Agenda item

Report of the Director of Community Protection and Corporate Director of Commercial and Operations

Richard Taylor, Environmental Health and Safer Places Manager, gave a presentation on air quality and health in Nottingham, highlighting the following points:

(a)  air is comprised of 79% nitrogen and 20% oxygen. The remaining 1% is "other" such as natural emissions and particles and emissions from human activities. Near to roads, around 3/4 of emission contributions are from road transport. In addition to gases there are particles (such as sand, dust, carbon, and diesel particulate emissions) present in the air;

(b)  air pollution shortens lives, the great smog shortened 12,000 people's lives in London alone. In 2008 it was estimated that 29,000 people died early due to particle pollution, this figure was later revised upwards to 40,000 when the effects of nitrogen dioxide were re-assessed;

(c)  during air pollution episodes with higher concentrations of pollutants, these issues become much more apparent. When there is an episode this is usually due to air not moving around enough, so pollutants build up. There was a big episode in April 2014 affecting a significant proportion of the country;

(d)  there is discrepancy between WHO recommended levels of pollutants and national and EU limits, so we may reach our own targets but we are still not within WHO recommended safe levels;

(e)  the Clean Air Acts (1956, 1968, 1993) each caused a significant change in visible air pollutants and improved situations significantly. Air pollution is now far less visible. Black particles of smoke and sulphur dioxide reduced dramatically due to the introductions of these acts. In 1995 some older measurement equipment could no longer measure the levels as they were now so low. The current pollution problem is road transport related. The 1995 act introduced local air quality management, Councils are required to assess air quality and come up with a plan to improve air quality to meet objectives;

(f)  concentrations of nitrogen dioxide in Nottingham follow the major roads into the city. Air quality management areas have been introduced to reflect these areas. Nottingham City Council has attempted to change behaviours by encouraging walking, cycling, and public transport use. All local authorities had to do this, and neighbouring local authorities are also working together. It is still a problem though as car use is still very high. Nottingham is meeting legal air quality objectives, but not WHO guideline levels. There is a general trend down on particulate pollutants;

(g)  Public Health England plotted background particle concentrations for Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, which confirmed that dense urban areas have higher particle levels. This helped the argument for what needs to be done to improve air quality;

(h)  in Nottingham we recognise that air pollution has an impact on health. Air quality is now included in the joint strategic needs assessment, and a range of behaviours and programmes to improve air quality are promoted;

(i)  the government has announcement clean air zones, Nottingham will be one of a number of city's mandated to declare one. DEFRA have slightly different qualifiers, so their areas don't match the areas identified by Nottingham City Council. The proposal is to have a “class B” clean air zone, which would involve restrictions on busses, taxis, coaches, and heavy goods vehicles. The zone may extend past city boundaries;

(j)  city centre traffic was reported a short time ago, with the ring road rerouted to keep traffic moving smoothly. The NET tram lines have been extended, with possible further extension plans. Nottingham also has a fantastic bus service with modern more environmentally friendly vehicles, and steps have been taken to encourage walking and cycling. Individual actions seem to be the solution, and unless everyone does what they can to reduce emissions, it will be a struggle to meet objectives.

There were some questions and comments from the Committee:

(k)  as there is only one monitoring station in the City, which records significantly different pollutant levels to those of other cities, there was concern that the monitoring station may not be located properly. However, Nottingham’s monitoring station is next to a main road with a busy bus route, whilst the equivalent station in Leicester is located well away from any roads. Nottingham’s monitoring station is probably located correctly;

(l)  it is not yet known what form the restrictions on certain vehicle types within the Clean Air Zone will take (such as exclusion, time restriction, charging etc.) or what the geographical boundaries of the zone will be. Work is continuing with DEFRA to ascertain the scope;

(m)  whilst it seems odd to charge for or restrict busses, when they could be a valuable part of a solution to air pollutants, the vehicle types are set by DEFRA;

(n)  when developers submit proposals for new schools or nurseries, the safety of pupils with regards to air quality is considered. For example, a school located next to a flyover, with a busy road at an elevated height had requirements for windows on the road-facing side to be sealed, all ventilation systems to be placed on the opposite side of the building, and for the ventilation system to contain “scrubbing” and air quality filters. A planned nursery was refused permission a few years ago due to air quality concerns for the pupils;

(o)  trees and greenery form a surface to which particulate pollutants can adhere, but this has minimal effect as much of the UK’s greenery is seasonal. Further planting is still encouraged wherever possible. Whilst plants can remove some toxic gasses from the air, they can be harmed by others;

(p)  as Nottingham is close to the M1, we often have commuters travelling from further afield, so better public transport or provision for electric vehicles is unlikely to offer an alternative for those commuters, as range can be an issue;

(q)  Public Health England unequivocally say that the health benefits of cycling far outweigh any negative impact of exposure to air-borne pollutants, however, the health benefit would be even greater if routes away from main roads are used;

(r)  amongst air quality professionals with knowledge of the causes and issues or air pollution, it is felt that more will be needed. The Clean Air Zone restrictions stop short of affecting private vehicles, but DEFRA feels that they can demonstrate an adherence to EU air quality objectives by 202 by only placing restrictions on commercial vehicles;

(s)  the process for air quality monitoring and improvement can be quite slow, so ideally air quality would be reported back to the Committee in 2 years’ time, to allow for further monitoring to take place.

RESOLVED to:

(1)  note the information contained within the report and the presentation, including the health impacts of air pollution, the measures being taken by Nottingham City Council and its partner organisations to regulate, reduce and minimise emissions, and that the measures that individuals can take to reduce emissions also improve physical and mental health and wellbeing and are financially neutral or beneficial;

(2)  schedule a further report on air quality to come to the Area Committee in 2018.