and include 1) This section accounts for 27% of the project cost which is approx 500 million 2) GHG emmissions for this section are the highest of any section and could be reduced by simply upgrading the existing road by an extension of the average speed camera which would also limit pollution and emissions. As NH main argument has been the prevalence of HGV on this route they cannot minimise this problem by arguing that the increased nos of Electic vehicles reduces emissions. It will be a long time before HGV which are the major source of air pollution can become electric. PIns are asked to insist that NH provide air pollution information to the village of Kirkby Thore and redo the consultation with this information available.