What

we

want

Fewer polluting vehicles in our city

Many of the streets with the worst levels of pollution are in and around Manchester city centre. Limiting the most polluting cars and vans from our city centre would help clean up our air.

Safer, more accessible cycling

A network of protected cycle routes across the region that are accessible to all type of bikes would make cycling safer for everyone, reducing congestion and cleaning up the air on busy roads.

More School Streets

Closing the roads outside of schools to vehicles at drop off and pick up time makes the streets safer for kids and reduces their exposure to the air pollution at a crucial time.

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More space for people

Ending pavement parking, creating more pedestrian areas and greening up our city would make walking safer and more enjoyable, improving our health and our communities.

You can reduce your own exposure to air pollution by staying away from busy roads wherever possible - walking on quieter roads and even sticking to the inside of the pavement, away from the road, will help reduce your own exposure.
You can help reduce your contribution to the air pollution in your community by choosing active travel or shared transport wherever possible, by not idling your engine when you are in a car, and by not burning wood.
But the most important thing that you can do is to raise your concerns with your local political leaders and push for them to tackle the root causes of pollution.
Find out who your local councillors are and how to contact them here.
There are plenty of things your local councillor can do help to reduce air pollution and make our streets safer for people to walk, wheel and cycle. Many of these changes will also help to tackle the climate crisis.
For example, they can:
- Support the implementation of school streets
- Make decisions about where we need more segregated cycle lanes, traffic calming measures or better conditions for pedestrians
- Introduce a ban on pavement parking on specific roads.
Your councillor can also raise issues with other leaders on your behalf, so make sure that they know this is important to you.
In Greater Manchester, the council leaders of the 10 boroughs plus the Mayor make up the Greater Manchester Combined Authority. Together they have overall responsibility for transport in the region and the obligation to ensure that the region meets the legal limits for air pollution. In 2022 the GMCA paused a plan to have a clean air zone across Greater Manchester.
Because of the devolution deal, the Mayor and the GMCA have more powers over transport, and more flexibility over budget decisions. That means more potential for cleaning up transport, and more resource that could be available for local communities to implement positive solutions.
We need to see a clear commitment from the Mayor to clean up our air, and would like to see a dedicated fund to support clean air solutions across GM.