Decision details

2.1      Cabinet acknowledged that that there is a persisting air quality issue in the town centre attributable to Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) related vehicle emissions.

2.2      Cabinet noted that the Council is legally required to take actions to address newly identified exceedances of the annual mean Air Quality Objective for NO2 around the Northgate Bus Station and The Drapery, Abington Square/Wellingborough Road area and the White Elephant Junction on Kettering Road.

2.3      Cabinet reaffirmed the principle of declaration of a single town centre Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) to cover the inner ring road which would encompass existing AQMA’s and other exceedance areas and main arterial routes into the town centre. This would be achieved by extending one existing AQMA and revoking 4 to form one.

2.4      Cabinet authorised a 6 week public consultation exercise with both internal and external stakeholders, businesses and local residents whom reside within the proposed single AQMA and other relevant community groups to comply with relevant policy guidelines.

2.5      Cabinet noted that a further report will be produced in due course to summarise the outcome of the consultation and to seek formal approval of the amendment and revocation of appropriate AQMA(s) within the required time scale.