Letter to the Editor of the Henley Standard
Sir,
Particulate Monitoring
Henley suffers from poor air quality. Our air does not qualify for a clean air label and has not done so for nearly 15 years.
South Oxfordshire District Council measures Nitrogen Dioxide and quite regularly we don’t meet Government standards. Some serious health problems are the result.
However, it is now known that particulate matter is a bigger health hazard and diesel vehicles in general are the cause.
We have too many of them in Henley and the more we can avoid traffic in the centre and encourage walking, scooting, cycling and the bus, the better for everyone’s health.
Having spent some time doing my own unofficial particulate measurement, I am now so pleased to say that there is to be authoritative particulate monitoring done by the district council, probably at the bottom of Greys Road.
This is a first for South Oxfordshire and we should be pleased that Henley is ahead of the game.
I am most grateful to Stefan Gawrysiak, an HRG town and district councillor, who has taken time to persuade both the district and town councils to support and fund air quality measures.
Further actions are in the pipeline too. At last the future may be better.
Yours Faithfully
David Dickie
Clean Air for Henley Campaign