Plan to buy homes to tackle air pollution rejected

A council's plan to buy 10 homes and keep them vacant to prevent residents from being exposed to illegally-high levels of air pollution has been rejected by the government.

Local authorities were told in 2018 to take action to cut levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) on Basford Bank, on the border of Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire.

The city and borough councils drew up the home-purchase plan as an alternative to installing a bus gate, which would block most traffic heading into Newcastle-under-Lyme from the A53 during rush hour.

The government said it was continuing to discuss the issue with Stoke-on-Trent City Council and was seeking to agree a plan as soon as possible.

A spokesperson for the city council said it submitted a business case to ministers in September 2024 and claimed it would tackle the issue "in the shortest possible time and at best value".

"After more than a year's delay, we have recently heard back from government that they do not support the plan we submitted," they added.

"We are disappointed by this decision and are currently considering options and next steps."

The city council and Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council were among a number of authorities issued with a 2018 ministerial direction ordering them to deal with air pollution hotspots.

Before coming up with the house-purchasing proposal, both authorities, along with Staffordshire County Council, agreed to the bus gate scheme in 2021.

It would ban all Newcastle-bound traffic, apart from buses, taxis and emergency vehicles, from a section of Etruria Road in Stoke-on-Trent during morning and evening peak times.

The scheme sparked concerns from residents, who feared it would push traffic onto nearby residential streets, while businesses claimed it would drive customers away.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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