Wiltshire Council wants more air pollution funding from Government

WILTSHIRE Council has said that it will continue to make a case for more funding from the Government to help combat air pollution in the county.

The council has made the statement in response to a local campaigner who urged that they should fight to be included in the next stages of the Government’s clean air strategy, after not being allocated any funding  from its £255million implementation fund earlier this year. 

In the last issue of the White Horse News, campaigner Brian Warwick said, “We need to ensure that because of the extra traffic along the M4 corridor and the A350 to southern ports, we have a strong case to be included in the next stages of the national clean air strategies.”

In response to the concerns raised by Brian Warwick, a Wiltshire Council spokesperson said, “This funding from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) is not available to us as it is restricted to a small number of authorities with more severe air quality problems.

“However, any possibility of additional funding would be beneficial and we will continue to make the case for Wiltshire. We would welcome funding being made available to all authorities with Air Quality Management Areas (AQMAs).”