News / Environment
Latest on clean air plan for Bristol
Bristol’s delayed clean air plan will finally go to public consultation after proposals to tackle the city’s pollution levels were rubber-stamped by cabinet.
Marvin Rees said the two options on the table are designed to meet Government-set targets for reducing the levels of noxious nitrogen dioxide in the shortest time possible as he reiterated a commitment to improving air quality for citizens.
The proposals, presented to cabinet members in City Hall on Tuesday, were slammed as “woefully inadequate” by one opposition councillor, while others criticised the delays and lack of evidence available in the report to support the plans.
is needed now More than ever
The Labour administration twice missed Government-imposed deadlines to come up with a clean air plan for the city. Speaking in February, the mayor said the delay was unavoidable after initial proposals were found to “compound the challenges we face tackling equality and economic exclusion”.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Rees said: “We must take into account the adverse impact on the lowest income households in the city.
“Poverty remains the biggest threat to population health and the biggest killer of human beings. However, it’s also important to note that Government’s requirements to clean up air does not allow us to take into account the impact of worsening poverty – it simply requires compliance in the quickest possible time.”
He added: “We must and will do more to improve air quality in our city for all our all citizens, whilst ensuring that environmental justice and social justice go hand in hand.”
A six-week consultation on the draft clean air plan will launch on July 1, with confirmation of the compliance date expected to be available the week commencing July 15.
One option would see a targeted ban of diesel vehicles on areas, including by the BRI
One option being put forward would include installing a bus lane on the M32, a targeted diesel ban on the roads surrounding the BRI, and a charging scheme for polluting vehicles, excluding private cars.
Option two would see all diesel cars banned from entering the city centre for an eight-hour period from 7am to 3pm.
At the cabinet meeting, Lib Dem and Green councillors questioned why the health assessment of each option has not been included in the report.
Rees said these assessments will start shortly but noted that it is not required by the Government target, which seeks only nitrogen dioxide compliance.
Speaking in the public gallery, Alan Morris of Bristol Clean Air Alliance welcomed the publication of clean air proposals but argued progress has been too slow.
Green mayoral candidate Sandy Hore-Ruthven said: “The papers appear to be trading financial wealth for physical health.
“The options put forward are those of an administration unwilling to tackle a problem head on and reap the benefits of clean air, investment in public transport and active travel but instead, tinker around the edges in a way that might just squeeze our air quality into the legal limits.”
In a statement after the meeting, fellow Green Fi Hance, a councillor for Redland, was also critical of the proposals and branded what she called “the repeated delays and un-evidenced proposals by the Labour administration shameful”.
Responding to the report, Lib Dem councillor for Knowle Gary Hopkins said: “The trouble is, it is late and it is woefully inadequate.” He also branded the consultation a “sham”.
Lib Dem mayoral candidate Mary Page commented that the council reports “seems to know the cost of everything but the real value of nothing, including human life”.
Responding to accusations that the report is too focused on economics, the mayor said: “Money does matter, poverty does matter and the question is how we pursue all these challenges at the same time.”
The public will be asked to comment on the proposals before a draft outline business case is complete.
When challenged on this, Mike Jackson, the council’s head of paid services, said it was felt it would be premature to share this before work was complete.
An outline business case is expected to be submitted to the Government’s joint air quality unit by September, with a full business case expected by the end of 2019.
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