AN INITIATIVE to get to the heart of Southampton’s poor air quality problem is probably not something that most people would have placed high on the political agenda.

But that’s where it should be.

As this paper has previously reported, Southampton has some of the worst air quality in the country.

The city is ranked sixth in the country for poor conditions and over six per cent of deaths each year can be blamed on them.

It is, in many ways, an invisible killer.

And where it doesn’t kill, it blights lives.

Quite why Southampton has such poor air is, experts believe, down to a number of factors, including traffic congestion and shipping using the docks.

The new initiative, launched by Councillor Jeremy Morton in his role as overview and scrutiny chairman on the council, aims to kick-start the authority’s air quality management plan, working with bus companies, traffic management teams, Associated British Ports and health representatives.

It is a big task. But if we do not tackle the problem now then for future generations the problem may have become simply too great a challenge.