Pollution review group is set up

A council has agreed to set up a working group to lead an inquiry into climate change and threats to wildlife.

Maidstone borough councillors voted in favour of forming a group responsible for reviewing pollution in the town and producing an action plan for the council’s consideration.

Each party will nominate a member to join the review which will be made up of nine councillors.

It will get underway once all nominations are received. Some councillors at the Policy and Resources meeting expressed concerns about the urgency of the climate issue and how quickly the review can begin.

In response, Maidstone Borough Council said: “Subject to receiving the membership we can see no technical reason why this should be delayed, as it was made abundantly clear by the committee that they expected this work to continue at pace.” The review’s findings are hoped to be presented to the council by April 2020 and a budget of £40,000 has been allocated.

Cllr Tony Harwood also put forward a motion for the working group to incorporate representatives from outside of the council, including experts, young people and activist groups.

This proposal was voted down by Conservative members. At the meeting, a formal request was put forward to Maidstone Borough Council by Cllr Jonathan Purle via Twitter to continue committee work on climate change throughout the summer holidays.

The request was signed by seven Conservative councillors that were present.