Bypass "cures" Kingskerswell's poor air quality

South Devon Highway lauded by Teignbridge councillors

Construction of the South Devon Highway has "cured" the air quality issues that had beset Kingskerswell, it's been claimed.

Levels of pollution in the village had been so bad prior to the construction of the new £110 million road that it had been designated as an Air Quality Management Area (AGMA) where statutory monitoring of pollution had to be conducted.

But since the bypass opened in 2015, levels of pollution have dropped "like a stone" and to a level that air quality is no longer considered problematic.

Teignbridge District Council’s executive has heard traffic pollution levels in Kingskerswell, as well as in the Iddesleigh Terrace area of Dawlish, are such that they are now consistently well below government guidelines.

As a result, councillors are satisfied the air quality standards and objectives are being achieved and are likely to continue within the area of Kingskerswell and Dawlish, so they have revoked the statutory AQMAs for the two areas.

The data for Dawlish Air Quality Management Area showed that in three consecutive years the levels have been well below the national objective, and the trend continued into 2019.

And in Kingskerswell, traffic pollution levels within the Kingskerswell AQMA have dropped significantly following the completion of the South Devon Highway in 2015 that bypasses the village, and now meet the criteria to revoke the Air Quality Managment Area.

Cllr Alistair Dehwirst, executive member for the environment, said:  “The problems in Kingskerswell have been cured the highway and the levels of COPD in Kingskerswell have dropped like a stone.”

He also added that the council continues to support actions to further reduce air quality levels across the district including Electric Vehicle Charging schemes, mitigating the impact of new development and working with the climate change officer on projects that improve both population exposure to air quality and reduce carbon.

Cllr Dewhirst added: “This council takes air quality very seriously and has done for many, many years. We are coming up with action plans to tackle the issues and any money saved from this will be used on other air quality work.”