Agenda item

Resolved: that the Committee refer its views on this item to Mayor and Cabinet.

Christopher Howard (Environmental Protection Officer) introduced the report, the following key points were noted:

·         The Council’s air quality action plan would be considered by Mayor and Cabinet at the meeting on 7 December.

·         The action plan set out the measures the Council would put in place to improve air quality in Lewisham’s air quality management area (most of the north of the borough and areas adjacent to major roads in the south).

·         There was new guidance from the Greater London Authority (GLA) as well as changes in the reporting framework for air quality action plans, which had been incorporated into the development of the new action plan.

·         Development of the plan had involved officers from across the Council.

·         The appendix to the report gave details of the consultation that had taken place with stakeholders.

·         A non-statutory consultation was also carried out with residents and businesses.

In response to questions from the Committee, the following key points were noted:

·         The importance of parking in relation to air quality had been considered in the action plan.

·         Feedback from the consultation highlighted issues with the cost of electric vehicles and accessibility of charging points.

·         There were currently 10 Source London (the main provider of publicly available charging points) electrical vehicle charging locations in the borough, it was intended that there would be an additional 14 charging points by March 2017.

·         The location of new charging points was agreed in discussion between officers in parking, planning and highways, alongside the operator (Source London).

·         The focus of the action plan was on levels of nitrogen dioxide because the pollutant exceeded limits across the borough.

·         The action plan included measures to moderate the impact of new buildings and development activity on levels of emissions. It also made a priority of providing and improving green spaces in new developments.

·         New developments were required to have air quality management plans. Developers were required to submit these as part of the planning process. However, it was recognised that monitoring of adherence to these plans was complicated.

·         There had been a European ruling on air quality, which found against the UK government. The ruling meant that the Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs had to produce a national air quality action plan. London was also required to produce a plan.

·         The GLA had identified a number of ‘focus areas’ for action, in which it would target improvement activity and funding.

·         The Mayor of London had been quite bold in setting out plans to improve air quality. The new standards for, and the expansion of, the low emission zone were predicted to make substantial improvements to the quality of London’s air.

·         Lewisham had cleaner air borough status. To gain this recognition, the Council had to demonstrate that there was commitment by the Council’s leadership to improving air quality.

·         There were three continuous air quality monitoring sites in the borough (in the south, centre and north of the borough). There were also 30 nitrogen dioxide monitoring tubes in different locations around the borough (a number were in close proximity to schools).

·         The 20mph speed limit on borough roads would reduce pollution by improving the flow of traffic.

The Committee made a number of comments. The following key points were noted:

·         The Committee had carried out work exploring the potential of changes to the built environment to help filter air pollution and improve air quality.

·         There was concern about the level of influence the Council could have on the issues of air quality, given that it was much larger and more significant than the geographic limits of any single borough.

·         The cost of electric cars was prohibitive to many residents.

·         The location of electric vehicle charging points had the potential to be controversial if it reduced the availability of parking.

Resolved: that the Committee refer its views on this item to Mayor and Cabinet.