Agenda item

Following the declaration and adoption of the Guildford Town Centre Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) on 21 October 2021, the Council has a statutory duty to produce an Air Quality Action Plan (AQAP).

The Joint Committee (Guildford):

(i)    Approved a 4-week public consultation on the Air Quality Action Plan for Guildford Air Quality Management Area shown in Appendix 2.

(ii)   Noted that the results of the public consultation and any consequent amendments will be presented to the 26 October 2022 Joint Committee and if approved will be sent to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) for final approval.

Reasons for Recommendations

To ensure the Council meets its statutory duties to adopt an Air Quality Action Plan to improve air quality within the AQMA in Guildford Town Centre.

Declarations of Interest: None

Officers attending: Gary Durrant, Senior Specialist – Environmental Protection, Environment and Regulatory Services, Guildford Borough Council; Justine Fuller, Head of Environment and Regulatory Services, Guildford Borough Council

Petitions, Public Questions, Statements: None

Member Discussion – key points:

The Chairman thanked the officers for their detailed report. Mr Durrant provided some context: Formal declaration of the Air Quality Management Area was made to DEFRA on 21^st October 2021. 30 measures were identified to help reduce the exceedance, with five key ones that it was felt would provide the most significant improvement in air quality identified in the report. This would be the first time many have been implemented in Surrey, therefore it would be difficult to predict accurately the level of their impact. Borough officers from Environmental Health, Transport, Parking and Planning along with county council officers had worked closely in considering the implications of the AQMA and how to tackle it; improving the air quality in the area will have significant Public Health implications.

Points raised during the discussion included:

·         The length of the consultation

·         The possibility of traffic displacement

·         The extent of proposed 20mph zones in Holy Trinity ward and Onslow

·         Enforcement of HGV bans

·         The need to coordinate work and discuss prioritisation with SCC to tie in with EV charging projects and the Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan

·         The contribution of Park & Ride to the plan

·         Addressing anti-idling near the railway station and Waitrose

·         Potential funding for implementation

Officers agreed to review the consultation period, bearing in mind the deadline in the autumn for preparing the follow-up report, when the results of the consultation would be presented to this committee. Reassurance was given that the consultation was fully prepared and ready to launch on 1^st July; the borough’s Communications team would be helping to promote it.

Following the consultation process the chosen measures would then need to have a feasibility assessment. It is likely that a combination of measures would be the most effective approach. Because the exceedance had been identified as traffic related, some of the measures would sit within the county council’s remit to implement.

The 20mph zone boundaries were indicative at the moment and could be adjusted following the collection of evidence to indicate possible traffic displacement. Officers undertook to circulate the results of traffic monitoring in Holy Trinity ward along with a link to modelling results from 2019.

There is a parking app in use already, to help people find the most suitable parking place and avoid driving around trying to find one. It would be reviewed for ease of use and effectiveness, and promoted to make sure the take up of it is as wide as possible.

The Chairman emphasised that the October meeting of this committee would be its last scheduled meeting. The AQAP was due to return to the committee at that point, so it was important for the consultation to have concluded successfully in time for officers to prepare their report so that it can be reported locally.

Note: Following this meeting, officers extended the consultation period, which will now run from 1600h on Friday 1st July to 2400h on Wednesday 3rd August.

Resolved:

The Joint Committee (Guildford):

(i)    Approved a 4-week public consultation on the Air Quality Action Plan for Guildford Air Quality Management Area shown in Appendix 2.

(ii)   Noted that the results of the public consultation and any consequent amendments will be presented to the 26 October 2022 Joint Committee and if approved will be sent to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) for final approval.

Reasons for Recommendations:

To ensure the Council meets its statutory duties to adopt an Air Quality Action Plan to improve air quality within the AQMA in Guildford Town Centre.