Crossings scheme should avoid the need for charging clean air zone

Residents and businesses in Basildon are being encouraged to have their say on air quality and a proposed pedestrian and cyclist crossing scheme which would help protect people from air pollution and is expected to avoid the need for a charging clean air zone.

Essex County Council and Basildon Borough Council are strongly opposed to a charging zone, which they say would disproportionately hit businesses.

Instead, a scheme has been developed to relocate shared pedestrian and cyclist crossings in East Mayne, reducing people’s exposure to poor air quality at the roadside.

A stretch of the A127 in Basildon and two areas to the south of it, notably in East Mayne, have been identified as exceeding legal limits for nitrogen dioxide – a harmful gas caused by vehicle emissions.

The Government directed Essex County Council and Basildon Borough Council to improve air quality on the A127 as quickly as possible and a new 50mph speed limit was introduced earlier this year. However, further work was needed to establish what measures were also needed to bring air quality in East Mayne within legal levels as soon as possible.

The councils were instructed to assess the likely effectiveness of a potential charging clean air zone, which would have seen drivers of certain more polluting vehicles charged for driving within a designated zone. Both councils strongly opposed the idea and carried out extensive work to identify and assess possible alternatives.

As a result, the crossings scheme in East Mayne has now been identified as a preferred option. The proposals, which are subject to Government approval, would reduce people’s exposure to poor air quality while also complementing wider initiatives to encourage a shift to cleaner travel throughout Basildon.

To find out more about the proposals and access the Basildon Air Quality survey, please visit essex.gov.uk/airquality. Printed copies of the survey and accompanying public engagement brochure are available on request by emailing airqualityproject@essexhighways.org.

The survey closes at 11.59pm on Sunday, 13 December.