Agenda item

Councillor Sarah Warren, Cabinet Member for Climate and Sustainable Travel, and Cathryn Brown, Clean Air Zone Team Manager, introduced the report and gave a presentation which covered the following:

(Councillor Dave Wood, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhood Services was also present to answer questions from the Panel).

·  Background

·  Pollutants monitored in BANES

·  How we monitor pollutants

·  How we present the data

·  Average trends in BANES

·  CAZ Assessment

·  CAZ compliance and other

·  Temple Cloud Air Quality Management Area

·  Farrington Gurney Air Quality Management Area

·  Temple Cloud and Farrington Gurney Air Quality Action Plan

·  Keynsham Air Quality Management Area

·  Saltford Air Quality Management Area

·  Environment Act 2021. World Health Organisation Air Quality Guidelines

·  AQ data – published on Forward Plan

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

Councillor Lisa O Brien asked why there was tree cutting in Temple Cloud when we are trying to plant trees.Councillor Dave Wood, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhood Services, explained there was a canopy of tree coverage over one road which was trapping pollution, they have been pruned back. Also, some vegetation by the road was cut back as it was narrowing the road.

Councillor Grant Johnson commented that it was difficult to draw meaningful conclusions due to the effect of lockdown but he would be interested to see the long term trends. He asked the following questions (Officer or Cabinet Member response shown in italics):

·  He asked about the Enterprise Zone at Farrington Gurney with regard to Air Quality Assessment. The officer explained that there would be a traffic assessment as part of the planning application, and this would feed into the Air Quality Assessment – that is how the AQ impact would be shown.

·  There are differences between the levels in Temple Cloud and other areas such as Pensford and Whitchurch. Why are there such differences when all are situated along the A37. The officer explained that there is more open space along the road at Farrington Gurney whereas Temple Cloud has high hedges and housing along the road, it is more constrained.

Councillor Andy Wait asked what information or data is supplied by the laboratory from the NO2 tubes. The officer explained that the tubes contain a material that absorbs the NO2 and the laboratory reports back monthly levels – the yearly average is worked out from this.

Councillor Ryan Wills asked the following questions (Officer or Cabinet Member response shown in italics):

·  The report stated that the World Health Organisation wants a more ambitious limit – what is it? The officer explained that the WHO guideline value is hugely ambitious and there are interim targets for cities to move towards achieving them. Consultation is taking place now with results expected in the Autumn. We will bring this back to the Panel when we have the consultation results.

·  Temple Cloud is still over the limit in some areas, will there be additional action? Councillor Dave Wood explained that there had been a significant drop in levels in Temple Cloud but further interventions are planned around HGV light up signage. There will also be the impact on the A37 of the Bristol Clean Air Zone.

Councillor Joel Hirst asked if there was a simple way for Panel members to get information on vehicle displacement (eg. Rush Hill) as the data on this is impenetrable. The officer acknowledged that the information is quite technical and would work to enable simpler reporting.

Councillor Ruth Malloy asked what other routes were being looked at that had been flagged up by members of the public. The officer stated that there were 18 locations (in the appendix to the recent quarterly report) that were at various stages of investigation. She explained that identification was being affected by the current work at Cleveland Bridge.

Councillor Malloy stated that the bar charts in the report were helpful.

Councillor Hirst explained that it was helpful for Panel members to receive slides earlier to enable them to fully read through before the meeting.

The officer thanked Panel member for their feedback.