Tonbridge & Malling to Write a New Air Quality Plan, Still Centred on Wateringbury

Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council has approved £10,615 of consultancy funding to develop a new Air Quality Action Plan (AQAP), covering 2027 to 2032, to replace the one currently in place. The decision was taken by the Cabinet Member for Housing, Environment and Economy on 27 September and published on 2 October.

Councils only have to maintain an AQAP where they've declared an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) - a stretch of road or area where pollution breaches national limits. Tonbridge and Malling's sole declared AQMA covers the Wateringbury crossroads, the same stretch of Tonbridge Road near the Bow Road junction this site has reported on before as a central reason councillors twice refused Croudace Homes' 66-home Green Belt scheme on the edge of the village. The new plan will keep a specific focus on Wateringbury while also setting actions to cut pollutant emissions across the wider borough.

The £10,615 is coming from the council's Climate Change reserve rather than general council tax funds. The decision notice gives the reasons as straightforward compliance - councils are legally required to maintain an AQAP wherever an AQMA is in place - alongside the council's own climate change strategy and targets. Source: Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council, Executive Decision D260096MEM