A COUNCILLOR has suggested there is finally “movement” on plans to downgrade the A287 in Farnham town centre to a B road in order help reduce air pollution.

Carole Cockburn, town and borough councillor for The Bourne and a member of the Surrey County Council Local Committee responsible for transport improvements in Waverley, said plans are afoot to downgrade a section of the A287 to a B road in order to ban HGVs from the town centre.

Speaking at the annual meeting of planning watchdog the Farnham Society last week, Mrs Cockburn said: “I’ve been fighting for years to reclassify the roads through Farnham, and I think this is now a possibility.

“When I first raised it I was told ‘no you can’t possibly do that’, but I’m still pushing for it whenever I get a chance and I think there is now some movement on it.

“Of course if you’ve got A roads you can’t ban traffic. But if you were to reclassify them as B roads through the town centre then you can have more say on what comes through.”

Waverley Borough Council set up an air quality management area for Farnham in 2005 to monitor toxic vehicle omissions, and found that levels of the hazardous pollutant nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in key areas such as The Borough and Station Hill regularly exceed levels deemed safe by the European Commission.

In 2008 the council prepared an Air Quality Action Plan to improve the town’s air quality, in 2012 it made HGV loading restrictions in The Borough permanent in a bid to reduce traffic congestion in the town centre, and in 2013 a Waverley report highlighted the negative impact diesel cars in particular are having on Farnham.

But after more than a decade of monitoring - and with a recent report by the House of Commons environment select committee suggesting air pollution causes the early deaths of 40,000 to 50,000 people every year in the UK - levels of NO2 are still exceeding safe levels in Farnham and a solution to the problem is yet to be found.

Frustrated by the lack of action, last autumn the Farnham Society set up a sub-committee to prepare a detailed report on the situation with a view to “shaming” local authorities to take direct action.

Presenting his interim report to the Farnham Society annual meeting, chairman of the society’s air pollution committee and former Waverley executive councillor Roger Steel said: “In fairness, Waverley can do no more than monitor the situation, only Surrey Highways can take the necessary action.

“But Surrey County Council in their last air pollution report on the county recommended only that Waverley should be ‘monitored’; this is a travesty.

“Nitrogen dioxide emitted from diesel engines is known to be very injurious to health and that, added to the total inactivity to even try to remedy the situation in Farnham by Surrey Highways, is a matter of great concern.”

It is hoped the Farnham Society’s full report will be published next month.