I ATTENDED one of the supposed consultations regarding the introduction of the clean air zone in Southampton.

From the answers received it appeared that Southampton had one idea and one idea only: to charge commercial vehicles and taxis a considerable daily fee for entering the boundary of Southampton.

It was stated that there would be no charges for private vehicles at present.

I can understand the need for cleaner air within our city and it should be fairly simple to operate a park-and-ride system, which would help, I would have thought.

It has now been reported that the pollution from shipping is being cut by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) from January 1, 2020.

This will cut the permitted sulphur content in ships fuels from 3.5% to 0.5 % which is a considerable reduction.

They state that this is being done to protect health globally as dirty cheap ships fuels are presently causing around 400,000 deaths per year through heart and lung illnesses. It has also been reported in 'Nature' that this has caused Asthma in around 14 million children worldwide.

It is believed that this single change could halve premature deaths and those living close to port would see the greatest health benefits.

If this is the case the proposed draconian charges envisaged would not be required to cut the pollution to the legislated level.

No doubt our local politicians will just ignore this green initiative and go ahead with their money-raising idea.

David Fletcher

Shirley