Letter

Dear L Sanders,

I am writing to see if you can help me raise my concerns effectively regarding the Oxfordshire Transport Plan. I have been following the issue of air pollution in Oxford for a number of years and made enquiries (or tried to at least - a good 80% of local and national government officials seem to ignore emails) with members of the city council, county council, DEFRA and the local health organisations. This has all come to no avail.

The present situation regarding levels of Nitrogen Oxides and Ozone in Oxford are completely unacceptable. There is a proven severe health risk and the objectives that are supposed to be followed (as set by the EU and DEFRA) are being flagrantly ignored.

I would ask if you have not already to read the 2006 survey here which states that air quality is a top priority for residents of Oxford:

http://www.oxford.gov.uk/community/talkback-panel-reports.cfm

Then to read chapter 15 of the Oxfordshire County Transport Strategy amounts to Oxford's response to this requirement, EU and National government directives.

The first thing about the transport strategy you could notice is the poor spelling, quality of writing and the way that the authors have tucked away dealing with air quality to the last parts of each chapter throughout the report. Big words about the environment are used throughout but when you finally find some words that should amount to something more concrete there is nothing. What's more the language used ('may be a problem') flies in the face of the evidence on Oxford City Council's own web site:

http://www.oxford.gov.uk/environment/air-pollution.cfm

And according to National Statistics Oxford has some of the worst air quality in the UK (which can't leave it being one of the worst places anywhere).

Oxford is denying it has a problem. It is refusing to deal with it because it is stuck in some 1980s vision of the economy. It is still being ignorant enough to do what is right on some antiquated and frankly corrupt view of 'the economy'.

There is not a single economy, it is not a static concept. What the report is saying is that the version of 'the economy' which we subscribe to, our current vested interests considered is one where we feel we must continue polluting. And if you are wondering why I use the word corrupt it is simply because there is absolutely no indication of the cost to the NHS of the air pollution in the budget model, neither is their reference to macro-economic models such as the Stern report.

I would ask you as my representative within the local government to help me take these issues further. I regard this transport plan utterly unacceptable. I am determined that these bogus arguments are not allowed to come part of a strategy that fails to deal with real issues, and what's more costs residents of Oxford millions of pounds.

In short, I would like to organise a meeting with yourself or someone you feel better suited to deal with these concerns. I also stress that time is of the essence as far as I can work out this document is currently being reviewed by the national transport department. If my concerns are to have any effect then they will need to be raised with the right people at the earliest opportunity.

Yours sincerely,

Howard Noble