Issue - meetings

Report attached.

The air quality action plan was approved by Cabinet in 2018, it was laid out to accomplish compliance with the national air quality goals. The plan outlined the actions Havering Council will take to improve air quality within the Borough between 2018 – 2023.

There was a £125,000 budget for the 2020-2021 period.

There were four main areas within the action plan:

·         Air quality modelling and monitoring

·         Public health awareness and encouraging smarter travel

·         Building emissions and development

·         Transport emissions

Air quality was monitored by assessing the levels of Nitrogen Monoxide (NO) and Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) in the air. These gasses were measured using diffusion tubes – small plastic tubes which are placed above ground in key monitoring areas. Looking at statistical data, the worst polluted areas in the Borough came from areas with a high flow of traffic. Levels of NO had been on a downwards slope since 2014 in all locations.

Air quality awareness has been brought to local Havering schools, for example the “walk to school” week was promoted by 15 separate schools between the 5^th and 9^th October 2020.

The Council was continuing to promote the Smarter Travel initiatives to businesses in monthly bulletins. In addition, the idling of vehicles was an area of focus, with the Council joining the London-wide Anti-Idling campaign (funded by the Mayor’s Air Quality Fund) with an aim to prevent unnecessary traffic emissions within the borough.

New major developments within Havering were required to be air quality neutral and would be assessed via annual monitoring by investigating the number of planning applications with these restrictions applied.

There was ongoing work towards a new energy strategy covering a total of 12,000 homes, aiming to be launched in April 2021.

TFL was aiming to make all buses in Havering EURO VI standard, meaning their NOx emissions can be up to 95% lower than the previous EURO V models.

Electric Vehicle charging bays were also under consideration which would be installed in the Town Hall car park as well as in other areas in the Borough. This would be funded externally from sources such as the GLA.

Although Havering had much cleaner air than most other Metropolitan boroughs, certain locations still did not meet the pollutant concentration level objectives. The stopping and starting of car engines did in fact result in less pollution in comparison to idling.

The Sub-Committee noted the position.