Councils plan to buy houses to solve air quality issue

Three councils are planning to buy ten houses exposed to illegal levels of nitrous dioxide (NO2).

Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, Stoke-on-Trent City Council and Staffordshire County Council believe that if no-one lives in the affected area, there will be no pressing need for them to implement a controversial bus gate in the area. 

The proposed bus gate would be situated at Basford Bank between Stock and Newcastle-under-Lyme, and would prevent all traffic bar buses and electric vehicles (EVs) from using a Newcastle-bound a section of the A53 during rush hour.

 All three councils have issued a joint statement regarding a possible alternative to the Basford Bank bus gate.

They saidL "As plans for a bus gate on Etruria Road became more detailed, we were concerned by the scale of the predicted traffic diversions and the impact this would have on many other side roads in the area, affecting the lives of hundreds of residents.  

"We recently shared an emerging alternative proposal with the UK Government that would avoid a bus gate being installed, which would also achieve the city and borough councils’ legal obligation to reduce pollution.

"There is still a lot of work to be done to get a final plan completed and approved by the UK government.

Work on the bus gate has now been paused while all three councils focus their efforts on completing a full business case for this alternative proposal.”