Issue - meetings

A representative of the Corporate Director for Place Management and Regeneration will attend the meeting and make a presentation on proposals to improve air quality for Greater Manchester.

A representative of the Corporate Director for Place Management and Regeneration submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) and attended the meeting to make a presentation in respect of proposals to improve air quality in Greater Manchester.

The following comments were made/issues raised:-

·         Unless the full package of the proposals were accepted and funded by the Government, the scale of the changes would not be large enough to have a major impact.

·         The proposals contained a clean air policy, the aim of which was to collect as little money as possible.

·         A Member queried whether two years was a long enough period of time for motorists to switch to ‘green’ vehicles.

·         Taxis and private hire vehicles would be affected by the proposals irrespective of where in the country they were registered.

·         There needed to be a simultaneous programme of improvements to public transport to encourage residents to give up car usage altogether.

·         One of the biggest problems was the air pollution from the airport which were excluded from the proposal. Although the intention of the proposals was commendable, they did not go far enough to provide clean air and were not ambitious enough.

·         A Member queried whether the Government would fund scrappage schemes.

RESOLVED  - That the report be noted.

A representative of the Corporate Director for Place Management and Regeneration will attend the meeting and make a presentation on proposals to improve air quality for Greater Manchester.

A representative of the Corporate Director for Place Management and Regeneration submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) and attended the meeting to make a presentation in respect of proposals to improve air quality in Greater Manchester.

The following comments were made/issues raised:-

• A Member felt that the proposals were only addressing half the problem insofar as the emphasis was not on fewer emissions. The message should be relayed to the Greater Manchester Combined Authority that it needed to deliver on reducing emissions generally, not just cleaner emissions. A move towards fewer car journeys should be encouraged, but this was out of scope of the proposals.
• Taxis and private hire vehicles would be affected by the proposals irrespective of where in the country they were registered.
• There needed to be a holistic strategy that encouraged the use and access to public transport.
• The proposals were being promoted to small businesses via advertisements on buses, social media and groups such as the South Manchester professional organisation who dealt with sole traders.
• The consultation should include as many professional organisations as possible.
• A great deal of work was being carried out to monitor the responses received to the consultation.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

The Corporate Director for Place Management and Regeneration will attend the meeting and make a presentation.

A representative of the Corporate Director for Place Management and Regeneration submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) and attended the meeting to make a presentation in respect to proposals to improve air quality in Greater Manchester.

The representative of the Corporate Director answered questions from Councillors and members of the public.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted and members of the public be encouraged to respond to the consultation which would close on 30^th June 2019.