MORE areas of Newport will be monitored for pollution levels under council plans.

Councils are able to designate areas as Air Quality Management Areas (AQMA) if studies show pollution is above advised levels or close to limits.

There are currently nine such orders, which require councils to put together plans for how pollution will be tackled, in place in Newport in areas including Malpas, Caerleon and Chepstow Road, with poor air quality said to be mostly caused by car emissions.

And now a council report has shown the authority is reviewing the orders, including considering introducing a number of new ones.

Among the areas which could be covered by a new AQMA are the area of High Cross near junction 27 of the M4 and Cefn Road in Rogerstone, where the report says the combination of a row of terraced housing and a high wall along the canal creates “a street canyon that traps road traffic emissions from high volumes of traffic”.

Orders could also be put in place in Caerphilly Road, Bassaleg, where emissions have been recorded as “significantly above” guidelines, and George Street – including the bridge – which the report says is “frequently congested”.

Meanwhile an AQMA in place in a small section of the centre of Caerleon since 2005 is to be expanded significantly to cover an area from the bridge to the Priory Hotel in the High Street after further monitoring found poor air quality in a wider area than previously thought.

But another order enforced on the northern part of Malpas Road in 2005 is set to be revoked after studies found pollution levels in the area are within guidelines.

But, in a response to a consultation with council members, Malpas ward member Cllr David Mayer said he was not convinced pollution was no longer a problem in the area.

“I appreciate that cars are getting healthier overall but this route is one of the busiest in the UK let alone Newport,” he said.

“The Malpas/Shaftesbury bypass was supposed to divert traffic from this and south Malpas Road in Shaftesbury (also in report) but this is not the case as traffic from the north is still directed down the A4051.

“Caerleon traffic heading west that is supposed to access the M4 via lower Malpas Road creates the same traffic issues in this area as before the bypass was opened, because drivers use Pillmawr Road as a rat-run to access the M4.

“Customers who drive to use shops in this area also cause pollution.”

In a response the council’s cabinet member for licensing and regulation, who is due to sign off on the plans, said further studies since the order was put in place had shown pollution levels were not above guidelines.

Meanwhile the area covered by an AQMA in place on the south part of Malpas Road is to be expanded slightly while an order put in place in Caerleon Road in 2005 and another introduced in the area encompassing Clarence Place and Chepstow Road in 2010 are to be combined.