Interviews with Councillor Marion Ring, Cabinet Member for the Environment, John Littlemore, Head of Housing and Community Services, John Newington, Senior Pollution Officer, Environment Health, and Sean Carter, Chairman of South Maidstone Action for Roads and Transport (SMART).

The Chairman welcomed Sean Carter, Chairman of the South Maidstone Action for Roads and Transport (SMART) to the meeting and welcomed any comments he may have on the Air Quality Action Plan. 

The Chairman explained this item was to concentrate on air quality and not traffic, roads and transport which were within the remit of the Planning, Transport and Development Overview and Scrutiny Committee – although it was acknowledged the two were closely linked. 

John Newington, Senior Pollution Officer presented the action plan and gave an overview of the work carried out since the original action plan was developed in 2010.

Mr Newington explained the action plan had been developed in accordance with the Council’s statutory duties under the Environment Act for local air quality management while working in partnership with others such as Medway Council.

The Chairman asked Mr Newington to comment on an email received from Robert Vaughan, Head of National and Local Air Quality, DEFRA, circulated to all members prior to the meeting.  In particular his remarks regarding:

·  European Commission having formally launched infraction proceedings against the UK for breach of nitrogen dioxide limits values under European Union Air Quality Directives, and;

·  The Commission’s aim to achieve full compliance with existing air quality standards by 2020 at the latest.

Mr Newington explained the Council’s Air Quality Action Plan was aimed at helping and complimenting the UK Government’s action plan to comply with European Union’s Air Quality Directive.

The UK is divided into zones based on population figures and Maidstone falls within the South East Zone.  The Council’s contribution included developing an action plan, monitoring performance and reporting. Progress reports against the action plan were produce annually.

During lengthy discussion the following points and questions were raised:

·  The infraction process will take several years but could result in the EU issuing fines of potentially £300m for every year the targets are not met by the UK.  The Localism Bill states the UK Government had powers to pass the fines down to local authorities, however there may be difficulties establishing which authority is responsible for what;

·  Kent County Council (KCC) no longer carry out traffic counts;

·  There was a general perception no infrastructure changes to the transport systems in Maidstone had been made for some years.  SMART offered some suggestions in a document available from Mr Carter, including:

o  Southern relief road

o  Shared space initiatives;

·  Discussion around potential funding to support transport infrastructure were to be taken up by the Planning, Transport and Development Overview and Scrutiny Committee;

·  The Committee suggested Mr Carter attended future Joint Transport Board meetings and Planning, Transport and Development Overview and Scrutiny Committee meetings where issues around traffic and transport infrastructure were discussed fully;

·  Concerns were raised over partner organisations not fulfilling their responsibilities around reducing air quality;

·  Various schemes running in conjunction with KCC including walk to school, travel planning with schools, lift share, incentives for using pollution friendly vehicles.  It was noted the issue was not just traffic but also behaviour change;

·  The Committee asked for more information in the future on the grant aided publically accessible Electric Vehicle charging points due to be installed at The Mall, Mill Street car park and Maidstone Leisure Centre in conjunction with KCC and funding from Olev;

·  Mr Newington advised Cllr Hogg on some of the possible improvements planned for the Wheatsheaf junction. These potentially could include:

o  Bus lanes

o  Support for green clean buses

o  Varying of travel times to avoid peak hourly pollution figures

Mr Newington also explained this would take time to implement and would welcome other ideas the team could investigate.

·  Cllr Hogg commented the traffic issues faced by SMART were similar to issues faced by other areas of Maidstone borough.  He asked Mr Carter if other areas could join SMART.  Mr Carter confirmed SMART welcomed other areas of the borough to join their group and confirmed Tovil may join the group as they had similar problems;

RESOLVED:  That

1  The Community, Leisure Services and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee noted the contents of the Air Quality Action Plan update and made the following comments to the Cabinet Member for the Environment:

a.  Information on the usage of the grant aided publically accessible Electric Vehicle charging points be provided in future updates;

2  Mr Carter, Chairman of South Maidstone Action for Roads and Transport be invited to attend future meetings of the Planning, Transport and Development Overview and Scrutiny Committee;

3  That dates for the meetings of the Joint Transport Board be sent to Mr Carter;

4  That a letter is drafted by the Chairman of the Communities, Leisure Services and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee and the final agreed letter sent to local Members of European Parliament to ask for support for funding solutions to help Maidstone Borough Council and its partners reach the targets for air quality by 2020.