Now that world leaders have returned home after the Glasgow conference, the work begins in earnest to slow down climate change around the globe.

And, here in South Lanarkshire, the Environmental Services Air Quality team is asking local people to consider all and any opportunities to play their part.

Explained Councillor John Anderson, Chair of Community and Enterprise Resources: “We all know that time is of the essence, and that change is crucial if we want to protect the world in which we live for future generations. 

“The pollution problems we have in South Lanarkshire predominantly come from road traffic emissions. These contain greenhouse gas pollutants that contribute to global warming. But these pollutants also increase local air pollution.

“By reducing our dependence on road vehicles and travelling more actively, especially on those journeys that are 20 minutes or less, we can play our part for climate change on a global scale, while improving the quality of the air we all breathe on a local scale. 

“For several years, we have been working, and engaging, with communities, trying to make walking and cycling more convenient and attractive for all.

“However, we also appreciate that we need to play our part to further improve opportunities and tackle any barriers to active travel so that these options can become a natural choice, whenever possible, for local journeys.

“Earlier this year we asked our communities about their travel habits and views on walking and cycling. We have now used those comments and observations to look at, among other things, future cycle networks and how they can best be put in place.”

Figures released at the COP26 themed Cycling Scotland conference earlier this month detailed the fact that the Scottish Government has tripled its transport budget to £320m per year, and committed to spending 10% of this on active travel by 2024/25. At the same time, the most recent statistics reveal an almost 50% increase in cycling since 2019.

Based on this, the council is also keen to discover how travel restrictions linked to the Covid-19 outbreak have changed the landscape locally and are likely to continue to change travel habits. 

Our new animation, posted this week, looks at the issue through the eyes of the key workers who have continued to travel to places of work throughout the pandemic – from NHS staff to retail workers - and urges commuters to take the room to breathe.

Added Councillor Anderson: “There is no doubt that Covid-19 has completely changed the landscape, especially when it comes to the daily commute, with so many still working at home. Nonetheless, for those who have had to continue to travel to a place of work throughout this period, we are keen to understand just what would make active travel options more appealing, and to lay out the benefits of doing so.” 

To help identify and develop a usable active travel network the council has undertaken studies for the majority of major settlements in South Lanarkshire. So far, East Kilbride, Rutherglen and Cambuslang, Hamilton, Lanark and Carluke are complete, and plans are taking shape for Uddingston, Bothwell, Blantyre, Larkhall, Strathaven, Stonehouse and the surrounding villages. 

The work is supported by an annual £10,000 award from the Scottish Government’s Air Quality Action Planning budget, match funded with £10,000 from the Smarter Choices, Smarter Places travel behaviour change fund.