Ipswich Borough Council and Suffolk County Council know about the illegal air pollution in Ipswich and tell us it kills at least 66 Ipswich people every year.
Our local authorities have legal obligations to reduce pollution to legal levels but have taken no significant action in 20 years.
That’s at least 1320 Ipswich people who have died early during this time with thousands more suffering serious long term illnesses. Significantly more than Covid.
Ipswich CAN and other groups continue to campaign for our councils to tell us honestly about this and then engage with us all and start to address the problem.
Do Ipswich Borough Council and Suffolk County Council care about the people of Ipswich?
Read our email sent to all Ipswich political party leaders
First five actions you can take
1 Contact your councillor and ask them to discharge their legal obligations and help protect the health of the people they serve. Click and Action Network will then find all your councillors and send them a pre-written email (or you can write your own).
2 Vote for a councillor who promises to fight for action to be taken by Ipswich Borough Council and Suffolk County Council.
3 Join our campaign and get regular updates.
4 Inform yourself and ask why no one has told you.
5 Contact us tell us about your ideas and help shape our campaign.
Towns and cities up and down the country have taken action to reduce pollution.
Why haven’t Ipswich?
Why haven’t our councils even told us about the health issues and engaged with us about solutions?
If you have heard anything about this subject you’ll probably think it’s all your fault. If you’d only switch your engine off and stop burning wood the problem will go away.
The fact is we do need to use our cars less. In order to do this our councils need to provide safe alternative travel solutions. Such as cheap and frequent public transport and safe cycle and walkways..
We need to work together to create a better and healthier Ipswich.
Some references for those that want to dig a bit deeper;
Ipswich has some fabulous things going for it right now: cafes, theatres, cinemas, a thriving live music scene, parks, restaurants, local markets and shops, the beautiful waterfront, an industrial, architectural, and historical heritage and a diverse and thriving community.
Our vision is for
Ipswich to become a healthy, people-centred, thriving, and prosperous low pollution town where people feel safe to walk and cycle and our children can flourish. Where the way we live and work brings benefits to health and wellbeing, boosting the local economy, whilst curbing climate change and reducing health inequalities.
Ipswich town centre to be a place where you can live without a car, safely and enjoyably, with plenty of green spaces.
A town that embraces the vast changes we are seeing on our high/shopping streets and works towards a solution that keeps the town vibrant, including local independent local businesses which create jobs for local people,
Lots of in-town housing at costs which can be afforded by local people who wish to work locally or have viable train or bus travel options.
the town with all necessary shops and services reached by walking or cycling or by public transport.
A place where you can get home cheaply and easily by public transport, without fear of having to catch a taxi because the last bus has gone or never arrived, whether that was after shopping at 5 pm or after an evening out.
A town which welcomes commuters or visitors who travel by train, bus, cycle, etc, or low emission cars.
We envision an Ipswich people love to live in, are proud of and want to tell people about.
Better Health for all
Read our Open Letter to our local authorities.
For the last 17 years, Ipswich Borough Council and Suffolk County Council have known about the appalling illegal air pollution in Ipswich that they say kills at least 65 Ipswich people every year. Our local authorities have legal obligations to reduce pollution to legal levels.
Following successful lobbying over the last 12 years by many groups including Ipswich CAN, in January 2022, a private Air Quality event was held. link. The event was led by Stuart Keeble, Director of Public Health and was opened by Cllr Matthew Hicks, leader of Suffolk County Council.
This event was restricted to councillors and senior council staff from across Suffolk and informed them of the health impacts and their statutory responsibility to reduce pollution levels. Link to report. One statistic in this report is that 38500 Ipswich residents live in, or very close to illegally high air pollution.
We believe enough is enough. Residents need to be told and action needs to be taken.
TAKE ACTION NOW. Click here to ask your councillors about air pollution and to act now to save lives. All you have to do is put in your address. Action Network will then find your 4 councillors and send them a pre-written email (or you can write your own).
Let everyone know. It’s urgent.
Cllr Hicks said “One of the outcomes from this discussion was a recognition that responsibilities around monitoring, managing, mitigating air pollution sit across a number of organisations within the system as well as our individual responsibilities and that a greater shared understanding was needed going forward.
We do not all have to be experts in the field of air quality but as leaders and residents of Suffolk it is important for us all to have a basic understanding of what air pollution is, what we can do to improve the quality of air and how we can support residents to make changes and decisions to reduce their exposure and improve their health and wellbeing. “
We look to our councils to get this message out urgently to save lives and improve our health.
In early 2022 the community of Ipswich CAN offered their experience, knowledge and time to constructively engage with Cllr Hicks , Stuart Keeble and our local council councillors and officers to help communicate this message that they say is so essential. This offer remains open.
Prevent, Mitigate & Avoid
January’s Air Quality event report put action into 3 categories; where both councils and residents have a role to play:
Prevent:
Councils - .consider policy interventions and technological abatement (emission ceilings, emission concentration limits), redesign spaces to reduce polluting activities and encourage active transport, reduce demand for more polluting vehicles and use cleaner forms of transport
Residents - take steps to reduce our personal contributions to pollution at home and on the move
Mitigate:
Councils - redesign space to introduce barriers and separate people from pollution, try to keep sources of pollution away from people, dispose pollution emissions outside hot spots and populated areas to reduce population exposure
Avoid:
Residents - try to take less polluted routes and reduce time in polluted places.
