Agenda item

The Executive Member for the Environment and Public Space submitted a report outlining the actions taken to date to tackle air pollution in East Herts with the aim of minimising the negative impact on the health and wellbeing of local residents.

The report set out the Council’s three Air Quality Management Areas (AQMAs), and detailed what improvements had been made in recent years in air quality at the sites identified and provided an update of work currently underway on a revised Air Quality Action Plan. 

The Environment Strategy and Development Manager provided a summary of the report and advised Members that the Council had recently been successful in an Air Quality Bid to DEFRA and had been awarded £163,000 funding to install electric points and to set up an electric car club.

The Environment Strategy and Development Manager referred to initiatives to replace buses to service the Harlow / Bishop’s Stortford area which were 95% less polluting than the current EURO 4 buses used.

Councillor D Abbott expressed the concerns of residents in Bishop’s Stortford regarding the Hockerill junction levels of pollution and the need to do something quickly.  He suggested a “cap” on certain vehicles passing through the area at specific times. 

The Environment Strategy and Development Manager explained that there were a lot of actions which could be taken but that these related to highways issues which could in the long term, be costly.  Additionally there was an absence of data which could identify which and what type of vehicles were responsible for the high levels of pollution in that some HGVs with full loads were less polluting than a small family diesel car. 

The Chairman referred to the concerns raised by Bishop’s Stortford Climate Group in the email circulated to all Members.

Councillor J Jones suggested that the way forward was electric cars but that their capital price needed to come down.  Ideally he felt that all East Herts car parks should have charging points.  The Environment Strategy and Development Manager stated that there were around 514 electric cars operating in the District and that the battery range was increasing with Nissan hoping to provide a battery with a 200 mile range.  He explained that a particular problem was that of sufficiency of electricity which currently took its charge from street lights but that having charging points in all car parks had to be offset against the loss in revenue of two parking spaces. 

The Executive Member for Health and Wellbeing referred to National Clean Air Day and gave a summary of how the Council was engaging with schools in this regard.  Councillor Mrs D Hollebon asked that future events engage with adults.

Councillor M Stevenson referred to the schools buses provided to children in the USA.  The Environment Strategy and Development Manager explained that the Task and Finish Group on sustainable transport had looked at this and explained why this would not work in East Herts.

Councillor S Stainsby referred to pollution levels and the number of homes planned for the District.  The Environment Strategy and Development Manager explained that pollution levels were reducing but were increasing in respect of particulates, such as soot from tyres.  He referred to the District Plan and the transport framework for Bishop’s Stortford which he said, was continually evolving.

The Committee agreed to support the recommendations now detailed.

RESOLVED – that (A) Members’ concerns, including those of the Bishop’s Stortford Climate Group on how to improve air quality be forwarded to the Executive Member for Environment and Public Space and the Head of Housing and Health; and

(B)     Officers continue to move forward on the development of the Action Plan.