Agenda item

The Panel considered a report of the Assistant Director of Regulatory Services on Air Quality in North Northamptonshire, which provided a position statement on current air quality, what was being done to manage and monitor air quality, and proposals for its improvement and raising public awareness. The report was marked ‘item 6’ on the agenda.

During discussion the following principal points were noted:-

The Panel was encouraged to see that areas did not exceed the upper air limits and considered that it would be important for the Panel to investigate factors affecting air quality, such as the trees strategy, electric vehicle charging points etc. Members raised several lines of enquiry into the report concerning:

                      i.        The discrepancy between the four areas across North Northamptonshire, regarding the equipment used to record air quality (Corby had 17, East Northampton 33, Kettering 39 and Wellingborough only 11). Members queried whether there was an intention to level this discrepancy and provide equal resources.

                    ii.        Whether the authority had considered implementing increased electric vehicle charging points across the area and produced a plan to meet demand, as more residents would purchase electric vehicles?

                   iii.        If anything could be done to encourage developers to install more environmentally friendly apparatus to heat newly built homes?

                   iv.        Whether air quality data had been skewed due to standing traffic, if there existed a density of monitoring stations along main roads and dual carriageways, with a high volume of standing traffic – areas such as Rushden Lakes retail park?

                    v.        It was noted that a monitoring site in Wellingborough had exceeded the threshold of forty micrograms per cubic metre in eight of the nine months of data available. Similarly, a site in Kettering had exceeded air quality limits in six of the seven months’ data. Members suggested that the Council should prepare an air quality action plan for these management areas, due to the existence of such historical data.

                   vi.        Whether there existed better technology available than diffusion tubes, to monitor areas immediately?

In response, the Environmental Protection Manager clarified that:

                             vii.            The authority had found itself in a transitional period, in the process of consolidating environmental protection work, aiming to reach a more balanced position across the entire North Northamptonshire area, to eradicate disparities between available resources;

                  viii.        This included the discrepancy in measurement equipment across areas resulting from prior sovereign council budgets. She assured the EAP that the authority was actively seeking to bring budgets together and calculate a net amount for the North. Nevertheless, rural areas would not require measurement equipment, as data would only be collected in areas with high volumes of traffic.  The tube network would be reset to ensure monitoring was fairly measured;

                               ix.             The authority had continued its work to review vehicle and taxi policies around pollution limits, as older vehicles tended to produce greater air pollution;

                                 x.            There was a shifting picture nationally regarding sustainable urban extensions and gas boiler technology. North Northamptonshire would follow the national lead and was in a position to publicise support and raise awareness around grants available to the public for this technology. There would be a need for officers to work more closely with planning policy colleagues to support this work; 

                               xi.            From the DEFRA returns, there had not been any instances of pollution from the installations regulated by the Council. The authority had reacted to complaints and taken the necessary enforcement action;

                   xii.        Regarding the procurement of improved measurement technology, the authority would have to manage its resources and budget to pay for the tools available. Nevertheless, this could be explored.

Members emphasised that funding and the availability of necessary resources would be essential in regulating air quality and allowing the authority to achieve its target of being a ‘green council’.

The Chair explained to members that the issue of air quality would be explored again, in comprehensive detail, at future meetings and that the EAP’s comments on this matter would be fed back to the Executive.

Similarly, the Executive Director of Place and Economy assured the Panel that levels of resourcing regarding environmental matters was actively being looked at. He also considered that it would be valuable to invite a representative from DEFRA into the discussion, to gain a government perspective of how North Northamptonshire was performing and what the authority could do to further improve matters.

RESOLVED that:

a)      The report be noted; and

b)      That further consideration of the impact of air quality and proposals to improve this in North Northamptonshire be brought back to a future meeting.