North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood has called on the Environment Secretary to respond to concerns over the way in which the assessment of air quality is to be monitored in Wales.
Speaking in the Assembly Chamber this week, he said:
“You referred to the Local Air Quality and Noise Management Consultation. How do you respond to concerns raised with me that the questions in that suggest that the assessment of air quality be done on the basis of averaging any impacts and benefits across the whole population of Wales, rather than focusing on the most vulnerable, and disregarding the critical weighting that should be given to hyper-local specifics that might detect and report excess pollution suffered particularly by children, older people or disabled people? There’s also the fact that there’s no mention in the document’s preamble to guidance from or consultation with the Wales Health Impact Assessment Support Unit.”
The Environment Secretary replied: “I haven’t heard any complaints about the questions or the way that the consultation was put together. If you’ve received one or more, I’d be very interested to have a note from you so I can look at it. A great deal of thought went into that consultation document, and I think the questions we’ve asked are absolutely appropriate.”
Mr Isherwood added; “If she thinks the questions in her Consultation are ‘absolutely appropriate”, she’s clearly immune to the complexity of this issue and the evidence-based concerns of constituents who have taken the time to study it.”