Thank you for your letter of 24 November 1998 inviting our comments on this report.

As an organisation concerned with promoting cycling in the Borough, the Merton Cycling Campaign supports any initiative to improve conditions for those who wish to cycle, and improving air quality is an important contribution to such initiatives. Cycling is of course a non-polluting form of transport, and in our view any approach to improving the quality of the air in the environment should go hand in hand with investment in a good public transport system and in the appropriate infrastructure to encourage more people to cycle and walk.

We support the report’s conclusions that further investigation is needed for the pollutants carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and PM10. We are aware that independent monitoring has shown nitrogen dioxide levels to be higher than those shown in the report section 4.5.9 (Merton Friends of the Earth survey shows the annual average to have exceeded 30 ppb, well in excess of the DOE’s Guide Value of 21 ppb) and we seek reassurance that the Borough will carry out its further reviews in accordance with EU Directive and DOE Guide Values.

Poor air quality (and high traffic volumes) can deter people from cycling as a transport choice, which would run counter to the cycle usage targets in the DETR White Paper, namely to double cycle use by 2002, and double it again by 2012. We believe therefore that Merton should seek to cut traffic volumes as a means of improving air quality and should set targets for both.

Yours sincerely, Ceridwen Davies, Merton Cycling Campaign