City of York Council, UK Decision Sessions, 24 Sep 2020

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From YouTube: Decision Session - Executive Member for Environment and Climate Change, 24 September 2020

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AGENDA (To view individual agenda items click on the links below)
1. Declarations of Interest 00:00:28
2. Minutes 00:00:36
3. Public Participation 00:00:48
4. Air Quality - Annual Status Report 2020 00:00:59

For full agenda, attendance details and supporting documents visit:
https://democracy.york.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=870&MId=12378

A

Hello um and welcome to the virtual meeting for the decision session for executive member for environment and climate change. This decision session is focusing on air quality and I would like to welcome mike slater neil ferris and mike southcom, who are the experts in this area so going through the agenda.

A

um The first item on the agenda is declarations of interest, which is me I have none, so we've covered that one second item is minutes to approve I've read the minutes, I'm happy with them. Gentlemen. Are you happy with the minutes excellent I'll? Take that as unanimous approval.

A

Third item on the agenda is public participation. We don't have any. I know there's an awful lot else going on in the world, so people are preoccupied rightly in other areas. So that brings us straight into the annual status report on our air quality, which mike, how do I invite to start.

B

I'm just going to introduce it, so thank you councilwoman, so I'm mike slater assistant director for planning and public protection for the audience at home and online. um We have this afternoon for your consideration, council with us, and the annual air quality status report and mike southcom's going to take us through that in a short while or the highlights of that, and the reporters you will see and it's published on the website looks back over the last year and also looks forward to some of the challenges we face going forward.

B

So without any further to do so to speak um I'll bring mike in to talk us through some of the key points. If that's okay with you.

C

Okay, thank you. um Yeah, since 2012 there's been a general decrease in nitrogen dioxide concentrations, although uh year-on-year improvements in the last two to three years seem to have plateaued a bit, and you can see this from figure 1.

C

On page 12 of the report, the health based uh annual average nitrogen dioxide objective is still being breached at some locations around the inner wing road and the city center, including jilly gate, holgate, blossom street lugia street and george hudson street we've also seen elevated levels but below the air quality objective on nunu elaine, lawrence street fisher gate and copper gate. This clearly demonstrates the need to continue to deliver the air quality improvement measures uh in the third air quality action plan.

C

uh Also, the council was correct to evoke the air quality management areas in the source, terrace and forward road areas of york, as nitrogen dioxide concentrations are well within the air quality objective.

C

Turning to uh the air quality concentrations for particulates, uh both uh pm10 and pm 2.5 are currently easily met in york, but there doesn't appear to be any clear trend in the pm10 concentrations over the last eight years, and so the decrease in concentrations has not continued in the last 12 months, whilst our statutory legal reporting duties to defra are for the air quality objectives for world health organization has also issued guidelines, as illustrated in figures two and three of report on pages 15 and 16 respectively.

C

For the first time, we've seen fisher gate just above the who guideline for pm10, the other sites are well below of who guidelines pm 2.5 concentrations for the roadside air quality monitoring stations at fishergate and jilly gate are well below the eu air quality objectives and below the who guidelines and are falling.

C

However, concentration in boovom. That's our background site is increasing, indicating that the source in this particular location may not be traffic based and may be more localized, though we tend to focus on our statutory responsibilities to meet the air quality objectives. Our aim should always be to reduce pollution levels as far as possible, and especially in terms of pm, 2.5 and further measures to achieve this, including the caz new taxi licensing guidelines and a further bid to deathwear to consider delivery hubs for last. Small delivery should help us to achieve this.

C

Although it's not part of the 2019 report, I thought it would be useful to include uh some information on the early impact of the kobit 19 lockdown, and that is for no2. Concentrations in some areas of york has improved by an average of about 30 percent and up to 43, clearly demonstrating that traffic is a significant source of no2 in the city and support information for council has taken so far to reduce vehicle emissions.

C

This should mean that the air quality objectives at all locations by our targeted date of 2021 should be achieved. However, we expect uh air pollution to increase, as um traffic begins, to return to normal.

C

If that's the case of course, after this week, um looking at the uh delivery of air quality action plan free measures, the council has secured funding to deliver fully electric uh buses and charging infrastructure at york's park and ride sites.

C

We've introduced a clean air zone for buses and allocated funding to help to replace and retrofit 93 buses, so they become caz compliant vehicles just to stress, but ours is the first clean air zone in the country. Whilst many other cities have backed off um implementing a clean air zone for various reasons, yorkers pushed ahead and delivered the first one in the uk, we've encouraged 20 of uh york's taxis to uh convert to low emission vehicles and secured funding to encourage more drivers to upgrade their vehicles.

C

We've implemented an extensive electric vehicle public recharging network, we've developed, lower mission planning guidance and we've launched the kick for habit. Anti-Idling awareness raising campaign together with anti-idling patrols, just one correction to report, paragraph 29 bullet point three refers to the retrofitting of trans dev tour buses to electric.

C

Unfortunately, this was only partly successful and only one of those have been retrofitted to electric and the other three are being upgraded from euro five to euro six diesel.

