THE Camelford Clean Air Group met for the last time on Wednesday, November 23, discussing their next steps before the air quality consultation closed.

A small number of members met at the Old Bank in Camelford, the last meeting for the group before Cornwall Council’s air quality consultation closed on Monday, November 28, after weeks of conducting research about traffic pollution in the town and collecting local residents’ thoughts.

On the date of the Clean Air Group’s meeting, town councillor and the founder of the campaign group, Claire Hewlett, told members that she was still waiting to receive 19 questionnaire leaflets and that they had nearly achieved their target of 200 written responses. Adding to this, Cornwall Council had received a further 85 online responses.

Following the last consultation event on November 9, where residents and local people were given the opportunity to have their say at a Cornwall Council drop-in event at Camelford Hall, Eloise Travis — environmental protection officer for the county council, who has played a big part in delivering consultation materials to the Clean Air Group — reported back to Cllr Hewlett that a mere 17 people came along to express their views and possible solutions to the town’s problem.

One gentleman said: “Cornwall Council told me that Camelford has had more people come forward than anywhere else in Cornwall, but I said, ‘how can that be?’”

Cllr Hewlett responded, saying: “Eloise has been working really closely with us, and she’s been trying to do what she can.”

Cllr Hewlett explained that once the consultation closes, the area is then declared as an ‘air quality management area’ under Cornwall Council’s Clean Air for Cornwall strategy, as soon as it is signed off by Cllr Geoff Brown, portfolio holder for communities.

She said: “It is then going to take between 12 and 18 months for Cornwall Council to put a plan together, although I can’t really see why it will take that amount of time to do this — they already know what we want and what the town wants, and they have the solutions there.”

Following this discussion, Cllr Hewlett presented the group with a chart of names to contact, of which include North Cornwall MP Scott Mann (Conservative), Camelford mayor and the town’s Cornwall Councillor, Rob Rotchell (Liberal Democrat), Nigel Blackler of Cornwall Council and Cllr Geoff Brown, amongst others. Between the group, members chose a person to contact, in the hope that regular emails to these people will get more answers and will move things forward.

Cllr Hewlett told the group: “We need to ask these people and find out why it is going to take so long. We need to know the first step, and a realistic time line.

“We need to start chasing now, because we need to make sure Camelford is at the top of their list — this is happening all over the county. We need to make sure that Cornwall Council’s staff are looking after us first.”

A new member of the group was concerned about this direction, he said: “I don’t think these people will want to put two separate answers to each of us; perhaps one person should concentrate on a councillor or MP, instead of two to the same person.”

In response, Cllr Hewlett said that that point of this task is to ‘annoy’ the people who have the power to do something about traffic pollution in Camelford.

The gentleman said: “I think we need to make clear that we are quite keen for them to realise how worried we are about this situation, because we are very serious about it.”

The group’s task, to contact members of authority, will begin once Eloise has visited the town council at the upcoming Community Network Panel meeting on December 13, when it is expected that she will announce that Camelford has been declared.

Cllr Hewlett said: “We need to be a continuous needle in their side. The only way they’ll get rid of us is if they give us what we want. We just need to find out why it will take so long, and how we can speed it up.

“Another thing I am worried about is the Clean Air for Cornwall strategy, which was published in October of 2016, as Camelford is not featured in this document. St Austell, Truro, Bodmin and Camborne are there, but I’m worried as we are not featured in the document, so perhaps this is something we can follow up as well.”

She continued: “Whatever is decided, whether it is a bypass or not, they are going to need money. We need to know if this would come from Cornwall Council, the central government or a little bit of both. We need to be quick with it, as European funding will soon cease to be.”

The meeting heard that it is unlikely members will hear a response until at least the first week in January, due to the Christmas period. The group then discussed meeting again in January with emails and their responses.

Speaking of the members’ recent work, knocking on doors around Camelford and delivering leaflets and speaking to local residents about the town’s traffic pollution, one lady said: “I think people were a bit stunned by the leaflets. We knocked on doors, but people didn’t really know what it was. Also, we were asking questions that referred to the leaflets, as all the information was on there, so people couldn’t really answer, as we weren’t given enough leaflets to apply to the whole town.”

The group then spoke about Mr Mann’s recent meeting with the roads minister, Andrew Jones MP, at the Houses of Parliament in London, where he told the minister about the town’s desperate need for a bypass, and how residents and local people were seeking for funding and help for this to be delivered.

Cllr Hewlett said: “Perhaps the minister would like to visit us!”

Another member of the group explained his concern over the main road in Camelford, Fore Street, and its classification as an ‘A road’, he added: “I think it would be good if we could get that road declassified as an A road, and enforce severe traffic calming measures in such a way that lorries can’t argue with it. If we were to put in severe traffic calming, then we could get the lorries out of the way, and perhaps just allow delivery vans and unloading vans on that road in specific time windows.”

Cllr Hewlett came to the conclusion that there are ‘no perfect solutions’ to the town’s issues. She said that a bypass would see people, who care strongly for the conservation of fields and green spaces, complain; whilst an alternative route past two schools would anger parents and staff.

Bringing the meeting to a close, one member said: “We are not road management experts. We can only make suggestions and leave it to them [the authorities] to see if it meets the feasibility. We just can’t work at that level.”

Members of the public are invited to attend the upcoming Camelford Community Network Panel meeting at Camelford Hall on Tuesday, December 13, at 7pm, where Eloise Travis will be giving an update on the town’s air quality, and residents will be given the chance to have their say.