Meeting documents

Summary of findings from the public consultation

From May to September 2006 the Council conducted a public consultation to determine the views of the public and other stakeholders regarding the creation of a new AQMA in Bath. Information material was widely available and publicised online, radio and local press. Information was also delivered to approximately 1200 addresses in the area that could be directly affected by a new AQMA. This information included a feedback questionnaire.

Despite a disappointing response (there were only a handful of phone calls, letters and emails regarding the consultation and returned questionnaires accounted for just 8% of the total that were distributed), the overwhelming majority (68%) was for the creation of an AQMA that includes the whole major road network, rather than just the hot spots.

The top five suggestions of measures to improve air quality in an AQMA in Bath were:

Restrict or ban lorries from the city centre (12%)

Introduction of a congestion charge (10%)

Restrict delivery times of goods vehicles (8%)

Reduce price of public transport (8%)

Pedestrianisation of areas in the city centre (6%)

Transport and Planning

Bath and North East Somerset Council's Transport and Planning team made some comment on the proposals complementing the overall views of the public in their consultation responses and the Overview and Scrutiny Panel.

It was said that the area wide nature of the air quality problem suggests that we need to tackle air quality problems across the network at source (i.e. targeting the most polluting vehicles) rather at isolated 'hot spots', which if treated in isolation, as for example a traffic management problem, may simply shift the problem elsewhere. The air quality issue is a network wide problem and therefore the solution is the same which ever approach is taken and there is no difference in cost.

In terms of Integrated Transport Block funding the initial approach would be to develop a Low Emission Zone targeting HGVs, buses and coaches in the Bus Station/Coach Station area.

The effect of the Low Emission Zone would have a beneficial affect across the network which, if necessary, can be enlarged in the future to cover a wider area.