C

Looking forward, um the clean air zone comes fully into effect on the 31st of january 2021, meaning that most of york's buses will be electric or diesel euro 6 compliant um five out of a six uh park and ride sites will be delivered. As part of this, uh that's electrification, I should say taxi licensing report which goes to uh the licensing committee tomorrow, proposes to further tighten emissions standards, four taxis and introduce a maximum age limit of seven years by 2023.

C

This is supported by defra funding to enable drivers to swap their vehicles to ultra low emission vehicles. uh The electrification of a council fleet, starting with vehicles under 3.5 tonnes, is in progress.

C

Council staff continue to work from home, as do many other office-based staff, especially after this week, and this should reduce the need to travel. The extension of the foot streets and pavement cafe. Culture that's occurred during the coronavirus.

C

Lockdown should see further traffic removed from the city center and uh we're currently in the process of putting together a bid to defra for a feasibility study and pilot scheme for delivery hubs to support last mile, zero emission or ultra low emission delivery to the city centre and other locations within york just to stress. Finally, we need to continue to reduce pollution, not just because of the already established links to poor public health, but also due to more recent research, indicating a link to covid 19 transmission.

C

A

Mike is a fantastic report and the work that your team, both mike's, that your team has done, delivered and continues to deliver amazes me, especially under the conditions that everybody's been working over the last six months. I've got a couple of questions apart from saying it is well worth a read. Even for somebody like me, there's lots and lots of pictures between page and all the areas that you talked about, and I made a note of the pages between pages 31 and 37 in your main report.

A

It just shows you how much activity you guys have been through and the fact that when I was down in oxford or nearly a year ago, they had asked and paid for our kick the habit campaign, so it's being used across the country which is fantastic, really really impressive. I've got a couple of questions first, one is. We do always focus on transport, because we know it's a big area but, as you said, that was when there was no transport, it was 40 to the no2.

A

So we really do have to think about it as a wider area as well. So I'm guessing, but this is the layman, guessing that domestic heating and wood, burners and us making bonfires and that type of stuff is unhelpful as well.

C

I mean we are engaged in reducing emissions from all sources, but usually other processing. In that particular respect, we have smoke control areas covering most of the city center of york for suburbs and the main villages.

C

We take enforcement action against those people having nuisance bonfires. We try to reduce emissions from buildings as far as practical through the planning process.

C

We know that the government are proposing new additional measures to reduce domestic and commercial emissions. We wait to see what they're proposing and, in particular, what resources they're going to give us to help us to deliver those uh further reductions.

A

Absolutely and then just um a final question: we've got the clean air zone, the cass, and I know that it's all focused on buses at the moment.

A

What I I hear what you said about the the final mile, the electrification or the the low emissions for delivery of the final mile. What are your other thoughts in that area?.

C

Yeah, I mean the uh our air quality policy, although we've got a low emission strategy and a third air quality action plan, our measures are constantly under review to check for effectiveness. Hence the annual report, uh given an update on how we're doing with those uh we're, also considering further measures and when we get round to it and have time we'll look at a fourth air quality action plan to focus on additional measures um for caz is focusing on buses.

C

At present, we are, as I briefly mentioned, in the report, putting into a bid to uh reduce emissions from uh hgvs, but also uh white vans as well, which have proliferated, particularly during the ronavirus lockdown, and we're looking at measures where we can have last minute delivery to locations via zero emissions sources, preferably that could be electric vehicles uh that could, alternatively, be bicycles without promoting any particular company. We know that they're very successful for uh pizzas, etc.

C

Well, why not other smaller goods as well, but also considering things such as rickshaws and anything else that doesn't uh pollute or congest for environment too much.

A

That's fantastic. I don't have any of the comments mike neil.

B

I'm just going to say I think in addition, you know: there's optimism, isn't the the general population there's a lot more electric vehicles coming forward now from the manufacturers, all the mainstream manufacturers and I'm guessing the prices will come down a little bit this. They start off really expensive, don't they but there's more affordable vehicles coming so, hopefully generally, for both you know, domestic and for commercial.

B

We will see over the coming years uh an increased use of low emission electric vehicles and we know there's people working on hydrogen fuel cell vehicles as well, though those are really expensive, but you know again that's something! That's uh for the future for us, but in the meantime, increasing use of electric vehicles, I think, will be a continued benefit. Thank you.

D

Yeah, the only thing I would add to that part is obviously from the public's perspective um range anxiety, and the provision of charging facilities is a key concern when they come to make that decision to move to an electric vehicle. uh Just to reassure the public out there at large, really that york does have the infrastructure to allow you to make that choice. So we're ready for when you are to make that that decision.

A

Absolutely- and I know that we've invested several millions in ultra-fast charges and five percent of our car parks have all got the charges in them for the drip feed overnight, as I always call it so we're in a fantastic position, but mike southcom. What I'm really delighted to hear as well is it's a holistic approach? It's including commercial and domestic buildings and their emissions as well as transport.

A

So many thanks for the report and what a fab fantastic set of results from the work that you have done since 2012. Many thanks.

C

We can come up with some fantastic ideas, but it does rely uh essentially upon colleagues across the council uh and uh in the private sector to deliver them.

A

Absolutely quite hear what you're saying? Okay, I don't have any further comments on the report, so the final um agenda item is urgent business. Does anybody have any urgent business? No excellent! Thank you, gentlemen, those watching at home. Thank you for your time and we'll talk about it in another year's time. Many thanks, bye.