Plea for Barnsley residents to take “personal responsibility” to reduce carbon emissions as 124 deaths per year linked to air quality

During today’s (April 6) cabinet meeting, a report into air quality was presented to cabinet members by Councillor Peter Fielding, who led the task and finish group.

The task and finish group made up of six cross-party councillors recommended a number of schemes to reduce carbon emissions in Barnsley, including exploring the viability of a Park and Ride scheme for hospital staff and visitors.

During the cabinet meeting, councillor Chris Lamb, cabinet spokesperson for environment and transportation said that “people need to take personal responsibility”.

“I think people have to start to understand that people have to start to take personal responsibility.

“We can’t, as a council, shoulder all of the responsibility and shoulder all of the blame.”

Councillor Jim Andrews, deputy leader of the council, added: “You’re going to struggle to get cars off the road.

“I think for highways, and that gyratory at Birdwell, the one thing it does do is you don’t have standing cars now from M1 motorway right back to the Red Lion, and that’s what it used to do.

“Now it seems to be a constant flow.”

Councillor Sarah Tattersall, cabinet support member for children’s services told the meeting: “We have got to start and look at active travel.

“It’s every single person in Barnsley, we’ve all got to think about our own health and well-being going forward.

“It’s not just down to the council, it’s not just down to the NHS.”