8
Councillor Cory introduced
this item and explained that due to the attendance of external parties in
relation to this report, he proposed to take this item first, out of sequence
with the published agenda, unless any objections to this proposal were received,
in order to allow the eternal parties to leave the meeting once their
presentation had concluded.
Belinda Silkstone, Environmental Protection Manager
attended to present the report and assist the Panel with their enquiries. The Panel heard that through March and April
when the country was in lockdown, a 40% improvement in air quality had been
measured when compared to the same time period in 2019, and this had been noted
and reported by local residents. Although the improvement in air quality had
not remained at this level, a general improvement in quality of 20% was noted
compared to 2019, and it was felt that it was appropriate to build on this
change, principally through the Council’s ‘No Idling’ project and associated
signage.
Amy Meadows of Meadows
Communications addressed the Panel in her role as a behaviour change specialist
who had been working with the Council since summer 2020 on the ‘No Idling’
campaign. The Panel heard that it was crucial that the feelings of residents
were understood, and that over 11,000 residents had been surveyed in respect of
air pollution and vehicle idling. The survey demonstrated widespread support
for turning off vehicle engines, but highlighted the need for more specific
information about the impact on individuals, and it was for this reason that
the intended campaign looked to make people aware of the link between vehicle
idling and poor air quality, and the consequences of this for them and their
families. Community engagement was a key thread to the project, and community
volunteers had been engaged to approach motorists in areas with high incidents
of vehicle idling, and key local partners and businesses had been engaged with
the project. The Panel heard that as well as traditional print media coverage,
social media was being used to promote the project, together with ambient
advertising around Colchester. Emma Wallace of Meadows Communications advised
the Panel that the launch of the project had taken place on 8 October 2020,
coinciding with Clean Air Day, and had provided an excellent opportunity to
engage with the public and distribute campaign materials. The event had been
supported by a number of Borough Councillors, and received good coverage in the
media including strong social media coverage from the National Health Service
(NHS) East Suffolk and North Essex, the University of Essex, Community 360,
Actual Radio, Colchester United, Anglia News and Clean Air Colchester, among
others. Billboards and banners had been located in Colchester, including next
to schools, where parents dropping children off were a key target, and petrol
pump stickers were also in place. A postcard containing myths and facts around
engine idling had been produced to address common concerns of motorists and
provide reassurance to them.
Amy Meadows addressed the
Panel to give further details of the campaign, which was to run until April
2021. The areas around schools were a key priority, particularly in areas with
poor air quality, and toolkits were being prepared to distribute to schools with
suggestions on how to run events supporting the campaign within school
activities and to engage the children in the project. Work was also ongoing
with the Colchester Business Improvement District (BID) to target businesses in
the town centre via mailings in community owned channels and offering training
opportunities for business and their staff and encouraging businesses to
develop their own anti-idling policies. It was intended to work together with
the Mercury Theatre and Colchester Mosque, together with other partners such as
the Hospital and Clinical Commissioning group. Further promotional activities
were planned for the start of 2021 with the intention to get media coverage
again, including further ambient advertising and case studies with local people
to talk about the impact of air quality on their health.
The Panel received an update
on the signage project which supported the ‘No Idling’ project, and heard that
planning permission had now been received for the signage, and signs were to be
sited at the top and bottom of Brook Street and at Eastgates level crossing.
Research assistants were to be engaged to monitor the number of times engines
were switched off at these locations and they would be equipped with portable
air quality sensors. The messages on the signs were based on social norms, self
efficacy and reflectiveness, and research had demonstrated that these were
effective for a short time, and the aim of the project was to test their
effectiveness over a longer period of time up to eighteen months. Now that
planning permission had been obtained, the project would be up and running by
mid-November 2020.
Councillor Cory expressed his
pleasure in the progress of the project so far, and commented that he was
particularly keen to see more engagement with local schools, and enquired how
the project could support the current 3PR project being run with schools by the
North East Parking Partnership (NEPP). He also enquired how many volunteers had
bene engaged as part of the project to date. Rosie Welch, Air Quality and
Community Engagement Officer, confirmed that so far twenty three volunteers had
signed up, together with thirty two people on a stakeholder list.
Councillor Goacher informed
the Panel that he had spent some time as a warden for the project, holding
placards in Brook Street and Ipswich Road and had some feedback for the group
as a result of this. He commented that the orange signs associated with the
project were effective if the drivers already knew what the signs meant, but
the message to turn off engines was not clear enough if drivers had not seen
the media campaign. He further commented that a Colchester Borough Council van
had been approached on Brook Street, and the driver had refused to run off his
engine or engage with the volunteers, and he wondered what education had been
undertaken with regard to Council staff. Councillor Goacher observed that a
common reason given by drivers for not turning off their engines was that they
didn’t know how long they would be waiting, and although this was primarily an
issue with Essex County Council Highways, he wondered why traffic lights in the
UK did not provide information on how long there was left until the lights
changed.