Our councils and us
So, only our councils can get the messages out to all of us all telling us about the problem and what we can do to help ourselves.
Only our councils can deliver infrastructure such as safe cycle and walkways, clean air zones, an integrated public transport system, etc.
And once our councils tell us about pollution we will understand why, we can contribute some behavioural changes.
Ipswich CAN is building “pollution solutions” expertise, knowledge and ideas concerning the many varied actions that we and our councils can take to quickly reduce pollution.
GOOD NEWS! Other towns and cities up and down the UK and across the world have already taking action and so we will use this experience and evidence.
The Ipswich CAN community offer this in partnership with our councils, in return for their action.
CONTRIBUTE YOUR IDEAS OR GET INVOLVED AND HELP US
or TAKE ACTION
Our health and future
It is necessary to prioritise the reduction of vehicles in Ipswich as these cause 83% of the pollution.
This will improve our health. It will also reduce congestion and reduce global warming gasses.
So, this is a win, win, win. What’s not to like?
Our councils are worried about scaring people and believe reducing car use may be unpopular with some people. Also safe, easy and affordable alternatives need to be put in place- which can cost money.
But to improve our health and tackle the climate crisis we must act.
We need to help our councils discharge their duty to inform us about the problem and work with the people of Ipswich to take prevention, mitigation and avoidance action.
It’s time to save lives
In a world-first landmark ruling Coroner said 9-year-old “Ella Kissi-Debrah died of asthma contributed to by exposure to excessive and illegal air pollution.” Ella’s mum said “If only I’d known”
TAKE ACTION NOW. Click here to tell your councillors to act now to save our lives. All you have to do is put in your address. Action Network will then find your 4 councillors and send them a pre-written email (or you can write your own).
Then ask your friends to do the same. Eventually our councils will get the message that inaction is unacceptable.
Join us to get regular updates of what is going on.
87% of roadside pollution is caused by traffic.
People in cars breathe in 9 times the pollution of a cyclist.
Communities weakened by air pollution, are more susceptible to Covid 19 and any future pandemics.
Although our councils are aware of these facts they have decided not to tell the public.
Ipswich CAN refuse to accept the current view that prosperity for Ipswich requires the price of illness, death and of an increasing vulnerability to disease and pandemics. We have a different vision.
Many other places in the UK are taking the health of their citizens seriously and taking action or planning action that will reduce air pollution.
TAKE ACTION NOW. Click here to tell your councillors to act now to save our lives. Then ask your friends to do the same.
Join us to get regular updates of what is going on.
Reduce traffic, reduce congestion & pollution
Only our councils can deliver safe cycle and walkways, clean air zones and an integrated public transport system.
However, our councils refuse to take the action necessary to save lives.
TAKE ACTION NOW. Click here to tell your councillors to act now to save our lives. Then ask your friends to do the same.
Join us to get regular updates of what is going on.
While we wait for our councils to act we can do our bit to help.
Use your car a little less.
Walk or cycle a bit more
Turn your engine off if you are stationary in traffic or when parked..
Our Vision
We refuse to accept the current view that prosperity for Ipswich requires the price of illness, death and of an increasing vulnerability to disease and pandemics.
Now, more than ever, we can’t go back. We CAN transform our town
We envision Ipswich as a town where our councils put health first in all aspects of council business. Where they engage constructively and truthfully with the people who live and work in the town helping us all make the changes necessary to protect our health.
Ipswich will then become a healthy, people-centred, thriving, low pollution town where people feel safe to walk and cycle and our children can flourish. Where the way we live and work brings benefits to health and wellbeing, boosting the local economy, whilst curbing climate change and reducing health inequalities.
We believe that together we CAN create this vibrant, healthy town where people will love, and be safe, to live, work and visit.
Other towns are taking action such as Clean Air Zones
You CAN make a difference
Now, more than ever, this has to change.
Our Demands
Public Health England tell us that all pollution is bad for our health. There is no safe level of pollution.
Ipswich CAN demands that Ipswich Borough Council and Suffolk County Council;
1 INFORM AND ADVISE : Be honest, right now. Explain what air pollution is, the health impacts, how people can make a difference, and your plans to deliver legal air and protect us.
2 PLAN FOR LEGAL AIR: Create an effective Air Quality Action Plan that will deliver legal air.
3 DELIVER LEGAL AIR: Reduce Ipswich air pollution permanently to legal and government target levels.
4 DELIVER HEALTHY AIR: Reduce air pollution permanently to half of World Health Organisation levels.
Hand-stitched lungs sent to all Ipswich councillors to highlight air pollution problems
“Ipswich children need to breathe clean air” is the message from a group of 22 local people whose handcrafted lungs have been sent to every Borough and County Councillor with a responsibility for Ipswich, and to the two local MPs.
Their aim is to persuade local politicians and community leaders to work together in a positive and effective way to improve air quality in the town.
Group member Sorrell Grove said “People from all over Ipswich are coming together to get a collective message across to the people who run our town. We need to see change. We can all play a part in identifying and taking action, so COLLABORATION is the only way to achieve clean air for Ipswich citizens of all ages.