Crieff Air Quality Community Engagement

Overview

Crieff High Street corridor was identified as an area where national air quality objectives were exceeded in 2014, resulting in an Air Quality Management Area being declared. Due to a combination of heavy traffic on the A85 and tall buildings either side of the narrow corridor, a canyon effect prevents air pollutants from dispersing.

Following the declaration of an Air Quality Management Area, the Local Authority must develop an Air Quality Action Plan aimed at improving the local air quality and working towards meeting the national objectives currently being breached. A public consultation on a draft Air Quality Action Plan was carried out in January 2019, asking for opinions on the proposed air quality improvement measures. The feedback received informed the final Plan, which was then approved by the Environment and Infrastructure Committee in August 2019. You can view the final Crieff Air Quality Action Plan below.

Scottish Government guidance states that any council with an Air Quality Management Area should aim to reach compliance with Scottish National Air Quality Objectives in the shortest possible timescale by progressing their Air Quality Action Plan measures. Perth & Kinross Council is required to report the progress of Air Quality Action Plan measures to Scottish Government annually as part of an Annual Progress Report.

Crieff Travel Survey

A Crieff traffic survey was commissioned by Perth & Kinross Council in 2019, providing an insight into some of the sources of traffic problems along the A85 in Crieff which lead to air quality problems.

The junction at Lodge Street/Galvelmore Street/A85T Comrie Street was found be the busiest in Crieff, with the highest number of turning vehicles and the longest queues at this point. This often resulted in congestion at West High Street, the location of the highest concentrations of NO₂ in Crieff.

Another key area of the traffic survey was the use of parking in Crieff. On street parking was frequently over 100% capacity, leading to vehicles parking illegally and restricting the flow of traffic along the A85. In contrast, the free car parks at King Street and Leadenflower Road often remained below capacity, with the lower car park at Leadenflower never exceeding 50% capacity throughout the traffic survey period. More information on the traffic survey can be found on page 43 of the Crieff AQAP.

Why your views matter

Perth & Kinross Council is seeking the opinion of residents and businesses in Crieff on the prioritisation of 21 measures in the Crieff Air Quality Action Plan, and on how these measures should be implemented to reduce air quality issues in the shortest timescale. Any additional feedback on how Crieff High Street could be improved as a whole is also welcome.

An engagement event will be carried out on 29 February 2020 to gather public opinion on the above subjects, A short questionnaire is available below for those unable to attend the event.

What happens next

The results of this consultation will be reported on this page. These results will inform the prioritisation and implementation method of the Crieff Air Quality Action Plan measures.