Only a few houses away from disaster...
With over 14,000 cars now passing through Mirfield each day (Highways Agency road counts) residents are becoming increasingly concerned that Mirfield needs the right investment in infrastructure and a balanced view on housing development. Infrastructure must be created at the same time or even before the housing is built.
Air pollution
Mirfield is ideally located between three major roadways and significant standing traffic in peak times. The town is positioned between two areas of concern with regards to the monitoring of air quality; Scout Hill and the Bradley/Cooper Bridge Intersection. Studies conducted in the United States found that airborne matter from car exhausts can penetrate deep into the lung. From the Kirklees Council Air Quality Progress Report 2010 / 2011 it can be concluded that Mirfield is at risk from air pollution due to the increase in traffic.
Flood risk and environmental factors
In 2015 Mirfield experienced the worst flooding in over 20 years with many businesses and homes becoming water damaged and needing evacuating. A local team are looking into why this happened and what we can do to help it in the future. One of the main reasons this happened is because of the lack of green space available around Mirfield to absorb some of the water.
The patient list at the local health centre is now at capacity and the existing site is fully developed. Further population pressure on the already stretched facility will necessitate the building of a new health centre on a new site.
Schools
Mirfield schools are fully subscribed and will be unable to cope with additional demands placed on those by large developments. Children living on new developments would have to be taken to schools further afield, which will add to traffic at school times as they seek to leave the area, putting a further burden on roads.
Traffic
The roads around Mirfield are more or less unchanged since the 1950’s and are now suffering as a result. They are unable to cope with the large increase in traffic volumes and simply do not have the capacity. There is extreme congestion at every exit point.
What to do next
If you live in Mirfield and feel passionate about these topics and have some expertise on any of these areas, we want to hear from you.
