WESTBURY Town Council is disappointed with Wiltshire Council’s air quality plan for Westbury, saying it’s just ‘words and pictures’.
In response, the town council has agreed to write to Wiltshire Council to express their disappointment and encourage them to act.
Westbury was declared an ‘air quality management area’ (AQMA) in 2001 along parts of the A350 due to worrying levels of nitrogen dioxide. Since the AQMA was declared, Wiltshire Council says that the level has been decreasing.
Wiltshire Council has compiled a 13-page document to tackle the poor air quality in the town, looking to reduce it by 2024. However, Westbury Town Council say the plan is “just words and pictures” and are disappointed at Wiltshire Council’s lack of action.
This follows results from Wiltshire Council’s air quality monitoring (published in White Horse News issue 703) that showed Westbury’s nitrogen dioxide levels to be more than double that of Melksham, yet Melksham has been recommended for a second bypass.
Mayor, cllr Mike Sutton said, “We will write to Wiltshire Council deploring the ‘non-plan,’ suggesting that they ought to do better and say how disappointed Westbury is in Wiltshire’s response.”
During the town council meeting on Monday 2nd September, the council also agreed to purchase their own air quality monitoring device, as reported in the last issue of WHN. This will be used to show the peaks of pollutants, rather than an annual average. The council can then use the data to either alleviate fears of pollution or use them to show Wiltshire Council why there is a concern in the town.
