Meeting documents

The Cabinet agrees that:

• 4 COMMUNITY STRATEGY OUTCOMES

• Taking responsibility for our environment and natural resources now and over the long term
• Improving our local transport
• Improving our local environment
• Improving our local health and social care

• 5 CORPORATE IMPROVEMENT PRIORITIES

• Improving the Quality of Public Transport/Roads/Pavements and easing congestion
• Improving the public realm
• Improving customer satisfaction

• 6 CPA KEY LINES OF ENQUIRY

• Creating and developing a better quality of life for the area through

• o Sustainable Communities and Transport
  o Safer and Stronger Communities
  o Healthier Communities

  7 THE REPORT

  7.1 The Environment Act 1995 introduced a requirement that every local authority should carry out regular reviews and assess the air quality within their boundaries. The Government set standards for a number of pollutants, which they required authorities to monitor. If the levels of pollution are found to be above, or predicted to be above, the Government's targets then the local authority is required to declare an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA's) for that area.

  7.2 AQMA's are set up where air pollution levels are high enough to be a potential health risk. As almost all air pollution comes from traffic emissions, AQMA's are often set up along major roads. Bath already has one AQMA along the London Road and Bathwick Street. Measures to improve air quality in this area have already been determined and an Air Quality Action Plan has been produced. Money from government has been allocated to the Council to deal with traffic related air pollution in the Integrated Transport Block Allocation.

  7.3 A detailed review of the air quality in 2005 revealed a number of traffic "hot spots" that exist in the city, all of which have levels of pollution (Nitrogen Dioxide) higher than the Government's acceptable limits and the Council must now therefore declare further AQMA's. The areas identified are at Windsor Bridge (including the lower and Upper Bristol Road junctions), Broad Street, parts of Wells Road, Widcombe High Street area, the arterial route through the city centre via Queen Square, George Street and Paragon onto London Road, and the area at the south end of St James's Parade and Somerset Street. A map showing the areas is provided at Appendix A. However, the detailed review recommended that, as there were a number of traffic "hot spots" in the city that it would be more beneficial to combine these areas and declare one AQMA across the major road network in the city. A map showing the major road network is provided in Appendix B.

  7.4 In July 2007 a report was taken to the Council's Safer and Stronger Communities Overview and Scrutiny Panel looking at the issue of air quality in Bath. At the meeting the Panel made the following resolution:-

• It was RESOLVED that the Panel ask that Full Council considers the whole of the city of Bath be included as an Air Quality Management Area (at that time a report was due to go before Full Council, but following legal advice the report is now being presented to the Cabinet).

• 7.5 The Council's options are to implement one of the following:-

  (1) Not to declare any Air Quality Management Areas.
  (2) Create new Air Quality Management Areas specific to the hot spot sites in question;
  (3) Declare the major road network as one Air Quality Management Area.
  (4) Declare the whole of the city of Bath as an Air Quality Management Area.

  7.6 The Cabinet are being asked to decide on their preferred option and to instruct officers to declare the relevant area or areas.

  8 RISK MANAGEMENT

  8.1 The report author and Lead Cabinet member have fully reviewed the risk assessment related to the issue and recommendations, in compliance with the Council's decision making risk management guidance.

  9 RATIONALE

  9.1 The rationale behind recommending that the entire major road network in Bath is declared an Air Quality Management Area is that this provides a more comprehensive solution to reducing the levels of traffic related pollution across the city. There are economies of scale in that similar measures will need to be taken for each area and that some of the schemes can be combined.

  10 OTHER OPTIONS CONSIDERED

  10.1 Other options considered include:-

(1) Not to declare an additional management area or areas. This is not an option as the Council would be in breach of the air quality regulations.

(2) Just declaring the "Hot Spots". This has been dismissed as it would be inefficient and ineffective as the traffic related pollution is transboundary.

(3) The option, suggested by the Safer and Stronger Communities Overview and Scrutiny Panel, of declaring the whole of Bath an AQMA has been dismissed as there are large areas of the city where the levels of traffic related pollution do not exceed the government's guidelines. To declare the whole of the city would leave the Council open to challenge, which could not be defended in those areas with "good" air quality. To declare the whole of the city would also put extra financial pressure on the Council as this would require additional mitigating measures to be introduced.