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HEALTHY AIR, HEALTHY LIVES

Birmingham Healthy Air Coalition colleagues have come together to formulate a set of Pledges for Birmingham City Council candidates to show their support and dedication to this important issue in our city.

“If elected to Birmingham City Council, I will work with colleagues and institutions to tackle toxic air pollution and its causes. I recognise that the continued rise in car usage in the city is unsustainable and has a significant impact on poor air quality and health and wellbeing. I recognise the impact of poor air quality on health and wellbeing and will prioritise action to reduce health inequalities in Birmingham. I will act with urgency and integrity on decisions that improve community health – especially for children – and champion my commitment to the Birmingham Healthy Air Coalition pledges.”

I pledge to:

  • Improve bus reliability and affordability in Birmingham by reallocating road space to public transport and working towards making sustainable transport a more attractive option
  • Expand and improve cycling lanes, walking/wheeling paths, and safe pedestrian routes, making sustainable transport a more attractive option
  • Campaign for reduced speed limits on Birmingham’s roads and lobby for fines and penalties collected in the city to be reinvested locally in safety measures, such as cameras, parking enforcement, behaviour change, and education
  • Press the council to accelerate plans to replace the incinerator with with a viable plan ready to implement by the end of the term
  • Use my role as councillor to ensure the council, government, and institutions publish air quality monitoring data as open-source information wherever possible, empowering communities to understand the health impacts of air pollution by also advocating for public displays of live air quality data in known public hot spots
  • Commit to planting and establishing more street trees in Birmingham, particularly in wards with the lowest canopy cover and supporting the necessary works needed to make areas ready to receive trees
  • Actively support and engage with Safer Streets for Kids, School Streets, and other initiatives that improve safety and air quality around schools
  • Challenge the council to use its planning powers to ensure new developments meet the air quality guidance and to improve its existing housing stock, with a focus on enhancing indoor air quality through better ventilation and materials
  • To ensure that the Council continues to run public awareness campaigns on the significant health harms of wood burning across all its communication channels, and to lobby the National Government for action on domestic wood burning

I am a candidate for the Birmingham 2026 Local Elections and I commit to the pledges outlined here: