Executive Summary
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Cambridge City Council – England April 2011 2011 Air Quality Progress Report for Cambridge City Council In fulfillment of Part IV of the Environment Act 1995 Local Air Quality Management April 2011 Progress Report i April 2010 Cambridge City Council - England Local Jo Dicks Authority Anita Lewis Officer Department Environmental Services Address PO Box 700 Guildhall Cambridge CB1 0JH Telephone 01223 457892/457926 e-mail [email protected] [email protected] Report Reference number Date April 2011 ii Progress Report Cambridge City Council – England April 2011 Executive Summary New monitoring results show a marked and unexpected rise in nitrogen dioxide levels in 2010 against a background of continuing overall flat trend in levels of nitrogen dioxide and falling levels of particulate matter in Cambridge. • The continuously monitoring instruments show no overall trend for nitrogen dioxide; exceedences of the annual mean were observed in Gonville Place and Parker Street, but not in Regent Street, where the level just met the national objective for the first time (and contrary to the trend elsewhere). • The continuously monitoring instruments show that levels of particulate matter are falling. • Diffusion tubes show a sharp and surprising increase in nitrogen dioxide with exceedences across the city and including some locations outside the AQMA on roads with high traffic flow. • Diffusion tube data do not, this year, broadly confirm the current boundary of the AQMA. However, Cambridge City Council is not currently considering re-drawing the boundaries of the AQMA; we have adopted a ‘wait and see’ approach and this decision will depend upon the results from 2011 and 2012. • No new sources or significant changes in sources have been identified so a Detailed Assessment is not required for any pollutants. This Annual Progress Report includes a chapter on the closely related Local Transport Plan (LTP) and the Air Quality Action Plan. The Air Quality Action Plan targets bus emissions in the City centre as the largest single source and the City Council proposed a Bus Emissions Reduction Commitment to the Quality Bus Partnership. As reported in 2009, agreement to any commitment has yet to be obtained, although operators have made voluntary improvements to the fleet. The County Council has agreed that targets for bus emissions improvements will be integrated into LTP3, but these have not yet been set. Against a background of increased growth in East Anglia, albeit at a slower pace than anticipated a few years ago, Cambridge City Council face a challenge in preventing deterioration in air quality resulting from new housing that will inevitably bring new residents and more vehicle movements. Significant transport infrastructure improvements are required but the funding for this is not in place. Modelling has shown that air quality will be a recalcitrant problem for some years to come. Progress Report iii April 2010 Cambridge City Council - England Table of contents 1 INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................6 1.1 DESCRIPTION OF LOCAL AUTHORITY AREA ....................................................................6 1.2 PURPOSE OF PROGRESS REPORT .................................................................................8 1.3 AIR QUALITY OBJECTIVES .............................................................................................8 1.4 SUMMARY OF PREVIOUS REVIEW AND ASSESSMENTS ..................................................10 2 NEW MONITORING DATA .............................................................................................12 2.1 SUMMARY OF MONITORING UNDERTAKEN....................................................................12 2.1.1 Automatic Monitoring Sites.................................................................................12 2.1.2 Non-Automatic Monitoring ..................................................................................15 2.2 COMPARISON OF MONITORING RESULTS WITH AIR QUALITY OBJECTIVES .....................19 2.2.1 Nitrogen Dioxide .................................................................................................19 2.2.2 PM10....................................................................................................................23 2.2.3 Sulphur Dioxide ..................................................................................................24 2.2.4 Benzene..............................................................................................................24 2.2.5 Summary of Compliance with AQS Objectives...................................................24 3 NEW LOCAL DEVELOPMENTS ....................................................................................25 4 PLANNING APPLICATIONS ..........................................................................................26 5 AIR QUALITY PLANNING POLICIES ............................................................................28 6 LOCAL TRANSPORT PLANS AND STRATEGIES .......................................................29 7 CLIMATE CHANGE STRATEGIES ................................................................................32 8 IMPLEMENTATION OF ACTION PLANS ......................................................................33 8.1 HIERARCHY OF INDICATORS: 1 AIR POLLUTANT CONCENTRATIONS ...............................33 8.2 HIERARCHY OF INDICATORS: 2 DIRECT EFFECT INDICATORS .......................................33 8.2.1 Own Estate .........................................................................................................33 8.2.2 Buses..................................................................................................................33 8.2.3 Taxis ...................................................................................................................33 8.2.4 Modal Shift..........................................................................................................34 8.2.5 Traffic levels........................................................................................................34 8.3 HIERARCHY OF INDICATORS: 3 INDIRECT EFFECT INDICATORS.....................................34 8.3.1 Congestion..........................................................................................................34 8.3.2 Buses..................................................................................................................34 8.3.3 Walking...............................................................................................................34 9 CONCLUSIONS AND PROPOSED ACTIONS...............................................................40 9.1 CONCLUSIONS FROM NEW MONITORING DATA .............................................................40 9.2 CONCLUSIONS RELATING TO NEW LOCAL DEVELOPMENTS ...........................................40 9.3 OTHER CONCLUSIONS.................................................................................................40 9.4 PROPOSED ACTIONS...................................................................................................40 10 REFERENCES .............................................................................................................41 iv Progress Report Cambridge City Council – England April 2011 List of Tables Table 1.1 Air Quality Objectives included in Regulations for the purpose of Local Air Quality Management in England 9 Table 2.1 Details of Automatic Monitoring Sites 14 Table 2.2 Details of Non-Automatic Monitoring Sites 17 Table 2.3a Results of Automatic Monitoring for Nitrogen Dioxide: Comparison with Annual Mean Objective 19 Table 2.3b Results of Automatic Monitoring for Nitrogen Dioxide: Comparison with 1-Hour Mean Objective 21 Table 2.4 Results of Nitrogen Dioxide Diffusion Tubes 22 Table 2.5a Results of PM10 Automatic Monitoring: Comparison with Annual Mean Objective 23 Table 2.5b Results of PM10 Automatic Monitoring: Comparison with 24-Hour Mean Objective 23 Table 2.5c Results of PM2.5 Automatic Monitoring 23 Table 8.1 Progress based on continuous monitoring site results: 5 year rolling mean 38 Table 8.2 Progress based on diffusion tube results: 5 year rolling mean 38 Table 8.3 Action Plan Progress 39 List of Figures Figure 1.1a Population Growth in Cambridge – table and graph (2009) 7 Figure 1.1b Population Growth in Cambridge – table and graph (latest predictions) 7 Figure 1.2 Map of the Air Quality Management Area 11 Figure 2.1 Map of Automatic Monitoring Sites 13 Figure 2.2 Map of Non-Automatic Monitoring Sites 16 Figure 2.3a Trends in Annual Mean NO2 Concentration Measured at Automatic Monitoring Sites 20 Figure 2.3b Trends in Annual Mean NO2 Concentration Measured at Automatic Monitoring Sites Compared with LTP2 targets 20 Figure 2.5 Trends in Annual Mean PM10 Concentration Measured at Automatic Monitoring Sites 24 Figure 6.1 Travel Trend Indicator from LTP2 Delivery Report 2008 29 Figure 6.2 Travel Trend Indicator – latest position 29 Figure 6.3 Air Quality Indicators from LTP2 Delivery Report 2008 29 Figure 6.4 Air Quality Indicators – latest position 30 Progress Report v April 2010 Cambridge City Council - England 1 Introduction 1.1 Description of Local Authority Area Cambridge City has an area of approximately 4,070 hectares and is located around 60 miles northeast of London. It is best known for its University, which is made up of 31 Colleges and the resulting historic environment that has been created.