Ashbourne proposal for England's smallest clean air charge zone

Buxton Road has high levels of nitrogen dioxide

England's smallest clean air charging zone could be brought in to help a Derbyshire town reduce pollution.

On Thursday, Derbyshire Dales District Council backed a plan for Ashbourne town centre, which will need approval from Derbyshire County Council and central government to be enacted.

If approved it would see vehicles with higher emission levels pay to drive through the town centre.

Six zones are in place across England.

At its worst point on Buxton Road, nitrogen dioxide has been recorded at 57.4 µg/m3 (micrograms per cubic metre), nearly 50% higher than the deemed acceptable legal level of 40.

The clean air charging zone had not been part of the 11 "action plan" options drawn up by the district and county council, but was an addition on the evening from a committee of councillors.

Throughout the meeting, councillors and members of the public spoke about the apparent lack of real impact presented in the proposed plan, aimed at tacking dangerous levels of nitrogen dioxide, primarily on Buxton Road.

David Hughes, the councillor who put forward the clean air zone plan, said it would target HGVs linked to the county's quarrying industry, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

"Residents are living every day with the pollution caused by through traffic," he said.

"This traffic that does not benefit Ashbourne's economy but is surely having an effect on residents' health."

Councillors also backed bringing in a 20mph zone in Ashbourne town centre, aimed at reducing the amount of emissions created when vehicles accelerate more.