Musselburgh's air pollution problem has been raised in the Scottish Parliament by the co-convener of the Scottish Green Party.
Patrick Harvie, Green MSP for Glasgow, used a debate on air pollution to highlight the work carried out by East Lothian Greens who last year revealed the seriousness of the Honest Toun's situation.
East Lothian Council has since had to declare Musselburgh town centre the county's first Air Quality Management Area in light of samples showing levels of toxic exhaust fumes breaching World Health Organisation guidelines.
Speaking in the debate Mr Harvie said:
"In East Lothian, my colleagues in the local Scottish Green Party branch have been campaigning on high street air pollution. They used freedom of information requests, which resulted in the revelation that the local council had been sitting on a report on the issues for a year. Since the report’s release, there has at least been the declaration of a management area and there have been the beginnings of a recognition that action is needed."
East Lothian Greens campaigner Jason Rose said:
"Successive administrations of East Lothian Council have ignored this issue and even now there's no sense of urgency. There is no time limit set on the council to come forward with a plan of action, so we could be waiting many months or even years before we see any actual action.
"At the very least we should be getting a survey to identify the cause of Musselburgh's chronic traffic congestion and pressing bus operators to prioritise low-emissions vehicles on routes through the town."
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