Belinda Silkstone confirmed that there had been a
feasibility study into driver facing timers on traffic lights, but
unfortunately it was not possible to implement these in Colchester. With regard
to the signage, Amy Meadows confirmed that the design had initially been
intended to go on notice boards in schools and workplaces where it could be
read in detail and following requests the posters had been given out to people
to use. In fact, an additional poster was in being designed to go by the
roadside with a much stronger, clearer message for motorists, together with
additional banners to go outside schools.
Councillor Davidson lent his support to Councillor
Goacher’s points on poster legibility, and also commented that the banners and
signs were only produced in English and could therefore not be read by visitors,
and he felt that the message needed to be distilled into a simple image which
could be understood by all. He went on to express his disappointment that the
campaign appeared to be only directed at areas around traffic lights, and
requested that it be expanded to incorporate other areas of known serious air
pollution.
Belinda Silkstone confirmed that there had been a
feasibility study into driver facing timers on traffic lights, but
unfortunately it was not possible to implement these in Colchester. She acknowledged
the issues with air quality around Mersea Road, but confirmed that for funding
reasons the signage project had been focussed on the air quality management
area currently in place around Brook Street and East Gate. Amy Meadows
confirmed that work was underway to translate the materials into other languages,
including working with Colchester Mosque and the Council’s own Engagement
Officer to determine the most suitable languages to use.
In response to a further
question from Councillor Davidson, Belinda Silkstone explained that although
Essex County Council (ECC) Highways held the responsibility for the transport
infrastructure, Colchester Borough Council was doing all it could to change behaviours
at a local level, and held regular meetings with ECC in a bid to find ways to
improve air quality.
Councillor Chillingworth congratulated
the team on the campaign, but stressed that the programme had to be continued
in the long term and he enquired whether the volunteers and staff would be in
place for the coming years, whether more work was planned with schools and what
the practicality of lorry drivers turning off their engines was. Emily Wallace
confirmed that the impact of the signage was being specifically studied and signs
were to be rotated as necessary to ensure that their impact was maintained. It
was the intention that over time volunteers from the community would add to the
capacity of Clean Air Colchester, and would be in a position to carry the
project forward over the coming years using established promotional materials
and research. Belinda Silkstone confirmed that the four schools in the air
quality management area were a key part of the project, and said that an email
had been received from the Civic Society saying that since the start of the
campaign the idling of busses was much improved. She saw no reason why lorry
drivers should not turn off their engines as well.
Councillor Scordis praised
the design of the posters on display, but agree with previous comments that the
message needed to be simplified so that those who were unaware of the campaign
could understand the message as they were driving. He wondered whether there
were any schools in the air quality management area who were not engaging with
the project. Amy Meadows confirmed that new promotional materials were being
prepared with reduced wording which would be distributed more widely, building
the impact of the project over the coming months, together with the ‘myths and
facts’ leaflet which would be accompanied by some ‘infographics’ which were
very simple pictorial designs which would greatly help with the recognition of
the project. There had been generally excellent engagement with schools in the
air quality management area and beyond, and they were seen to be a key part of
the project. Rosie Welch confirmed that the public engagement work that had
been carried out at the start of the year revealed that the overriding concern
in relation to idling was its impact on public health, and this was the reason that
health messages were at the heart of the campaign.
Councillor Nigel Chapman wondered
whether any direct contact had been had with the bus companies, or whether the
drivers were turning off engines on their own accord, and he also wondered
whether any contact had been made with rural schools as he was aware of some
idling issues in the villages. It was confirmed that although the pro-active
focus was on urban schools at the present time, the toolkit that had been prepared
was available for any school to use and the messages contained within it were
targeted at the whole of Colchester and were not just relevant to the urban
areas. The Panel heard that prior to the launch of the campaign, there had been
a number of meetings with the bus companies, some of whom already had a
no-idling policy and some of whom were interested in supporting the project.
Under the current restrictions being imposed by covid, discussions were ongoing
with ECC as to how to bring the bus companies further on board with the
project.
Councillor Whitehead confirmed
that he had received some promotional material via a school and had found the ‘myths
and facts’ leaflet particularly useful, and he also raised the issue of traffic
light waiting indicators. It was explained that the difficulty in installing simple
waiting timers was linked to the fact that traffic light wait times varied
dependent on traffic flow, and although other options had been explored in
detail with ECC, including an electronic sign linked to traffic lights, the
cost and planning restrictions associated with even a short term test of a
system were prohibitive.
RESOLVED that the content of the report be noted.