Pandemic may have cut pollution at hotspot

Action has been ordered by the government over pollution levels on Etruria Road

Rising fuel costs and the Covid pandemic changing people's commutes could have already cut pollution levels at a hotspot, councillors claim.

The government has ordered nitrogen dioxide levels to be reduced on the A53 Etruria Road in Newcastle-under-Lyme. 

Proposals for a bus gate, which would block access to all vehicles other than buses, have already been drawn up with final proposals expected this year. 

But several councillors argue pollution levels on the road are now lower than when the scheme was first put forward. 

Mark Holland, deputy leader of the Conservative group on Newcastle under Lyme Borough Council, said the project needed reappraising and claimed solutions like as the bus gate would merely move the problem elsewhere.

 "They spread the misery associated with pollution and traffic congestion to different people," he said.

The borough council's cabinet asked for new monitoring in October to check if pollution levels had fallen. 

The study found it was within required levels and has been so for the previous 12 months. 

Councillors suggested at a meeting on Wednesday that recent fuel cost rises had led to a reduction in traffic on the route. 

Leader Simon Tagg said the pandemic had also had an impact. 

"One of the advantages of Covid-19 is that it has changed people’s travel patterns – anyone who comes into town around the rush-hour period will know that," he said. 

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said it understood the council was still working on a final business case.