Board Member response to follow

Cllr Gant, Chair of the Scrutiny Committee presented the report. The Board agreed all the recommendations.

Councillor John Tanner, Board Member for a Clean, Green Oxford presented the report. He said the County Council was committed to a zero emission zone by 2020. The City and County councils had appointed a consultant to look into practical ways to achieve this in the city centre. Ideas are still being formulated. When the low emission zone was introduced it was buses that caused most of the air quality problems but they have mostly been changed  to produce only low emission.

Martin Kraftl from Oxfordshire County Council addressed the committee. The County’s Local Transport Strategy 2015-2030 plans to start implementing a zero emission zone in 2020. How quickly it can be rolled out will depend on what vehicles will be affected. Improved technology will assist the move to zero emission.

The Environmental Sustainability Manager said that the City monitors air quality based on DEFRA advice. Diffusion tubes are placed in areas in the city known to have poor air quality. These are places with high levels of traffic close to residential homes and businesses. There are 75 diffusion tubes in the city which officers check every month and analyse results.  Data needs to be collected, analysed and audited over a 12 month period to show the long term trend of air quality at the site. The exact location of tubes is listed in the air quality report.

The Committee asked why there were so many diffusion tubes in close proximity in the city centre and why none were positioned near the bypass.

Cllr Tanner said it was important to have lots of diffusion tubes in the city centre to monitor the situation main street by main street. Often 2 diffusion tubes were put close together to act as a control.  We need to monitor the different sites to inform the County Council of areas of concern.

There is no evidence to show that air quality from traffic on the ring road is as bad as the city centre.

Cllr Simmons asked what specific steps could be taken to improve air quality in the worst areas, e.g. St. Clements and are there plans for additional monitoring or public signage? Cllr Tanner said he’d much prefer to focus on the causes of the problem rather than tell people how bad it is.

The Environmental Sustainability Manager said that daily air quality levels are already available on the Council’s website.

Cllr Simmons said that as a planning authority we don’t put any mitigating measures (in regards to air pollution) on applications approved on sites in high air pollution areas ie Westgate or Northern Gateway[1].

Martin Kraftl from Oxfordshire County Council said that the Transport Strategy includes working on creating better cycling and walking routes in Headington. There is a huge amount to be done but we must be doing something right as there is 25% less traffic in the city than there was 20 years ago.

Cllr Simmons asked how the City Council comments on the County’s Local Transport  ...  view the full minutes text for item 93

Cllr Gant presented the report. He said the Committee had had a very good discussion and had invited County officers to a future meeting to explain what the County Council was doing to improve air quality in the city.

Cllr Price suggested the Scrutiny Committee also invite the bus companies, and other transportation companies ie waste collectors to explain what they were doing to reduce emissions.

Cllr Tanner, Board Member for A Clean Green Oxford made the following  comments on the report’s recommendations:

Rec 3 – planned to review the issue further

Rec 6 – felt the recommendation needed to be more assertive about lobbying the County Council to explain how they are going to manage the expected increase of cars in and out of Oxford when Westgate opens.

Cllr Price said the City Council was planning to install signs which told driver whether the Westgate car-park was full on the outskirts of the park and rides.

The Committee considered an item on Air Quality at the last meeting.  The Committee is asked to approve the attached report and recommendations for submission to the City Executive Board on 15 December 2016.

The Scrutiny Officer presented the report.

The Scrutiny Committee resolved to send the report to CEB.

Cllr Tanner, Board member for A Clean and Green Oxford presented the report. He explained that progress was being made in improving air quality in the city but that further action was needed.  The Air Quality Officer explained that public awareness of the impacts of air pollution on health was increasing.  There needed to be a shift to zero emissions in the city as hybrid buses still produced diesel emissions.

The Committee asked about the implications of a recent Client Earth court ruling.  The Air Quality Officer advised that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) had indicated that their broad framework and the current targets would remain in place post-Brexit.  DEFRA was likely to look to increase the number of Clean Air Zones being implemented in UK cities but this was not expected to affect Oxford because a planned zero emissions zone already went further.  Another possible change could be the responsibility for meeting EU targets, which sat with the Secretary of State, being pushed down to local levels, together with any associated fines.  The Committee suggest that, in the event of a future weakening of air quality targets in the UK, the Council should continue to work to the current EU targets.

Cllr Wilkinson said that the Low Emissions Zone (LEZ) in Oxford City Centre was not well publicised by signage.  The Air Quality Manager explained that the LEZ only applied to buses and while the bus companies were fully aware, more could be done in terms of wider awareness-raising.

Cllr Fry said that there were no smokeless fuel obligations or restrictions on boat emissions in the City Centre area, unlike at various residential mooring zones in the city.  The Committee suggest that such measures are needed and, in addition, that the Council should lobby the statutory body to introduce appropriate measures more widely.

The Committee noted that there was a growing body of evidence that planting trees can help to reduce nitrogen dioxide concentrations and noted that the Council could draw on local expertise in this field.  The Air Quality Officer agreed and said this was something that could be looked at. The Committee suggest that further consideration should be given to the case for tree planting to offset emissions and whether tree planting could be included in the Council’s Air Quality Action Plan.

The Committee examined air quality data at various locations in the City for 2011 to 2015 and questioned why, following a trend of steadily improving data, air quality appeared to have deteriorated in 2015 at various locations.  The Committee heard that the monitoring data was considered to be accurate to within plus or minus 25%, so the 2015 rises were generally within the margin of error.  However, it was expected that prolonged roadworks close to some monitoring locations had had a significant impact on air quality in those areas.

The Air Quality Officer said that St. Clements was one area where, even allowing for the margin of error, the monitoring data  ...  view the full minutes text for item 57