Agenda item

·                To recommend that further discussions be held with private businesses to raise awareness of idling on or near their premises (such as supermarket car parks) and that consideration be given to providing resources for residents who want signage in specific locations.

·                To recommend that the availability and accessibility of data on the website be improved. And – that this should be optimised to better enable comparisons of Lewisham’s performance with comparable boroughs.

·                That the Committee reiterate the urgency of decarbonising the Council’s vehicle fleet to ensure that it was fully ULEZ compliant.

·                That the Committee endorse the ambition to meet the World Health Organisation targets for air quality.

·                That the Committee supports the strategic roll out of electric vehicle charging points and that it encourages measures to ensure their affordability.

·                That the report be noted.

4.1    Dr Catherine Mbema (Director of Public Health) and Lucy Kirk (Environmental Protection Manager) introduced the report – noting the progress that had been made in delivering the air quality action plan and highlighting significant areas of progress in the previous year. They also outlined key areas of focus in the coming year.

4.2    Dr Mbema, Luck Kirk and Sefkan Altuntop (Senior Air Quality Officer) responded to questions from the Committee (including members attending under standing orders) and the following key points were noted:

·                Further information would be provided on the responsiveness and performance of anti-idling reports through the ‘parking issues’ reporting system.

·                Further information would be provided on the cost of ULEZ charges for non-ULEZ compliant vehicles.

·                Work to ensure that the vehicle fleet was fully ULEZ and Euro VI compliant was being prioritised (a report on the cost implications of this would be considered at Mayor and Cabinet later in the year)

·                Further information would be provided on the number of homes being improved with funding from the social housing decarbonisation fund.

·                Additional information would also be provided on the work taking place with housing associations and private landlords to tackle poor standards and to improve the energy efficiency of their stock.

·                Air quality had improved over the past seven years across all the main pollutants.

·                Officers did not routinely compare Lewisham’s air quality with that of other boroughs – due to the different conditions present in each borough.

·                Further work could take place to compare trends with other boroughs.

·                Work was taking place with two schools to develop active travel maps to improve active travel as part of the school super zone initiative.

·                100 new sensors would be rolled out across the borough to further highlight areas or poor air quality and to enable residents to choose healthy routes for walking and cycling.

·                Further discussions would take place with transport colleagues to consider anti-idling signage for private businesses (such as supermarkets)

·                Further information would be provided on the implementation of solar panels and other decarbonisation measures across the borough.

·                There was an exceedance of nitrogen dioxide levels at the Loampit Vale monitoring site – the reasons for this were not immediately clear – but further work was taking place to determine the source.

·                Further detailed analysis of the hourly monitoring data from Loampit Vale would take place to determine whether there were new businesses or changes to the road layout that could explain the change.

·                It was too early to tell what the impact of the ULEZ expansion would be - but it was anticipated that the expansion would significantly improve air quality. Particulate matter in the air would remain a problem – due to the issue of road wear and particulates created by vehicles braking.

·                Work was taking place to update the website with the 2023 diffusion tube data.

·                The World Health Organisation (WHO) targets for air quality were ambitious – and were not currently being met by any London Borough.

·                The WHO targets were focused on human health, rather than achievability.

·                The Joint Strategic Needs Assessment was in the process of being updated. It would incorporate a range of actions to deal with the different types of air pollution.

4.3    Councillor Krupski (Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Environment, Transport and Climate Action) was invited to address the Committee – the following key points were noted:

·                The funding from the social housing decarbonisation fund would not be enough to retrofit all of the Council’s social housing stock. Further information would be made available in the forthcoming Housing Retrofit Strategy – which would also provide information on solar panels and other low carbon energy solutions.

·                Work would take place to improve signage for cycling routes in line with the integrated active travel strategy. However, funding for this work was limited.

·                There had been some success regarding anti-idling with private businesses.

·                Discussions had been held with Transport for London to provide electric busses for the routes passing through Lewisham Town Centre in order to help deal with the spike in air pollution in the area.

·                The Council had a target for the implementation of 300 new cycle hangars by the end of the 2022-26 administration (although this was dependent on funding).

·                School streets had broadly been welcomed – there had been some localised issues but the reception to the programme overall was positive.

·                The integrated active travel strategy would be considered by Mayor and Cabinet in October.

·                Work was taking place to tackle pollution caused by wood burning and gas burning for heating.

·                The causes of pollution (other than road traffic) were varied – and included agriculture (blown in by the weather) over long distances.

·                Electric vehicles were an improvement on the existing fleet – but there were still issues with particulate matter created by breaks and road wear.

·                Lewisham was working with Greenwich Council to spend government funding for new electric vehicle charging points and this would be focused in areas that currently had a lack of charging infrastructure.

4.4       Actions:

·                That further information be provided on the responsiveness and performance of anti-idling reports through the ‘parking issues’ reporting system.

·                That further information be provided on the cost of ULEZ charges for non-ULEZ compliant vehicles.

·                That additional information be provided on the work taking place with housing associations and private landlords to tackle poor standards and to improve the energy efficiency of their stock.

·                That the timeline for the agreement of the integrated active travel strategy be provided to the Committee.

·                That further information be shared regarding the proposals for low carbon energy and decarbonisation measures (this should be available in the forthcoming retrofit strategy).

4.5    Resolved:

·                To recommend that further discussions be held with private businesses to raise awareness of idling on or near their premises (such as supermarket car parks) and that consideration be given to providing resources for residents who want signage in specific locations.

·                To recommend that the availability and accessibility of data on the website be improved. And – that this should be optimised to better enable comparisons of Lewisham’s performance with comparable boroughs.

·                That the Committee reiterate the urgency of decarbonising the Council’s vehicle fleet to ensure that it was fully ULEZ compliant.

·                That the Committee endorse the ambition to meet the World Health Organisation targets for air quality.

·                That the Committee supports the strategic roll out of electric vehicle charging points and that it encourages measures to ensure their affordability.

·                That the report be noted.