Southampton has launched a ‘Green City Charter’ to offer what the council leader says are “the most ambitious environmental measures to improve air quality ever adopted by a UK council”, although it’s been criticised by some for dropping plans to charge for the most polluting commercial vehicles.
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The council says its charter will “deliver actions that will improve air quality, reduce pollution and waste, minimise the impact of climate change, reduce health inequalities and create a more sustainable approach to economic growth”.
Councillor Steve Leggett, cabinet member for green city, said: “We received a fantastic response to the consultation on clear air last summer and it is very clear how aspirational people in Southampton are about the air they breathe. The measures that we plan to introduce through the Green City Charter will go above and beyond meeting the Government’s expectations for future generations.”
Bold
But campaigners have accused the council of not being bold enough and ignoring the public consultation in which more than half the responses reportedly supported charging to enter the city in high polluting commercial vehicles, such as older lorries.
Speaking to BBC Radio Solent [whole item from approx. 1hr 7mins], John Spottiswoode from Green Resistance said: “They did a consultation and 56% said yes, it’s necessary, it’s was good idea – they needed to do it. And now they’re saying they’re going to ignore that. The trouble is that ignoring consultations they should have a really good reason not to do it. And in fact there’s a really good reason to do it.”
And protester Lyn Brayshaw told the BBC: “The figures are 110 people in Southampton dying each year because of air pollution. We know that the hospital is full of people with asthma problems, and linked to it is obviously obesity, traffic accidents. If we had less cars on the road… all of those things would be better and we’d be in a healthier city.”
Ideas
Responding, leader of Southampton City Council Cllr Christopher Hammond told radio host Julian Clegg that the process was about getting under 40 micrograms of nitrogen dioxide in the most polluted areas, but that ideas emerged from the consultation process that would mean “we would be underneath that limit without actually introducing the charging zone”.
Earlier in the month the council said it could meet requirements through a refined set of freight, bus and taxi measures, reported the BBC, adding: “The meeting at Southampton City Council heard the city's port had also expressed plans to install shore power which would allow ships to run on electrical energy, instead of leaving their engines running while docked, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.”