A COUNTY councillor says a consultation to get residents’ views on a city’s pollution problem is “too little too late”.

Councillor Mark Wilkes said he had been trying to get action in Durham for the last five years.

He said Durham County Council had done practically nothing to address the problem – caused by vehicle exhaust emissions – and the local authority now risked big fines.

The council is legally required to assess air quality and it has now begun consulting local residents and partner organisations in order to finalise a draft action plan it has produced.

Checks have found that many parts of the city centre have harmful levels of Nitrogen Dioxide, exceeding allowed limits.

Areas that exceed limits for pollutants are called Air Quality Management Areas and Durham has been in this category since 2011.

Cllr Wilkes, who represents the Liberal Democrats on the council, said the authority had come up with a wish list, rather than a firm commitment to do anything.

He said: "I urge everyone to get involved in this consultation and to send a message to Durham County Council that not only are the council years behind the times, but that they need to get serious about tackling harmful air pollution in our world heritage city.

“Quite frankly when you think that every resident living in and around Durham City is being slowly poisoned by pollution we have no choice but to act immediately."

Cllr Wilkes said there had been “zero political leadership” on the issue and much wider and more rapid solutions were needed.

These included a new park and ride scheme, a massive tree planting program, clean-fuel buses, restrictions on HGVs in Durham City and better cycling routes.

European directives set outdoor pollution limits, but a number of UK cities are failing to meet standards largely due to pollution from traffic.

As a result the Government is being taken to court and could face huge fines – which it has indicated could be passed onto local authorities.

Joanne Waller, Durham County Council’s head of environment, health and consumer protection, said: “It’s important to assure people that the Air Quality Management Area status is nothing to be concerned about with more than 600 such AQMA’s declared across the UK.

“We’ve created an action plan to improve air quality by cutting congestion, reducing exhaust emissions and encouraging more environmentally friendly travel that we are confident will result in some measurable improvement in air quality over the coming years.”

For more details on the consultation visit http://www.durham.gov.uk/article/6657/Durham-City-air-quality-action-plan-consultation