Kerstin Romano
Dunfermline’s Appin Crescent is the most polluted street in Fife, according to a report recently published by Friends of the Earth Scotland. Fife Council published an Air Quality Action Plan for the street back in 2015, but progress has been slow, and Mid Scotland and Fife’s Green MSP Mark Ruskell has raised the issue in Holyrood, calling it a ‘public health crisis’.
The Scottish Government has promised to introduce Low Emission Zones in Scotland, which will provide funding in specific areas to help reduce emissions. I pledge to push for Appin Crescent to be Fife’s first Low Emissions Zone.
Residents on Appin Crescent have lived for years with this heavy pollution, and the proposal to build new houses to the West of the town will only make this worse. We need to look at ways to re-route traffic along other corridors where possible, and minimise the number of heavy diesel vehicles which disproportionately contribute to the emissions in the area.
If I am elected to Fife Council I will work hard to ensure all our streets in Fife are safe places to walk and cycle, and this means tackling air pollution as well as providing suitable pavements and cycleways.