Bromley Council has ruled out extending consultation on its future plans to tackle air quality in the borough, despite various community groups raising issues with what they claim is a lack of promotion of the plan by the council.

Consultation on the council’s Air Quality Action Plan, which will dictate what measures the authority takes on the issue in the coming five years, began on June 27 and is due to finish on the same date a month later.

However, individuals and groups in the borough have raised concerns over the lack of promotion the draft document and month-long consultation has received from the council.

Bromley Living Streets, an environmentally-minded group made up of residents lobbying for increased walking and cycling transport measures, went as far as writing to council CEO Ade Adetosoye on Friday and requesting that the consultation be extended.

“The consultation period is short, a mere four weeks…,” the group wrote in their July 24 message to the council head.

 

“Since the AQAP was uploaded to the council website on 27 June it has not been published through the council’s usual social media and email communication channels, contrasting with the wide circulation of the preliminary consultation on Bromley and Orpington Town Centre (planning consultation).”

The group requested the consultation be extended to September 19 as well being better promoted “to enable all residents appropriate time to read it and complete the council’s survey”.

However, any extensions of the consultation was ruled out by the council’s executive member for environment and community services, Cllr  William Huntington-Thresher, following enquiries from the local democracy reporting service.

The Orpington ward member also waved away suggestions the council had deliberately neglected the promotion of the document, although there has been no reference to the consultation on either the council’s Twitter or Facebook pages since it opened in June.

“We have already received a number of comments and there is no doubt that local people do know about the consultation,” Cllr Huntington-Thresher told the local democracy reporting service on Friday.

“This important matter has also been featured in the local media and many people are also discussing it. There is still time to respond and I would encourage people to take the opportunity to provide us with their comments.”

Those wishing to have their say on the plans can do so until Monday by visiting the council’s consultation portal here.