Agenda item

To receive a resolution from the Planning and Transportation Committee regarding the City of London Air Quality Strategy 2015-2020.

The Committee received a resolution from the Planning and Transportation Committee regarding the City of London Air Quality Strategy 2015-20. The Chairman invited the Director of Port Health and Public Protection to clarify and respond to the comments made by the Planning and Transportation Committee:-

·         Considerable action was already underway concerning idling vehicles and a further campaign would take place during autumn 2016.

·         There were no specific powers under Environmental Protection legislation to address the use of mobile shredder vans, so a joint officer group involving the Departments of Markets and Consumer Protection and the Built Environment had been established to explore the use of parking enforcement against these idling vehicles.

·         No restrictions could be placed on refrigerated vehicle movements at Smithfield Market; however a monitor had recently been installed to record pollution levels in the vicinity of the Market and appropriate action would be taken once the results are known.

·         The suggestion for planning permission to be granted only when resultant pollutants from premises were neutral was a matter for the Planning and Transportation Committee, which Members of this Committee would support if it were permissible and enforceable.

·         The presumption that only 20% of the City of London’s air pollution us generated within the City did not accurately reflect the position as a range of pollutants varied in different locations; nitrogen dioxide was mainly generated within the City of London, for instance, and the Environmental Health Officer could provide full exact figures upon request.

·         The draft Strategy was presented to the Health and Wellbeing Board and the Department of the Built Environment, including relevant planning officers, prior to and during the formal consultation process, which lasted for a period of three months, and all responses were considered before it was presented to this Committee for approval.

·         The potential for amendments to existing legislation were being considered by the Department of Markets and Consumer Protection, including a Graduate post recruited to explore this legislation, and the Remembrancer’s Office.

·         The inadequacies of the Clean Air Act had been raised by the Chairman and Director of Port Health and Public Protection with the relevant Minister, who subsequently passed on their comments to policy officials to be taken into account during any review of the Act.

·         An application had been submitted to the Mayor’s Air Quality Fund to obtain a grant to improve measures of improving air quality within the City of London.

·         A Member briefing session regarding air quality was to be arranged shortly and all Members of the Court of Common Council would be invited to attend.

·         The Strategy was an overarching document for which officers had been requested to identify more radical policies and actions that would offer quicker solutions to this problem, which could include reduced usage of diesel in the City of London, research into the best ways to address the problem, and more active traffic management.

Members added that action taken against high levels of pollution in particular areas within the City of London, such as the Beech Street tunnel, should be reported to the Committee. The Director agreed that cleansing procedures and air quality figures for Beech Street would be included in an air quality update report that would be presented to the next Committee meeting.