Celebrating the sculpture designed to remind us all of the repercussions of air pollution
Clean air campaigners on Tyneside have welcomed an artwork highlighting the importance of air quality to human health, amid preparations for more vehicles to be required to meet safe emissions standards in Newcastle.
Artist Cameron Lings created ‘Repercussions’ to show the ever-changing air pollution levels near the Tyne Bridge over the past 12 months.
The sculpture, made from reclaimed acrylic, aluminium and concrete, is now installed on the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art’s Level 4 Viewing Terrace, close to the renowned kittwake nesting area.
Its installation comes as the Newcastle Gateshead Clean Air Zone (CAZ), created by the city council in January to combat urban vehicle pollution, is to introduce standards for older vans and light goods vehicles on Monday (July 17).
Some of those will be liable for daily charges to pass through the city centre, with grants of up to £4,500 available for drivers who wish to switch to a cleaner vehicle (which so far have attracted about 600 applications).
Climate Action Newcastle (CAN) convener Jacky Doran said: “Because we can’t see the high levels of pollution that cause deaths and a wide range of harms to health, monitoring data has been vital to show us all why change is needed.
“We were delighted to find that a local artist made this connection and was inspired to create his work.
“Positioning it close to the world’s most inland kittiwake colony is a brilliant way to show how wildlife, as well as local people, will benefit from these improvements.”
CAN cleaner air campaign organiser Olwyn Hocking said: “The monitoring data from other parts of the country, where clean air changes came in earlier, has shown that air pollution has reduced.
“Local high levels of air pollution put us all at risk – it’s the biggest environmental risk each of us faces every day. Just as we all welcome drivers looking after the safety of their cars by having annual MOTs, we also welcome the changes people are making so their car emissions safer as well.”
CAN supporters have created a guide to ways we can all improve Newcastle’s air quality. Launched on UK Clean Air Day, it lists 30 ways we can make a difference.
Online users can download the “30 WAYS to Cleaner Air” and Idling Guides from the campaign website: https://www.climateactionnewcastle.com. You can also collect paper versions from campaign events and by getting in touch.
