West Northants campaigners call for action on air pollution

Naree Lee brought her son to Northampton to escape air pollution in South Korea

A charity is staging a protest outside a council meeting to demand action on improving a town's air quality.

The Northampton-based Umbrella Fair Organisation claims nothing has been done about the problem for 17 years.

One of the campaigners is Naree Lee, who moved to Northampton from South Korea to escape air pollution.

West Northamptonshire Council said it recognised "genuine concerns" and was "keen to publish a cohesive clean air strategy as early as possible".

Ms Lee said she believed the town may be heading in the same direction as South Korea.

Naree Lee says air quality in Northampton could become as bad as South Korea

Naree Lee considered herself a "climate refugee" as she came to the UK to save her son from the air pollution that she believed was killing him.

She said: "In 2016, he was playing on the sofa when he started having fits - febrile seizures - and he stopped breathing and his face all turned blue.

"He was taken to hospital and he was diagnosed with his first pneumonia."

Naree Lee's son spent weeks in a Korean hospital with pneumonia

After her son became ill again, Ms Lee realised that his condition worsened when he went outside.

She invested in an indoor air purifier and made sure that he played next to it, but she says it was "heart-breaking" that he was unable to play outdoors.

She made the difficult decision to leave her wider family behind and head to Northampton, but said she did not escape the problems of poor air quality completely.

'Cohesive policy'

A study by the Housefresh website in 2022 suggested that Northampton had the worst air pollution in the country, with residents inhaling the equivalent of 189 cigarettes a year.

Ms Lee said: "When we have a walk, we try and avoid the busy roads, we shut the windows if the neighbours are burning wood.

"We avoid bonfires because that can aggravate his and my asthma.

"I know that the council is trying to do a better job, they know that the air is bad, so I hope we can do better," she added.

Labour councillors have proposed a motion to a full West Northamptonshire Council meeting, calling for clearer commitments on the issue, such as a "cohesive clean air policy", specific plans for money set aside for improving air quality and conducting research into smart traffic light systems for roadworks.

The ruling Conservative group has watered down many of the measures, with the only additional commitment being to meet or surpass all relevant legal provisions on safe air pollution levels.

Dave Pearson, from Clean Air Northampton, monitors air quality at his home

Dave Pearson, from Clean Air Northampton, describes himself as a citizen scientist and has a clean air monitor on his house.

He said he would take part in the protest because he wanted action.

"The council estimate that two people per week die in Northampton from air pollution, so it's not a small problem, it's killing people," he said.

"There are all sorts of terrible things happening to people - babies in the womb are having their lung development impaired by their mothers breathing polluted air, so their whole lives will be blighted by undeveloped lungs.

"I cannot understand why politicians aren't taking it more seriously."

West Northamptonshire Council said: "We recognise there are genuine concerns about air quality in West Northants and this is an important issue for both us and our residents.

"The Council is keen to publish a cohesive clean air strategy as early as possible next year and we are already working with partners to develop effective local actions."