RESIDENTS of Gunnislake will be able to give their views on several options, proposed to combat the dangerous air quality issue in the village, during a consultation event next month.

Gunnislake was declared an Air Quality Management Area in March 2014 due to high nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels from vehicle emissions exceeding health guidelines and air quality standard requirements.

Cornwall Council has been working to find ways in which the air quality in the village can be improved and has drawn up a draft action plan, including several options which the council feels should be investigated further and will be seeking the views of residents during consultation between January 11 and March 7.

One proposed option is to alter the traffic arrangement at Alma Terrace.

A spokesperson for Cornwall Council said: ‘Improving local air quality is a priority for Cornwall Council and regular monitoring is carried out across the county. Results of this monitoring showed that Gunnislake suffers with excessive levels of traffic- related nitrogen dioxide, so the council declared Gunnislake as an Air Quality Management Area in March 2014.’

‘The council has been working to identify ways in which air quality in Gunnislake could be improved. A draft action plan has been drawn up which identifies several options the council thinks need investigating. The council will be seeking the views of residents and businesses of Gunnislake on the draft action plan and all the options listed.

‘One of the potential options included in the draft action plan is to alter the traffic arrangements at Alma Terrace. Any alteration to the traffic arrangement at Alma Terrace needs to be fully investigated and this work is scheduled to be completed by the end of January 2016. Funding to deliver a scheme has not been identified. Should a suitable solution and funding be identified, the scheme will go through the standard consultation process, time scales of which are yet to be confirmed.

‘The consultation on the draft action plan will be open from January 11 until March 7 for written comments. Once the consultation closes, all comments will be considered and the action plan finalised.’

Cornwall Councillor for Gunnislake and Calstock, Cllr Dorothy Kirk, has been at the forefront of trying to get something done about the issue. She has been involved in intense discussions with officers who have drawn up the plans and, while welcoming the consultation, has expressed doubts about the scheme.

She said traffic management in Gunnislake was difficult because of the steepness of the valley, the bends on the hill approaching the village from St Ann’s Chapel and the sheer volume of traffic, most particularly heavy goods vehicles. She said officers of CORMAC had attempted to take these factors into account when drawing up their plans, but accepted that conditions were not ideal and noted that many vehicles exceeded the 30mph speed limit as they approached the village.

She said: ‘Air quality is a very serious consideration and poor air quality carries with it significant health risks, so it is important that the measures are seen to be adequate to deal with the scale of the problem.

‘Any measures taken will quickly be undermined if traffic through the village continues to increase. Planning policies need to take into consideration the effect of increasing vehicular traffic on the A390 through Gunnislake and there should be a long-term scheme to limit the number of HGVs coming down the hill, into the bottleneck of the village centre, where fumes from their engines cannot escape.

‘This is a serious health problem and it is time it was treated as such.’

To find out more about the consultation, or to make a comment during the consultation period, visit www.cornwall.gov.uk

A public drop-in session is due to be held in Gunnislake public hall on Tuesday, January 26 from 3pm to 7pm, where plans will be on display and officers will be available to talk to.