Letter: I Hope Shalford Does Not Have To Wait As Long As Compton for Action on Air Quality

Published on: 9 Jul, 2019
Updated on: 8 Jul, 2019

From Fiona Curtis

In response to: County Council Needs To Do More To Reduce Pollution Levels

The Traffic Committee raised their concerns about potential air quality issues in Compton back in 2012/13. Initially, we were told that nothing could be done to clarify the situation as Compton did not meet the ‘criteria’. A typical “computer says no” scenario!

This was because the criteria were written around an urban scenario, presumably in the belief that such issues were unlikely to ever affect villages. Not only did we have to fight to have any monitoring in the first place but once it was in place (from 2014) the results beggared belief, after which, began a protracted series of equipment changes and even denials over the validity of the results. (The denials were not from the Environment Department. who have worked hard to achieve a solution.)

It took four years of monitoring before an AQMA was announced and another 18 months before GBC and SCC could agree on a plan of action. Residents affected and Compton’s Traffic Committee and Parish Council combined views to make a well-considered representation at the recent consultation held to review the Action Plan (the first review, which was produced by a specialist company at taxpayers’ expense, was kicked into the long grass as SCC would not sanction any of the suggestions made).

So why does Compton (and now Shalford) have an issue when other areas (apparently) do not? I am told that there are a number of factors that combine, one is topography (Compton lies in a dip) and proximity of residential buildings to the road and traffic volume.

Nothing can be done about the first two reasons but something major needs to be done to address the east-west traffic scenario. SCC realised back in the 1970sand early ’80s when a by-pass was proposed, there was even a consultation. Over 40 years ago when traffic was only a fraction of what it is now, it was known that something had to be done to improve the east-west route before development, yet we see support for two large developments (Blackwell Farm to the west and Gosden Hill to the east) as well as Dunsfold, all of which will make a truly bad situation worse.

I hope that Shalford does not have to wait as long as Compton did for its air quality situation to be addressed (a bit of an oxymoron as ‘no right turn’ will tick a box rather than address the problem) and I very much hope that their plan is somewhat more realistic than the one for Compton, which, as Simon Schulz states in his letter, appears to be a result of the council “improperly fettering their own discretion”.

A court recently prohibited a council from ignoring air quality issues on the basis of the advent of electric vehicles as it was too far into the future and the problem is current. The B3000 and A281/ A3100 via Compton and Shalford act as the southerly section of a missing south circular and the current air quality issues will only worsen as development increases traffic in and around the town, a factor that is not accounted for in the Air Quality or Local Plan.