Agenda and minutes

An apology for absence was received from Councillor Laura Janes.

If a Councillor has a disclosable pecuniary interest in a particular item, whether or not it is entered in the Authority’s register of interests, or any other significant interest which they consider should be declared in the public interest, they should declare the existence and, unless it is a sensitive interest as defined in the Member Code of Conduct, the nature of the interest at the commencement of the consideration of that item or as soon as it becomes apparent.

Where Members of the public are not allowed to be in attendance and speak, then the Councillor with a disclosable pecuniary interest should withdraw from the meeting whilst the matter is under consideration. Councillors who have declared other significant interests should also withdraw from the meeting if they consider their continued participation in the matter would not be reasonable in the circumstances and may give rise to a perception of a conflict of interest.

Councillors are not obliged to withdraw from the meeting where a dispensation to that effect has been obtained from the Standards Committee.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting and note any outstanding actions.

The minutes of the meeting held on 14 September 2022 were agreed as an accurate record.

This item covers what Clean Air Neighbourhoods are, the health and ecological problems they address, and how they are being delivered in H&F.

John Galsworthy (Assistant Director - Parking) presented the item on Clean Air Neighbourhoods (CANs). He gave a detailed presentation on what Clean Air Neighbourhoods were, the health and ecological problems they addressed, and how they were being delivered in the borough.

In reply to Councillor Jose Afonso’s question, John Galsworthy noted that data for main causes of nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide (NO_x) were 50% from road traffic and 20% from heating and power based on London-wide data.  He believed the Head of Climate and Ecology would be able to provide data specific to Hammersmith and Fulham (H&F). Councillor Afonso requested that data and documents be dated for future reference. 

ACTION: Hinesh Mehta

Noting the authority’s intention to publish H&F air quality data to support research and assist additional scrutiny, Councillor Ross Melton asked about the timeline.  John Galsworthy introduced the open-source platform that allowed users to download a personal exposure app which shall cover the areas that users had visited.  The hyperlocal network map enabling zoom-in would provide fine resolution data in relation to air quality.   The app was expected to be ready by the first quarter of 2023.

ACTION: John Galsworthy

Responding to Councillor Melton’s enquiry about the effects of the CAN scheme on different types of vehicles, John Galsworthy noted that emergency vehicles were affected positively because with fewer cars using the side streets, they could now move faster. As regards the delivery vehicles, it took most delivery companies around 2 to 3 weeks to reroute their drivers. It took slightly longer for changes to update on Google Maps.

Noting that the traffic in the proposed South Fulham trial was expected to be reduced by 25% overall, including 4% on main roads, Councillor Melton sought details about data collection. John Galsworthy noted that the cameras on the routes could count the number of vehicles passing through, in addition to classifying the types of vehicles and their eligibility to enter the area or otherwise.  Councillor Stala Antoniades noted that under the proposed scheme, a tonne of carbon dioxide (CO₂) was expected to be removed per day.  She asked for the baseline figure. Hinesh Mehta (Head of Climate and Ecology) noted that the emission of CO₂ across the whole borough was 680,000 tonnes per year with majority coming from buildings using gas boilers for heating. 

Councillor Melton asked whether similar traffic reduction could be achieved if the Council extended the scheme to other areas after consulting the residents in those neighbourhoods with a view to eventually achieving the reduction borough wide.  John Galsworthy explained that by picking strategic areas, the schemes in place had already had impacts across the borough by displacing traffic back to main roads. On the extent of reduction, John noted that in implementing these types of schemes, the rule of thumb was that one third of the traffic would use alternate routes, one third would disappear, and one third would remain where it was.

Councillor Antoniades noted that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

To note the dates of future meetings:

·       31 January 2023

·       28 March 2023

The Committee noted the dates scheduled for future meetings:

· 31 January 2023

· 28 March 2023