Cabinet Member for Environment and Rural Affairs

Cabinet considered the report of the Mid Kent Environmental Health Manager and the above Cabinet Member which provided an update on progress made on the Swale Borough Council Strategic Air Quality Action Plan (AQAP) 2018-2022.

The Cabinet Member advised that the report was part of the ‘journey’ of the AQAP and it identified data that had been collected.  A more substantial report would be issued in Autumn 2018.

The Mid Kent Environmental Health Manager explained that air quality was a very important issue for Swale Borough Council (SBC), and officers had been working hard on the Action Plan.  She drew attention to Appendix I which set-out a summary of the findings.  She added that it was important to include traffic flow data that was likely to be generated with the addition of housing, as set-out within the Local Plan.

In response to a question regarding NOx emissions, and the lack of information on particulates, the Environmental Protection Team Leader explained that there was no evidence of any exceedance of particulates in the Borough, whereas there was exceedance of NOx emissions.  The Member also asked for further information on how the consultation, on a very specialised, technical subject was to be carried out.  The Cabinet Member explained that consultation would be carried on each of the five AQAPs in the Borough, and it was hoped to combine all five into one strategic plan.

Discussion ensued and the following points were raised: there was a link between air quality and health conditions; welcomed the report; the Council had a duty to ensure pollution issues did not worsen; it was critical that base-line figures were accurate when looking at emission predictions to enable good quality data; new developments needed to be taken into consideration; there needed to be an evidence base on everything the Council carried out in relation to pollution; quality data was critical; and would like to see more funding and urgency going forward.

In response, the Cabinet Member acknowledged the limited legal powers the Council had, and the importance of not making the issues worse and to, in fact, ensure that matters were improved.  He agreed to provide a written response on evidence in support of the figures noted for the Newington Air Quality Management Area (AQMA).  The Cabinet Member welcomed the long list of comments received from the Policy Development and Review Committee (PDRC), and confirmed that, where possible, a majority of these would be taken ‘on board’ by the Council.  The Environmental Team Leader further explained that the consultants had based their conclusion on the evidence they had so far.  Additional traffic data would be available in the next few weeks, and this would give a more accurate view of the traffic modelling.

Resolved:

(1)      That the report be noted.