THE leader of Bradford on Avon Town Council has invited Baroness Jane Scott, the Conservative leader of Wiltshire Council, to visit the town to discuss air quality and pollution.

The invitation was extended last Wednesday at a meeting of the town council’s planning and environment committee.

It follows comments made by Baroness Scott on the BBC’s Sunday Politics West television programme on January 21.

Baroness Scott told BBC presenter David Garmston that small market towns such as Bradford on Avon and Devizes with “traditional, old road systems” did not help to reduce pollution and improve air quality but bypasses were expensive to build.

“The only solution is to build a bypass but it is not going to happen in towns like Bradford on Avon and Devizes, as much as they would love it to.”

The only solution was for towns to help improve air quality themselves by walking and cycling and using electric vehicles to cut pollution.

Cllr Dominic Newton, the leader of Bradford on Avon Town Council, said: “There has been no consultation by Baroness Scott or Wiltshire Council in relation to the assertion that the town wants a bypass, neither is it the policy of this council.

“It should be remembered that Bradford on Avon includes one of the four zones in Wiltshire that regularly exceeds air quality targets and places residents’ health at risk.

“Wiltshire Council has a statutory duty to protect the health and wellbeing of our residents and that those residents pay council tax with that expectation.”

Cllr Newton said the town council had “repeatedly” sought meetings with Cllr Bridget Wayman, Wiltshire Council’s portfolio holder for transport, to discuss traffic and pollution issues, but to no avail.

He wants to know how Wiltshire Council will consult with the town council on the county’s draft Air Quality Plan before it is submitted to central government.