Agenda item

Air Quality

It was moved by Councillor Brian Webster, seconded by Councillor Jillian Creasy, that this Council:-

(a)       notes with concern reports by the Director of Public Health that poor air quality is estimated to cause 500 premature deaths in Sheffield each year (constituting approximately 10% of all deaths) by causing and exacerbating serious health conditions including cardiovascular and respiratory diseases and cancer;

(b)       regrets that levels of nitrogen oxides (NOx) in many parts of Sheffield continue to regularly exceed EU Limit Values instituted as part of the 2008 air pollution directive, and notes that the UK will be subject to financial penalties should these values continue to be exceeded from 2015;

(c)        thanks campaigners, community groups and residents for helping to highlight the scale of air pollution problems in Sheffield through Community Air Quality Monitoring and the creation of the Sheffield Air Map;

(d)       agrees with Public Health England’s assessment that local authorities have a responsibility to take a leading role in tackling poor air quality, particularly where it results primarily from motor vehicle emissions;

(e)       welcomes the steps that the Council has taken towards exploring options for reducing air pollution in Sheffield, including the adoption of the Air Quality Action Plan (AQAP) and the completion of the Low Emission Zone Feasibility Study;

(f)        recalls that the AQAP agreed in 2012 aimed to bring NOx levels down to EU Limit Values by 2015, and notes that it is now clear that this target will be missed;

(g)       understands that the scientific evidence suggests that any delays in implementation of the AQAP and Low Emission Zone will lead directly to preventable premature deaths in Sheffield;

(h)       therefore urges the Administration to proceed as quickly as possible with implementation of the AQAP and the creation of a Low Emission Zone;

(i)         regrets that a number of recent decisions have been taken that will be to the detriment of air quality in Sheffield;

(j)         will give air pollution and the associated health risks and premature deaths as much weighting as other factors in Council decision-making and strategic planning;

(k)        therefore recommends that officers include air quality impacts as a separate section in the ‘Implications’ section of all reports; and

(l)         encourages Members to attend the ‘Air Quality and Health in Sheffield’ conference on 17^th October, 2014.

Whereupon, it was moved by Councillor Jack Scott, seconded by Councillor Karen McGowan, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by:-

1.         the deletion of paragraphs (g) to (k) and the addition of new paragraphs (g) to (j) as follows:-

(g)          welcomes the comprehensive and decisive actions and leadership of the Administration to tackle poor air quality, including:

(i)      adopting the Air Quality Action Plan;

(ii)     actions funded through the Local Sustainable Transport Fund  to encourage more walking, cycling and use of public transport and improve air quality;

(iii)    running the award-winning Care 4 Air Project, which enables people to have a diffusion tube in their home, office or school to get a reading of local air quality and gives communities the tools and data they need to raise awareness of this issue;

(iv)    delivering the Plugged-In-Places project to encourage the take up of electric vehicles, especially for local businesses, which will help 100 local businesses reduce vehicle costs by up to 50%, cutting carbon emissions and improving air quality;

(v)     delivering the highly successful "inmotion" project, working with SME companies to improve fuel efficiency, business competitiveness and air quality;

(vi)    completing the Sheffield Low Emission Zone (LEZ) Feasibility Study as a factual evidence based report, by working with stakeholders including local bus operators, the Freight Transport Association and the Road Haulage Association;

(vii)   supporting the Council’s delivery partners to use compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles, to the extent that Veolia now have 10 CNG Waste Vehicles in their fleet, which is more than any other city;

(viii)  working with partners across South Yorkshire to successfully secure £215k to refit over 40 buses and securing a further £166k for the refitting of Ambulances belonging to the Yorkshire Ambulance Trust; and

(ix)    the Council’s ambitious plans for the £500m Ultra-Low Emission Vehicle (ULEV) Fund to radically transform local air quality and transport infrastructure and enable Sheffield to become a national leader in cleaner vehicles and improved air quality;

(h)       acknowledges that development decisions will have consequences for both air quality and economic development, therefore each decision must be made taking into consideration the wider economic, social and health policies of the Council;

(i)         notes comments made by the ‘Healthy Air’ campaign (whose members include the British Heart Foundation and Asthma UK) that described the Government’s approach to air quality as “designed to mask the true scale of England’s air quality crisis rather than make any real attempt to solve it”;

(j)         therefore believes the Coalition Government has failed to take the issue of air quality seriously, with significant cuts to Air Quality Monitoring Stations and expresses dismay that after four years it still has no credible national plan to reduce the 29,000 annual premature UK deaths that arise as a result of poor air quality;

2.         the re-lettering of paragraph (l) as a new paragraph (k).

On being put to the vote, the amendment was carried.

(Note: Councillors Simon Clement-Jones, Richard Shaw, Rob Frost, Joe Otten, Colin Ross, Martin Smith, Penny Baker, Roger Davison, Sue Alston, Andrew Sangar, Cliff Woodcraft, Ian Auckland, Steve Ayris, Denise Reaney, David Baker, Katie Condliffe and Vickie Priestley voted for parts 1 (paragraphs (g) and (h)) and 2 and against paragraphs (i) and (j) of part 1 of the amendment and asked for this to be recorded.)

It was then moved by Councillor Joe Otten, seconded by Councillor Andrew Sangar, as an amendment that the Motion now submitted be amended by:-

1.         the addition of two new paragraphs, as follows:-

( )           believes that simply driving investment and jobs away from the city would not be effective or proportionate in attempting to improve air quality;

( )           will give due regard to air quality alongside needs for access to opportunities to work and leisure and a rich and varied life experience;

On being put to the vote, the amendment was carried.

After a Right of Reply by Councillor Brian Webster, the original Motion, as amended, was put as a Substantive Motion in the following form and carried:-