Stoke-on-Trent bus gate plans 'disastrous' for business

Debbie Tams believes the bus gate, which would restrict traffic at peak times, would mean customers could struggle to access businesses on Etruria Road

An entrepreneur says a proposed bus gate would be "disastrous" for her new business.

Debbie Tams hopes to open a spa and restaurant on the A53 Etruria Road, Stoke-on-Trent, where air pollution levels breach legal limits.

Local authorities in the area want to improve air quality on the route by restricting traffic during peak hours.

"This has now put us in a very precarious position. And the funders are now getting nervous," Ms Tams said.

"The council are telling us that they're stopping the passing trade, which is very important to this kind of business, six hours of the working day. So it's threatening the future of the business."

Ms Tam hopes to open her business by the end of the year, but says the planned bus gate has made investors nervous

Stoke-on-Trent City Council, along with Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council are looking at measures to reduce levels of nitrogen dioxide.

As well as plans for the bus gate, which also involve Staffordshire County Council, proposals also include as a clean air zone on Victoria Road in Fenton.

The city and borough council were two of 45 authorities ordered to act following a High Court ruling in 2018 that government plans to tackle air pollution were unlawful.

Etruria Road straddles both local authority areas, with Staffordshire County Council supporting the work as highways authority for Newcastle-under-Lyme.

The two-lane Etruria Road bus gate would see westbound traffic restricted from the A500 junction at peak times on weekdays for three hours from 07:00 GMT and 16:00 GMT.

Stoke-on-Trent city councillor Carl Edwards, chair of the joint advisory committee on air quality and cabinet member for environment, said the local authorities were under a ministerial directive to tackle illegal levels of nitrogen dioxide.

"We have written to ministers following our review of ongoing and predicted pollution levels, seeking support to identify and deliver solutions that are more proportionate to the scale of the pollution that is predicted to exist in 2025," he said.

The overgrown trees on the A53 Etruria Road are being cut back to disperse air pollution

The local authority is also looking at other measures, such as fitting buses with technology to reduce exhaust emissions, and cutting back trees.

Declan Riddell, Policy Advisor at Staffordshire Chamber of Commerce, said he feared staff in the area's hard-pressed businesses would struggle to get to work on time.

"And obviously the knock on effect of that is that they'll struggle to recruit and retain staff," he said.

He added the chamber felt the solution would "displace" the problem by moving traffic on to alternative routes, a worry shared by Ms Tams.

"The residents are just up in arms about it because the bus gate is going to create rat-runs along all the narrow side streets," she said.

"I'm just hoping and praying that if we make enough noise that the council will actually listen and debate this issue. It's the public consultation that we need."

Staffordshire County Council and Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council have been contacted for comment.