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

In the Policy and Resources meeting held this week, 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 in total.

The review will get under way once all nominations are received and its full scope has been established.

Some councillors, including Cllr Matt Burton and Cllr Jonathan Purle, 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 Policy & Resources Committee that they expected this work to continue at pace which is what we would seek to achieve."

The review's findings are hoped to be presented by the last policy and resources meeting to be held in April 2020.

The group has been allocated a budget of £40,000 and will be able to carry out site visits, hold public meetings and commission work.

Pollution is a growing concern in Maidstone, with Upper Stone Street generating the fifth highest level of pollution in the country, outside of London, according to Friends of the Earth.

The road has 79.3 micrograms of fumes per cubic metre of air, which is almost double the European Union's limit for nitrogen dioxide.

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.

Maidstone Borough Council formally declared a climate change emergency in April 2019 proposed target for carbon neutrality by 2030.

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.

Val Springett, councillor for Bearsted, added: “Carbon neutrality & climate change are incredibly important, not only for the planet but for things like getting clean air and greenery here in Maidstone.

"The idea that elected councillors should swan off on holiday is anathema to me. That’s why I decided we needed to sit through the summer and why I made John draft a requisition there and then.

"Hopefully we can finally make progress on environmental action after all these years of neglect by the ruling LibLab coalition.”

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