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THEY'RE POISONING US - AND THAT'S OFFICIAL

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Traffic and HGVs remains the biggest topic of concern for most people in our town. For the last year air quality monitoring using very sophisticated equipment has been going on in Horsefair - the most polluted place in West Oxfordshire. The Head of Environmental Health at West Oxfordshire District Council has just issued his report on the monitoring of Nitrogen Dioxide in Horsefair.� READ THE REPORT�

The important key conclusion is

The government's annual mean objective for Nitrogen Dioxide (40 micrograms per cubic metre) is unlikely to be delivered in Horsefair.

Things now get serious. It is now proven that HGVs are poisoning the air in the centre of Chippy. And - by law - the situation has to be tackled. This is what has to happen....

1. Where a review indicates that the air quality objectives will not be met, local authorities are required to designate an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA)

2 The next stage in the process, which should take no longer than four months, is to consult the following organisations about the conclusions of the detailed assessment: the Secretary of State; The Environment Agency; Oxfordshire County Council; Neighbouring local authorities; Chipping Norton Town Council; and� Bodies representing local business interests. This peocess has now begun. The Town Council have submitted a strongly-worded statement, supporting the creation of an AQMA

3. Having designated an AQMA the Council is then required to prepare a written plan setting out the actions intended in pursuit of the air quality objective. This has to include a timetable for implementing the plan. The action plan will have to be developed with the cooperation and full involvement of the County Council because nitrogen dioxide pollution in Chipping Norton and Witney originates mainly from traffic.

4. The draft should be published for consultation within 12 months of the designation of the AQMA.

Producing any plan is going to involve some radical thinking. Probably it will have to mean a way of limiting HGV traffic. This consultation is going to be our very best chance ever to press for measures to limit HGV through traffic. A weight restriction and a lorry by-pass route is what is needed. The only viable by-pass route� is via Cross Hands and this will mean expensive new road construction to avoid the Rollright Stones. The OCC are sitting on their hands and refuse to even survey the route. Some people believe that the disused rail tunnel could be brought into play (it was repaired only last year and reports say that it is in pretty good shape. Just full of bats which will probably be the real problem). Isn't it just typical of this crazy world that ancient monuments and bats are sacrosanct while the lorries carry on quietly poisoning us.

Meanwhile the OCC Transport Review by Halcrow ploughs on. They seem to be proposing a "voluntary" new route for HGVs via the A40 (in line with the proposals of the A44A Group) "There is no question that Oxfordshire County Council would like to encourage HGVs to use the A40/A429 as an alternative route to the A44. "But there are major consultation issues with adjoining councils. We are continuing to look at this as part of the Transport Networks Review." This idea would not do anything to relieve the increasing traffic through Chippy on the Swindon/Banbury route.

We've all been fobbed off for the last few years but even bigger juggernauts are threatened and its not difficult to imagine people's patience snapping and Eve Coles leading a sit down protest in Horsefair if this talkshop continues - some of us will certainly be there with our placards!
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READ THE TOWN COUNCIL'S COMMENTS
READ ABOUT THE TRANSPORT REVIEW

Click below for a superb new leaflet prepared by the A44A Group
arguing for a new A44 lorry route (in pdf format)

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The A44A group �was recently set up to bring together all those concerned with the worsening conditions on the A44.� �They have presented their report to the Cabinet of the WODC. Extracts follow.....


We deplore the detrimental effects large HGVs are having on our communities. and feel that unless the problems are addressed seriously and soon, the problems will get worse. They produce a growing perception of danger and unacceptably erode our quality of life. They cause disproportionately many accidents, compared to other traffic. More generally, they make people feel threatened and unsafe. They emit vast quantities of lead and C02 gas which builds up in our narrow streets. They are extraordinarily noisy, particularly at night when they come through very fast and disrupt sleep, or when they are labouring uphill , changing gear or braking. They cause damage to roads, pavements and houses which is expensive to repair. They cause congestion as they negotiate corners, labour up hills and try to pass each other, which greatly extends journey times .

We are angry and incredulous that Oxfordshire CC never honoured its agreement with Gloucestershire CC back in 2001 to try to dissuade lorries from using the A44. They agreed to put up signs advising lorries coming up from the south to go onto the A40 at Oxford �rather than the A44, then turn onto the A429 at Northleach, then onto the A424 at Stow on towards Evesham. This policy was arrived at after much deliberation. Signs went up in Gloucestershire in 2002 but nothing was done in Oxfordshire, so the opportunity for improvement, however small, was lost . We have tried to ascertain from Richard Dix and others why this is, and have been fobbed off with various different reasons. We urge that, although the Transport Network Review is under way, although improvements on the A40 are being carried out prior to its being handed over to OCC, and although a link between the A40 and A34 will thankfully soon be built, OCC put the advisory lorry route signs up as agreed.

Once improvements have been made and the link is in place, this route for lorries will make sense. It does not require major road building, it will take some HGVs away from the villages and towns they are currently spoiling, and it will not send them to cause problems in someone else�s back yard.

We urge that the above advisory route (using A40, A249 and A424) should eventually become compulsory. At the very least, there should be weight and/or time limits: No lorry over 17 tonnes or with over 3 axles should be allowed on the A44 unless it can prove local business and has a permit; no lorry should be allowed to drive fast through communities late at night. Technological innovations should make it easy to pick up offenders.

READ THE FULL REPORT
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A44 CAMPAIGN WINS SUPPORT

A group campaigning to get heavy lorries rerouted off the A44 has received the backing of West Oxfordshire District Council. Towns and villages affected by noise pollution and building damage include Woodstock, Chipping Norton and Enstone. The group, called A44A, represents communities along the road and wants lorries travelling between Oxford, Evesham and Worcester to be encouraged to use alternative advisory routes. One of these routes, which is already signposted in Gloucestershire, takes lorries from the A44 along the A424, A429 and A40 to Oxford. The group wants signs for this route placed at key junctions in north Oxford and also for lorry drivers to be encouraged to use the M40 and A46 to reach Evesham. At the district council's cabinet meeting Verena Hunt, member for planning, said: "We share the concerns. It's good to see local communities working together to develop constructive suggestions for solutions to the problems they experience. A priority must be for the county council to pursue agreed routing strategies with the haulage operators, which could be implemented without further delays." Chipping Norton councillor Eve Coles (right) said: "Air quality monitoring in Horsefair has shown nitrogen dioxide levels to be 50 per cent higher than the recommended ceiling." The cabinet wants the county council to develop measures to alleviate the problems on the A44 as a matter of urgency.

FROM THE OXFORD MAIL
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