'It'll feel safer and I won't need an inhaler:' what do Birmingham’s youngest residents think about the Clean Air Zone?
Chandos Primary School lies within the Clean Air Zone and the children there have been learning about the environment with the help of Professor William Bloss, an expert in atmospheric science from Birmingham University.
He brought a portable Nitrogen Dioxide measuring sensor to demonstrate how much pollution there is in the air.
After their class, we asked the youngsters if they thought the Zone would benefit their community and the environment.
Although they knew about the health benefits, they also talked about the financial implications for their parents and families.
In the discussion, there were mixed opinions amongst the Year 6 children, one of the children said: "I think it's a good thing because it will be better for the people with lung disease and asthma because they will get less asthma attacks and strokes."
Another pupil worried that if people drive around the CAZ to avoid the charges, it will only cause more pollution in areas around it.
One child explained: "I think it would be better because sometimes I want to take my bike to the roads and sometimes I'm scared to do it because there are too many cars so it will feel safer."
And there was concern among some children that the charges may be too high for everybody to afford, thus making it unfair.
Birmingham's Clean Air Zone covers all the roads within the A4540 Middleway Ring Road in the city from today.
The city council defines it as: "An area where targeted action is taken to improve air quality, in particular by discouraging the most polluting vehicles from entering the zone. No vehicle is banned in the zone, but those which do not have clean enough engines will have to pay a daily charge if they travel within the area."
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