Selby outlines plans for air quality action

Selby district council in North Yorkshire has launched a consultation into plans to reduce air pollution in the New Street area of the borough.

The consultation for the draft action plan for the air quality management area of New Street opened on Monday (25 September) and runs until 26 November.

The New Street area of Selby where the district council is seeking to limit air pollution

The council has been monitoring pollution levels in the area and following concerns over the levels of nitrogen dioxide is now inviting members of the public to comment on its draft action plan.

Actions proposed to tackle air pollution in the area include enforcement weight limits on heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) using roads blighted by air pollution, improving traffic flow in the area and studying commuter and delivery traffic movements.

The area covers New Street and the Crescent between Selby Abbey and Ousegate in the town. The main source of the pollution is large volumes of slow moving traffic in the area so many of the issues in the consultation deal with transport issues.

Actions

Selby district council’s lead councillor for housing, leisure, health and culture, Cllr Richard Musgrave said: “Together with our partners, including North Yorkshire county council and in particular highways officers, we’ve been looking at the sources of this pollution and the actions that can be taken to reduce the problem. We hope that residents and businesses in this area take the opportunity to let us know what they think.

“We are committed to reducing the exposure of people in the district to poor air quality.”

The draft action plan looks at the traffic issues and considers ways to reduce queuing traffic in the area including:

• Improving signage about the weight limit for HGVs passing through the area
• Pro-active enforcement to limit HGVs over the existing weight limit passing through
• A survey of local businesses to understand commuter and delivery traffic
• Local solutions which could include freight partnerships, provision of access route maps and improving commuter parking arrangements
• Looking at the feasibility of providing a low emission car club at the Civic Centre/Hospital site
• Developing a low emission vehicle policy for Selby
• Investigating the funding opportunities for the provision of public electric vehicle recharging points in our car parks
• Reviewing junction signal times to reduce queuing, vehicle idling and stop-start driving

In addition to the online consultation, leaflets about the consultation are being delivered to residents of New Street.