Agenda and decisions

Minutes of the meeting held on the 13^th July 2021.

Report of the Lead Member for Planning and Sustainable Development. 

(All the appendices listed in the report can also be accessed online here: https://democracy.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?MId=4420)

Salford City Council - Record of Decision (Cabinet)

I, Paul Dennett, City Mayor, in exercise of the powers contained within the City Council Constitution do hereby approve:

The Greater Manchester Clean Air Plan

The Reasons are:

In July 2019 the Secretary of State issued a direction under section 85 of the Environment Act 1995 requiring the 10 GM local authorities to implement the local plan for NO₂ compliance for the areas for which they were responsible, including a Charging Clean Air Zone Class C with additional measures, but with an obligation to provide further options appraisal information to demonstrate the applicable class of charging clean air zone and other matters to provide assurance that the local plan would deliver compliance in the shortest possible time and by 2024 at the latest.

Salford City Council and the other nine GM local authorities, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), collectively referred to as “GM”, have worked together to develop a Clean Air Plan to tackle NO₂ Exceedances at the Roadside, referred to as GM CAP.

In Greater Manchester, road transport is responsible for approximately 80% of NO₂ concentrations at roadside of which diesel vehicles are the largest source. The core goal of the GM CAP is to address the legal requirement to achieve compliance with the legal Limit Value (40 µg/m³) for NO₂ identified through the target determination process in Greater Manchester in the “shortest possible time” in line with Government guidance.

Options considered and rejected were:

Throughout the development of the plan GM has considered a range of options to deliver compliance, overseen by the GM Steering Group, and to understand the type and scale of intervention needed to reduce NO₂ to within legal Limit Values in the “shortest possible time” across Greater Manchester.

A best performing option was recommended within an Outline Business Case (OBC) for further consideration and discussion with stakeholders and the public to aid the development of the Full Business Case.

In March 2019 the GM Authorities agreed the submission of the OBC that proposed a package of measures that was considered would deliver compliance in Greater Manchester in the shortest possible time, at the lowest cost, least risk and with the least negative impacts. This involved a Charging Clean Air Zone Class C with additional measures.

The OBC made clear the expectation that the UK Government would support the plans through:

·       Clear arrangements and funding to develop workable, local vehicle scrappage / upgrade measures;

·       Short term effective interventions in vehicle and technology manufacturing and distribution, led by national Government with local authorities;

·       Replacement of non-compliant buses; and

·       A clear instruction to Highways England with regard to air pollution from the Strategic Road Network (SRN) in Greater Manchester.

Assessment of Risk:

The initial risk register was set out in Clean Air Plan OBC (March 2019)

The source of funding is:

All development and delivery costs to be covered by central  ...  view the full decision text for item 4.