Portsmouth pollution: 100 medics join calls for clean air

Dr Jonathan Lake (centre top) presented the petition to Portsmouth councillors

One hundred medical professionals in Portsmouth have signed an open letter saying the city council must do more to tackle air pollution.

Portsmouth City Council is introducing a clean air zone next year but campaigners say it is not enough.

The letter, and a petition organised by Pompey Street Space which has been signed by more than 3,000 people, call for new cycle routes and wider paths.

The council said it agreed with the "overall aim of the campaign".

Southsea GP Dr Jonathan Lake gathered signatures from fellow GPs, consultants and health professionals from across the city.

He said Portsmouth's polluted air contributed to the deaths of more than 120 people each year.

'Significant strides'

Dr Lake said: "It's a polluted city compared to other places in the UK.

"If you look at the number of deaths attributed to air pollution in the UK every year, it's somewhere in the high 30,000s, so we're talking about something that's not far away from the coronavirus pandemic happening every year."

The petition calls for a cross-party group to agree a transport strategy that includes the creation of cycle routes physically separated from cars, low traffic neighbourhoods and 20mph zones in shopping streets.

At a full council meeting on Tuesday, councillor Gerald Vernon Jackson said: "The city council has made significant strides to achieve the objectives of this petition already.

"Having physically separated cycle lanes will be more expensive than the current model and the city council will be able to do fewer cycle lanes if we do this, but the ones put in might be more popular and therefore more successful."

The proposed clean air zone will affect the south-west of the city where the most polluting commercial vehicles will have to pay.

A consultation on the plans is under way.