NOTHING can be done to improve air pollution in some of the worst affected areas of the Sevenoaks district, council officials have admitted.The revelation has come following the publication of the council's action plan to target 11 areas where air pollution has risen to unacceptably high levels.
Nitrogen dioxide, which has been linked to respiratory health problems, was found in high concentrations in Sevenoaks High Street, Bat and Ball junction, Seal High Street and the two miniroundabouts on the A25 in Riverhead.
Environmental campaigners have said more needs to be done to improve the situation.
Sevenoaks Friends of the Earth spokeswoman Lisa Simmonds said the district council should make it more difficult for the area's biggest supermarkets – Tesco and Sainsbury's – to expand.
Tesco in Riverhead has been given the go-ahead to expand by 50 per cent and the Sainsbury's superstore in Otford has lodged a planning application to build a double-decker car park on its site.
Ms Simmonds said: "We did protest about the Tesco expansion and we did make comments about the West Kent Cold Store.
"I don't know what you can do with Riverhead. Obviously you need fleets of buses taking people around instead of cars and it needs to be safer for cyclists."
Other pollution hotspots in the district include the M25, M26 and M20, the Swanley bypass and the central areas of Swanley and Westerham. Although the district council has said it was Kent Highway Authority's responsibility to make any improvement to the motorway network, it will continue to lobby for measures such as a reduction in speed to 50mph, improved regulation of traffic joining the motorways and plans to reduce the number of HGVs on the roads.
The consultation on the district council's Draft Air Quality Action Plan concluded earlier this month. It will go before the cabinet this summer for approval.
