Agenda item

There is a report attached on ‘Air Quality Update – Bath Air Quality Action Plan Review and Clean Air Zone’. There will be a presentation at the meeting.

Cath Brown, Team Manager for Licensing and Environmental Protection, and Rob Spalding, Senior Public Protection Officer, gave a presentation to the Panel which covered the following:

·  Bath Air Quality Action Plan

·  Air Quality Management Area (AQMA)

·  Air Quality Action Plan in Bath

·  How does the Bath AQAP link to our other strategies?

·  Annual average NO2 levels at hotspots (2015)

·  Overview of source apportionment

·  Groups we have consulted with in planning for the review

·  What are the themes of our action plan?

·  Timeline for reviewing the Bath AQAP

·  Next steps

·  Clean Air Zone

·  What is a Clean Air Zone (CAZ)?

·  Effects and considerations of introducing a CAZ in Bath

·  How does a CAZ link to our strategies?

·  Next steps for CAZ

Panel members made the following points and asked the following questions:

Councillor Gilchrist asked about the management area around Widcombe and asked if it could be redrawn and also why Pultney Road is not included. The officer explained that the management area represents an area where NO2 exceeds the recommended level, this can be due to the layout of buildings as high sided buildings trap air pollution.

Councillor Hale pointed to the high levels in Bathwick Street and London Road and asked if this would be different if HGV vehicles used a link road. The officer said that there would be some difference, he explained that this would necessitate a costly survey whereas the authority relies on traffic modelling data. He explained that he is overseeing a brief on traffic modelling and asking for it to take air pollution into account.

Councillor Butters asked that the public speaker Richard Samuel’s questions be addressed (a copy of this statement is saved as an attachment to the minutes and kept on the Council’s minute book). Cath Brown, Team Manager for Licensing and Environmental Protection, addressed the issues. She explained that bid to DEFRA was not successful but there are other strategies with income streams such as Devolution. Regarding the boundary of management areas, she explained that this is based on the outcome of the data. Rob Spalding, Senior Public Protection Officer, explained that the chosen approach has been to focus on area where there are exceedances.

The Chair asked officers to find if there had been a traffic census on London Road.

Councillor Clarke, Cabinet Member for Transport, explained that there is no doubt that something has to be done to address the NO2 levels in Bath but explained that some of the roads are trunk roads and the authority does not have the right to impose clean air areas. He explained that the one part of the city that could be isolated is the centre. He further explained that the administration would persist in looking to get bypasses to make the authority a clean air zone. He added that the correct amount of monitoring is being done and that this authority is not high on the list as pollution levels are not high enough. He informed the Panel that he had written to the Chair of the Licensing Committee asking about regulating taxi’s in terms of pollution and diesel cars.

Councillor Butters mentioned a TV programme where pollution equipment was attached to a bike and a taxi which revealed that the taxi driver experienced higher levels of air pollution than the cyclist.

Councillor Simmons stated that diffusion tubes give three monthly averages and suggested the use of a gas analyser to show different levels at different times. The officer explained that there are automatic monitors which can be moved every three months.

Councillor Bull asked if we could prohibit engines staying idol, the officer explained that a CAZ is not needed for that.