HGV's could be Banned from Ewell Village

A new air quality report covering NO2 (nitrogen dioxide) levels in Ewell village has been published. It shows no improvement on the unacceptably high levels and an Action Plan is now needed to deal with the problem.

The borough council has been given a grant from Defra for a year, which covers the £10,000 cost of leasing the monitoring equipment over that period, but part of the deal is to produce a formal Action Plan to resolve the problem. The new air quality report has not been discussed by the council's Social Committee and no statement has been issued by the chairman of that Committee. The report was placed on a shelf along with numerous other reports.

Cllr Julie Morris said "After all the adverse publicity last year on this subject, it is inconceivable that the councillor who should have her finger on the pulse on this issue, is apparently so relaxed about it all. That will be cold comfort to people who suffer from health problems, e.g. asthma, because of continuing high pollution levels in Ewell village. Clearly removing HGV's from the village would be a step in the right direction : that's likely to involve Surrey CC as the highway authority and could take time, so we need to begin the process right now."