Agenda item

This report updates Members on the actions taken following the declaration of an Air Quality Management Area in Ashbourne at the meeting of this Committee on 7 April 2021.

The Director of Regulatory Services introduced a report updating Members on the actions taken following the declaration of an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) in Ashbourne at the meeting of this Committee on 7 April 2021. Following this meeting, Officers had contacted Derbyshire County Council’s Transport team and begun the process of progressing an action plan. Liaison had been necessary to obtain the traffic figures necessary to undertake the Detailed Assessment. An Action Plan inception meeting was held on 13 May 2021 and it was agreed that the team would follow the model used for the creation of other AQMA Action Plans in Derbyshire, that is that a long list of all possible options would be devised and that this would then be evaluated to determine which of these options might be suitable for Ashbourne.

It was also agreed that representatives from Ashbourne Town Council and Ashbourne Town Team would be involved in the Action Plan process. A series of meetings would be needed in order to produce the final approved Action Plan and to monitor the actions agreed as part of the Plan. In order to manage the Action Plan process, Officers set up a simple action log to record progress. This action log was presented to Members in the report, giving a more detailed timeline of the actions taken during the process.

Members raised concerns over the progress of the action plan and the ongoing emissions produced by vehicles travelling through the area. The Director of Regulatory Services informed members that an action plan is given eighteen months to progress by DEFRA, it was also pointed out that the draft action plan on the table contained eleven points with the building of a by-pass included. It was hoped that a final draft would be brought to the September meeting of this Committee before submission to DEFRA.

During debate Councillor David Hughes proposed an amendment to include two additional recommendations as set out below:

2.    That a representation be made to DCC Highways Authority for a 20mph speed limit to be enforced on the A515.

3.    That a representation be made to DCC Highways Authority for a congestion charge to be introduced to create a clean air zone.

Further to this, Councillor Peter O’Brien requested the inclusion of the two additional recommendations below, this was accepted by Councillor David Hughes:

4.    That a full progress report be produced and presented to Members at the next meeting of this Committee.

5.    That the draft Action Plan be made publicly available and circulated to Members.

This amendment was seconded by Councillor Peter O’Brien and put to the vote as follows:

Voting

6 For

9 Against

0 Abstentions

The Chairman declared the motion LOST.

It was then moved by Councillor Jason Atkin to accept the Officer recommendations as set out in the report, this was seconded by Councillor Tom Donnelly and

RESOLVED

That the actions taken in progressing the AQMA action plan be noted.

Voting

10 For

0 Against

5 Abstentions

The Chairman declared the motion CARRIED.