CLEANER AIR CAMPAIGN 2026: how to take part

<<We've good news: the air we breathe in Newcastle has improved since we launched our Cleaner Air campaign, three years ago. But the gains that we all fought for are now under threat. And we still have far to go to achieve World Health Organisation minimum safe standards. Our plans to tackle this will be launched on 1 January 2026: by working together, we can succeed again in making life safer for Newcastle communities.>>

Climate Action Newcastle has identified four new campaign priorities to protect the benefits to our health won so far, and push for faster progress. Here's what your support will help to achieve:

• raise awareness (among contacts, workmates, family) of easy steps that will make a big difference to the air we breathe

• lobby city, regional and national decision-makers to make the changes needed

• influence local election results in May 2026

The four priorities are listed below:

• reduce the harm caused by woodstoves - and support Clean Air Night on 22 January

• speed up the arrival of better e-buses

• pioneer and promote speedy safe cycle routes to the city centre

• reduce garden waste bonfires that pollute our local air.

And you can inspire others to get involved in achieving cleaner air, by passing on our "5 Ways to Cleaner Air" guide [link to webpage - suggest then add the Word version to that webpage and also insert it at the bottom of this webpage].

Cleaner Air priority: SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT HARMS CAUSED BY WOOD-BURNING STOVES

Did you know that wood burning is the most polluting way to heat your home? Even homes with newer “Ecodesign” wood burners are three times more polluted than those without stoves.

• Recent research revealed that air pollution from burning in UK homes contributes to nearly 2,500 premature deaths each year.

• Burning wood doesn’t just pollute our homes – it spreads fine particulates (PM2.5) to our local community and harms the health of neighbours and wildlife.

• Yet wood stove use has been rising in the past decade, including in Newcastle, often installed for lifestyle reasons, due to lack of awareness of the harm caused.

92% of people burning wood in the UK already have another way to heat their home. Sadly, they often add a wood-burning as an extra heat source - which is likely to cost more to run - without knowing wood burning facts. Inadvertently, they put the health of their family and local community at risk and may well end up regretting the decision to install.

That’s why Climate Action Newcastle is supporting #CleanAirNight 2026, to ensure that everyone can make informed decisions about how to heat their homes.

*** READ OUR BACKGROUND EXPLAINER BLOG HERE

*** Visit Clean Air Night  to find out more, and join the conversation on #CleanAirNight

Cleaner Air priority: DON'T LET NEWCASTLE BE BACK OF THE QUEUE FOR E-BUSES

The North East mayoral area is promised 100% zero emission buses by 2035. But it looks likely that progress in Newcastle will be much slower than neighbouring areas. Here's why this is bad news for local residents and our environment:

• Old-style diesel buses pump out harmful fine particulates - so delays in replacement by e-buses means Newcastle's residents will continue to breathe unhealthy air for longer than most parts of the UK, damaging quality of life and increasing premature deaths

• E-buses transform travel, through greater reliability, additional benefits and more pleasant travel experience. This vital improvement helps tempt more people away from car use and gives more freedom - changes badly needed at a time when bus travel in the North East remains a third lower than 15 years ago.

These disadvantages are unacceptable for a city with poorer health and more polluted air than many other parts of the UK. Please lobby your local councillors, Nexus, the North East Mayor and local MPs to speed up e-bus replacements for old-style bus routes: we should be AHEAD of the rate of national bus modernisation, not behind!

Cleaner Air priority: END-TO-END CYCLE LANES TO CITY CENTRE

Active travel using cycles and other wheels is a great way to improve air quality as well as boosting our health. But it needs safe end-to-end cycle lanes to achieve it. CAN partners with Ride for Their Lives , a campaign by healthcare workers, and we urge Newcastle City Council to commit to a target number of clearly labelled routes to Newcastle city centre, which:

• have no unsafe sections, where cyclists and vehicle routes merge

• flag up the length of time to travel end-to-end, to highlight the speed of wheel transport.

*** RFTL raises awareness of the connections between safe travel options, cleaner air and reducing the dangers of polluted air (for example, nearly 40,000 UK deaths a year are caused by the polluted air that we breathe, with many more adults and children afflicted with harmful conditions). The RFTL campaign is linked to cities around the world: map here.

Cleaner Air priority: REDUCE WOOD BURNING BY ALLOTMENTS AND GARDENERS

Despite growing concern about the harms to neighbourhoods caused by burning wood in homes, our city continues to see bonfires as the main way for gardeners to remove wood arising from annual clearances, such as tree/hedge trimming.

Climate Action Newcastle has requested that advice given to the city's 61 allotments be updated, to provide clearer advice about the harms from wood burning and recommend alternatives, such as shredding for mulch, or reuse to create storage fencing and habitat areas where space permits.

LOOKBACK: CLEANER AIR CAMPAIGN 2023 LAUNCH, RESULTS OVER THREE YEARS

• The initial impact of the introduction of Newcastle's Clean Air Zone was a 9% reduction in nitrous dioxide (NO2) - see report here.

  Read about Climate Action Newcastle's Welcome Walk and its partnership work with other local campaigners and health organisations here.

5 WAYS TO CLEANER AIR -guide

There are many "invisible" ways our decisions lead to more pollution in the local air we breathe. Our Climate Action Newcastle guide helps you spot ways you can reduce your own impact - helping us all to enjoy healthier cleaner air!

 [link to webpage - suggest then add the Word version to that webpage and also insert it at the bottom of this webpage].