By Jill Stocks
There was a good turnout for the first community conversation event hosted by Horsforth Climate Action at St Margaret’s Parish Centre last week.
The event “Community Conversation – Air Quality and Community Action” was well attended and featured presentations from noted figures on the subject followed by group discussions on the subject.
Dr Jim McQuaid from the University of Leeds was the first speaker on the night. Dr McQuaid works in the Faculty of Environment and is an expert in air pollution and air quality amongst various other subjects.
Following that Andrew White from Leeds City Council spoke about the council’s Air Quality Strategy, looking at the three main pillars of health and wellbeing, inclusive growth and net zero (carbon).
A lively discussion followed the presentations with a number of interesting points being raised on people’s concerns for the environment.
Asked which air quality issue concerned them most, those present raised issues including transport and its impact on active travel, traffic and pollution from traffic, Leeds Bradford Airport, wealth inequality and its impact on solutions and domestic burning and and log burners.
Actions suggested to address these issues in the community included setting up clean air zones in Horsforth, encouraging parents and children to walk to school, car share schemes, improving regularity of buses, consultation with Leeds Bradford Airport and car share schemes.
Cllr Emmie Bromley was one of those in attendance. She said: “Such a brilliant and engaging event hosted by HCA and initiated by their new member, Josh.
“It’s always great to hear that Leeds City Council are rated highly on the Climate Emergency Declaration however discussions and engagement like this allow for grassroot input and the building of energy needed for changes that are really needed for sustainable achievement long term. A few points arose that I’ll be able to take along to Horsforth Town Council also.”
Jenny Morgan from Horsforth Climate Action said they were pleased with how the event had gone.
“This was the first “Community Conversation” event that we have held, and we felt it went really well,” Jenny said. “We hope to hold more in the future and are happy to take any suggestions for future events.
“A special thank you to our two speakers Jim McQuaid from University of Leeds and Andrew White from Leeds City Council, and to all our volunteers who helped make the evening such a success.”
Horsforth Climate Action are one of eight climate action hubs in the city set up to tackle climate issues on a local level. They’re involved in a variety of projects in Horsforth such as the community composting collective at Drury Field amongst others, and also organise the monthly HCA Saturdays and Repair Cafe events.
They are always looking for more volunteers. To get involved get in touch with them via email on hub@horsforthclimateaction.org.
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