Tesco's proposal would add to pollution

Following receipt of a Tesco's Air Quality Assessment for the proposed store at London Road, Anne Main has underlined her previous assertions that the proposal would cause worrying amounts of pollution in the area.

Following receipt of a Tesco's Air Quality Assessment for the proposed store at London Road, Anne Main, Member of Parliament for St Albans, has underlined her previous assertions that the proposal would cause worrying amounts of pollution in the area.

Anne said:

"Ever since Tesco first raised the possibility of a store at London Road, I have made it clear that I feel that it would be extremely burdensome in terms of congestion, and that this would raise pollution in the London Road, and the surrounding area, to an unacceptable level. Consequently, I pressed them to undertake a comprehensive pollution study.

Now, Tesco's own report on the matter acknowledges that "close to the store, increased traffic resulting from the development has the potential to increase the exposure of nearby residents to traffic related pollutants", and I feel that this is a real cause for concern.

The report stresses the mixed industrial/commercial aspects of the site, but does not address the residential houses that will be refurbished and will be directly affected by queuing traffic into the store. I am also unhappy about the occupied homes that the report accepts would be significantly affected by dust and pollution during the construction of a store.

The idea in the report that the store will reduce shopping journey distances is purely speculative. The Stop Tesco Campaign predicts that a store on the site would increase traffic in the area 70 per cent and cause major congestion in nearby roads, and Tesco's own report notes that queuing traffic is already causing air quality standards to be exceeded at some points. With a huge store being accessed from these roads levels would surely be even higher.""