A town council has slammed South Hams District Council’s draft Clean Air Strategy which sets out its plans for tackling air pollution in air quality hotspots.

In a damning letter to SHDC, Ivybridge Town Council describes the consultation document setting out plans for the Air Quality Management Areas - one of which is on Western Road in Ivybridge - as “extremely poor”. It says the plans “offer no real solutions to the problems which will be worsening by the day”.

The town council accuses SHDC of being “purposefully obstructive - merely trying to cram as much housing into the Ivybridge extension without proper highways infrastructure provision”. It told SHDC it “can support none of the recommendations” and calls on it to revisit them “in the light of more current and accurate information to deliver a proper scheme for Ivybridge”.

The Air Quality Management Area consultation document was developed after three areas in the South Hams exceeded the maximum levels of Nitrogen Dioxide set out in the National Air Quality Strategy. These were Western Road in Ivybridge, as well as parts of Totnes and the A38 near Dean Prior. SHDC has 12 months to develop an Air Quality Action Plan setting out what it intends to do about the problem.

In response it has drafted a consultation document and town councils and residents have an opportunity to comment on it until the closing date of June 20. The letter from Ivybridge Town Council, which runs to six pages, sets out its views of the seven options outlined for Ivybridge. It pulls no punches.

In May when a Senior Specialist in Environmental Health attended the town council meeting to explain more about these options, feelings were already running high as he spoke about option 1 which relates to the removal of/alteration to parking along Western Road.

SHDC is suggesting creating a residents’ car park to offset the loss of on-street parking. The report proposes demolishing the former fire station and turning this into a parking area with access via Wayside. It goes on to suggest possibly gifting the parking area to local residents to manage - a move which the town council describes as adding “insult to injury”.

The town council points out that removing on street parking from Western Road, which would speed up the flow of traffic, presents a very real danger to pedestrians as the pavements are narrow. It cites a similar road heading out of town towards Plymouth where residents have “been struck by wing mirrors of vehicles driving along”. It says that SHDC’s proposals are “concerning as they appear to be poorly understood and explained”.

Comments from one local resident who lives in Wayside, which are included in the letter, say “can we justify more cars coming into what I am sure is the smallest street in Ivybridge?”, describing the plans as “an accident waiting to happen”. He points out that Wayside is “only just wide enough to allow a parked car and a passing car” and asks “will it be wide enough to allow manoeuvring of cars into the spaces?”

Signing the letter as “Yours frustratingly”, the resident urges “Thought must go to the lives of the people who will be directly affected and not just the planners who do not have to live with their actions”.

It is a sentiment echoed by the town council which demands to know why option 2: A Southern link road from St. Peter’s Way to the A38 junction has not been given proper consideration by SHDC. It says that “the description of option 2 is extremely biased” and points out that “this was part of the original Joint Local Plan consultation”.

It says “a great deal of work has been done by the town council to work with landowners and explore the possibility of development paying for a road, with little contribution needed by the public purse”. The council adds “It is extremely frustrating that so little effort has been made by the authorities to explore this” and accuses SHDC of “recycling outdated information as fact”.

The town council letter points out that “the highways are not functioning properly now and this is before the 800 or so houses are built and occupied on the Eastern side of the town”. It asks why, despite this “extensive development”, there are “no mitigations proposed for Western Road except very minor contributions”. Over the next few years, Taylor Wimpey, Hannick Homes and shortly Bloor Homes will be “delivering a further minimum of 600 homes” and “yet the planners at the Joint Local Plan reduced their requirements to meet an AQMA [Air Quality Management Area] contribution”.

After rejecting all seven of SHDC’s proposed solutions to tackle air quality issues in the town, Ivybridge Town Council asks the district council to go back to the drawing board with “more current and accurate information” in order to deliver “a proper scheme for Ivybridge”.

Anyone who wants to comment on the draft Clean Air Strategy has until June 20 to do so. Visit the South Hams website (https://southhams.gov.uk) and search for Improving Air Quality or email [email protected]

The seven proposals and the town council’s response:

Option 1: Changes to parking along Western Road

The town council “wholly rejects this as an option” and believes that proposals are “poorly understood and explained” It states: “the prospect of Devon County Council securing public support is extremely unlikely”

Option 2: Southern link road from St Peter’s Way to the A38 Junction

Pulling no punches, the town council says “It is extremely frustrating that so little effort has been made by the authorities to explore this” and accuses SHDC of using “recycled outdated information as fact” and taking an “extremely biased” view.

Option 3: New junction onto the A38 from the East of Ivybridge

The town council believes the findings of a traffic study undertaken by Devon County Council in Autumn 2017 are “being kept secret and deferred” but that the indications are that it will probably not recommend any significant highway changes. It says “For the planners to abandon any solution prior to a proper understanding of how the traffic is using Ivybridge is complete madness”. The town council wants option 3 to “include the possibility of an upgraded junction”.

Option 4: Promotion of Ultra Low Emission Vehicles

Only considering the cost-effectiveness of providing electric vehicle charging points around the town is not a “proper assessment of effectiveness”. The town council demands to know “if any calculations have been made as to the level of likely worsening of polluting vehicles”.

Option 5: Promotion of green travel vouchers

The town council questions if there is any “evidence of success of these schemes in rural areas” and points out “the Gold bus, which runs from Torquay to Plymouth is the only real commuter option, but this is full at peak times already with no more capacity for passengers”.

Option 6: Developers to pay for green travel planning

“Developers paying for green travel planning is another waste of money - no more bus routes or rail services would ever be created by this.”

Option 7: Compulsory/voluntary purchase of at risk properties

Rather than purchasing at risk properties, the town council “would support many residents who have proposed the purchase of the Keaton Road car park”. This is not currently part of SHDC’s proposals.