Agenda and minutes

It was noted that following receipt of the temporary resignation of Councillors Coombs and Thorpe from the Panel, the Head of Legal and Democratic Services, acting under delegated powers, had appointed Councillors Lewzey and Lloyd to replace them for the purposes of this meeting.

To elect the Vice Chair for the Municipal Year 2014/15.

RESOLVED that Councillor McEwing be elected as Chair for the remainder of the Municipal Year 2014/2015.

To approve and sign as a correct record the Minutes of the meetings held on 31^st July, 2014 and to deal with any matters arising, attached.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 31^st July 2014 be approved and signed as a correct record.

Report of the Assistant Chief Executive providing a Public Health Perspective of Air Quality in Southampton, attached.

The Panel considered the report of the Assistant Chief Executive providing a Public Health Perspective of Air Quality in Southampton.

Debbie Chase, Consultant in Public Health, Southampton City Council, provided a presentation on the public health perspective of air quality in the City and further evidence was given from the draft findings of a Health Impact Assessment of air pollution in Southampton (attached as Appendix two to the report) by Fiona Davey, University of Southampton.  Key areas included:

·  impact of air pollution on health;

·  the impact for Southampton in particular;

·  Mortality and Particulate Air Pollution in Southampton;

·  respiratory and cardio vascular health and air quality – in particular the connection with asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD);

·  Air Quality Management Areas in the City;

·  where improvements could be made taking into consideration what was being done already.

It was reported that impacts for the City of poor air quality included increased hospital admissions and deaths from respiratory and heart conditions.  Whilst the symptoms of these were exacerbated in the short term by poor air quality; there were also longer term affects in particular for children, the elderly, those with pre-existing conditions; the obese and for smokers.  Evidence indicated that the health impact increased as the level of pollution increased and that the evidence base for the causal links to air pollution was growing.

Reference was made to the data from Public Health England’s report published in April 2014, on the health burden of air pollution which, along with other statistical evidence, estimated the following affects attributable to air pollution on mortality in Southampton in 2011:

•  in comparison to other cities (ie to 11 equivalent local authorities) Southampton had the highest estimated fraction of mortality associated with particulate air pollution - at 6%.  Local cities (such as Portsmouth – 5.3%, Brighton and Hove – 5.0%, Oxfordshire – 5.1% Bristol – 5.2% and Bournemouth – 4.1%) were rated better than Southampton

•  1,280 associated years of life lost / equivalent life expectancy loss of 7-8 months; and

•  COPD prevalence in Southampton (2.0%) is significantly higher than England (1.7%) and the 4^th highest amongst statistical neighbours.

However, it was clarified that the data represented the potential increased risk of mortality assuming long term exposure of the current population to current levels of pollution and that the report was based on modelled concentrations of air pollution.  Other evidence presented included:

·  the cost impact estimate from the Department of Transport of the health impact of air pollution from motorised transport for the UK was around £10 billion per annum and for Southampton it was thought to be £50 million;

·  motor vehicle traffic and diesel engines in particular, especially HGVs, was the main source for many air pollutants;

·  mapping of Air Quality Management areas in the City indicated links between exposure to air pollution / instances of associated diseases and areas of social deprivation.

In summary, when considering the degree to which tackling the issue should be a priority for the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

Report of Assistant Chief Executive detailing a Residents Perspective of Air Quality in Southampton, attached.

The Panel considered the report of the Assistant Chief Executive detailing a Residents’ Perspective of Air Quality in Southampton. 

The Western Docks Consultative Forum (WDCF) delivered a presentation on air quality in Southampton and this was followed by feedback from the air quality survey, which had been undertaken to inform this inquiry.

The Panel noted that the WDCF represented the views of residents living or working in the vicinity of the Western Docks concerned by the high levels of pollutants affecting the air quality in the area bordered by the docks and surrounding residential areas. Key points of the presentation included the following:

·  residents’ concerns had been raised by comments from local children that it was “too smelly and difficult to breathe” to walk to school;

·  the recent shutdown of the Automatic Monitoring Station at Redbridge School had added to their concerns;

·  the Nitrogen Dioxide levels monitored by Diffusion Tubes on Redbridge Road and Millbrook Road had remained at a high level for a number of years;

·  concerns were heightened by press reports stating that air pollution would continue to kill scores of people every year in Southampton and that European limits were now unlikely to be met until 2030;

·  research showed that one of the major causes of air pollution was road vehicles, and the number of diesel powered cars, vans and heavy goods vehicles on the roads was increasing;

·  roads causing concern were the M271 leading onto the Redbridge roundabout, and the Redbridge to the Millbrook roundabout link which were heavily congested at peak times with frequent standing traffic on both carriageways and carried a large proportion of HGV’s heading into dock gate 20 and the container port;

·  Ministry of Transport data showed a 37% increase in HGV traffic on the M271 to Redbridge Roundabout over the past 14 years with the largest increase over the past three years;

·  the Forum was concerned that the added pollution caused by actual and proposed developments concentrated in one area of the City resulted in an ongoing failure to meet EEC standards with consequent health problems for residents well beyond the 2030 projection. These included:

o  the 201/202 Deep Water Berths, expansion of the Sewage Treatment Works, Sulphur Pellet Manufacturing Plant and the possibility that a Biomass Power Station could still be built in the Western Docks - all accessed from Dock Gate 20 via Millbrook roundabout;

o  the Adanack Park, Lidl Distribution Warehouse and recent pre-planning proposals by Evander Properties for a large scale development on the Green Field Site in Test Lane all accessed from M271 junction 1;

o  West Quay stage 2 and the Royal Pier Waterfront proposal;

o  increased cruise traffic with larger capacity ships entering service in 2015;

o  the future sale of Marchwood Military Port and resulting change to commercial use.

·  The expansion and growth in trade of Southampton Docks and dock side activities were a major cause of the high pollution levels in the area: major causes of pollution caused by the docks were  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.