Agenda and minutes

It was confirmed that all items on the agenda would be considered in public.

Agreed as an accurate record, subject to an amendment to Minute No.13 - Budget Planning Report for Residents Services 2018/19 - in the resolution which   should read "2018/19".

Val Beale ((Environmental Specialist, Planning Specialist Team) and Chris Mansfield (Deputy Director, Planning & Transportation attended the meeting and provided the Committee with an overview of the review into the revision of the Air Quality Action Plan for Hillingdon.

Aim of the review

The Committee was informed that the aim of the review would be to make Members aware of the extent of air pollution in Hillingdon and the way that the Council had managed air quality since 2004. A review would assist in the development of a revised Air Quality Action Plan (AQAP), as required by the Mayor of London.

Members were informed that in Hillingdon, as in the majority of London Boroughs, the national air quality standard for the pollutant, nitrogen dioxide, was exceeded across areas of the Borough, most notably in the south around Heathrow Airport and also in association with the major road networks such as the M4, the A312, the A40 and the A4 and on busy parts of the Borough road network which pass through the Borough’s towns.

Impact of poor air quality

To put the review into context, the Committee was informed that poor air quality has been described as the largest environmental risk to public health in the UK. It was known to have had more severe effects on vulnerable groups, for example the elderly, children and people already suffering from poor health such as respiratory disease.

Members were informed that in Hillingdon, the public health team had undertaken an assessment which highlighted that respiratory diseases were the third highest cause of death in the Borough and that air pollution was a risk factor which had been linked to 1,100 life years lost due to aspects such as exacerbations of asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) leading to emergency admissions to hospital.

The Committee was informed that the health effects of air pollution were distributed unequally across the population with the heaviest burden borne by those with the greatest vulnerability and/or exposure. The elderly, children and those with cardiovascular and/or respiratory disease were at greater risk from the health effects of air pollution.

Officers reported that the development of the Air Quality Action Plan would ensure that improvements to health form an important objective in terms of the outcomes of the actions to be included.

Members were provided with copies of maps which showed Air Quality Management Areas for the pollutant nitrogen dioxide. Members noted the correlation between densely populated areas in the Borough and less sparsely populated areas.

Officers were asked to provide details on population increases within the Borough to assess the correlation between population and the quality of air, together with more detailed maps on pollution "hot spots" and focus areas.

A Member raised an issue in relation an odour problem associated with FM Conway Ltd in Hayes, and the impact this was having on local residents. A suggestion was that this could possibly be used as a case study as part of the review.

Reference was made to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.

The Committee was asked to give consideration to suggestions made by the Council's Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Manager on the recent completed major review on Shisha Bars, Cafes & Lounges.

Members discussed the comments received and asked that the comments provided be addressed in the Committee's final report, together with greater emphasis being given in the final report, on the health implications on the use of Shisha, to all residents in the Borough.

In addition, the Committee noted that details would be provided in the final report, on the work which would be carried out in relation to consultation with owners of Shisha Bars, Cafes & Lounges on their responsibilities as owners of Shisha establishments, in making residents aware of the health risks associated in using Shisha.  

RESOLVED –

1. That the information provided be noted and be addressed in this Committee's final report before its submission to Cabinet for approval.

Noted.

Noted.

Members requested that an information item be submitted to a future meeting on reducing the use of plastic water bottles at meetings of Committees / Sub-Committees / Working Groups of the Council.