Transport: air quality and 20mph zones

I attended Transport 21's meeting at the Calvary Church on Thursday 20th January. The main focus was air quality, and we were given some good information from Council speakers and academics about where the air quality problems in the city are, and the contributory causes.

No surprises to learn that the worst air quality is along the main arterial routes, with the Lewes Road being particularly bad between Elm Grove and the gyratory. It was however surprising to find that a large proportion of the nitrogen oxide pollution comes from HGVs and buses, with a smaller proportion from cars.

It's positive in some ways that buses are high contributors, because solutions are easier, and there was mention (from a representative of Brighton and Hove buses) of trialling hybrid buses in the city soon. But one thing that was perhaps missing from the data was an idea of trends over time, particularly in car usage, which is continually on the increase, making it something that needs to be addressed from a congestion, as well as an air quality, point of view.

The speaker from Living Streets mentioned the recent campaign and Council scrutiny panel report about a 20mph zone across the whole city. The scrutiny panel's conclusions were positive about the benefits of 20mph zones, particularly in residential areas, and recommended moving forward with extending these zones and creating wider areas. However, it stopped short of recommending that the entire city be covered by default by a 20mph zone (with exceptions made for main arterial roads). One of the reasons is that the police have said that it would not be possible to enforce this. Another is the effect on the bus service and other key users of the roads.

The Greens have relaunched a petition to continue to support the "default" 20mph proposal that prompted the scrutiny panel in the first place. But I'm not convinced that they have done enough to explain why they disagree with the panel, and what they propose doing about the various problems that were highlighted. Their time might be better spent identifying specific areas which would be suitable for a 20mph speed limit, finding out what local residents and road users want, and, if there is support, campaigning to set them up.

The scrutiny panel also reported that the impact on air quality and emissions of a 20mph zone was unclear. Since the air quality hotspots are arterial roads, which would be exempt from the zone, I am unsure that the Lewes Road would be helped much by a default 20mph zone across the city. It may even be the case that drivers speed up along the arterial roads to make up for lost time elsewhere! This could actually make things worse along the Lewes Road for residents, cyclists and pedestrians.


Speakers:

1. Stephen Young B&H Living Streets / Senior Lecturer in Economics Brighton University
2. Dr Gary Fuller - Environmental Research Group, Kings College London
3. Mike Best - Operations Manager Brighton & Hove Buses
4. Andy Renaut - Head of Transport Planning & policy, BHCC
5. Tim Nichols / Sam Rouse - Head of Environmental Health / Senior Technical Officer Air Quality, BHCC

Catching the Sun event was a great success

HASL's solar energy event at the Hanover Centre on Friday night attracted around 40-50 people, and there was a real buzz to it. The best parts were hearing from local people. Clare talked about her experiences of installing solar PV, and it was great hearing about the pluses and minuses, and the exciting elements of it, like checking the meter every few hours exactly how much energy was being generated! Paul described the solar thermal system (hot water tubes on the roof) and that was fascinating. It was good to learn that your property does not have to be 100% perfect for an installation to work: Paul's solar thermal tubes lie horizontally on a flat roof, which is not the best position, but the system is still so efficient that they do not need to heat water by any other means for most of the summer.

We also heard from the Brighton and Hove Energy Co-operative about their plans to set up the first co-op to invest in solar energy. And some interesting info about buying renewable energy (Ecotricity etc). As ever, it's the participation of everyone that makes these events so interesting.

Several people were interested in the feed-in tariff scheme, and it would be really excellent if, as a result of this meeting, people were encouraged to get together and go ahead with it. We'll definitely be following it up and aiming to make this happen.

Sally Gunnell supports our School Sports campaign

Support for for Labour's School Sports Partnership in the city was so great that enough signatures were collected (1,270) to trigger a debate in the next Council meeting, on Thursday January 27th (the meeting starts at 4.30pm and is at Hove Town Hall).

Sally Gunnell, along with many other top athletes, supported the campaign to save SSP's which have done so much to provide different sport and exercise activities in schools. Here she is handing in the petition to the Council along with Labour Councillors and supporters of the campaign, on Monday.

London Road needs more than a Post Office

As the Co-operative announces that it no longer wants to host the Post Office in the old department store on London Road, local Green Councillors launch a campaign to stop it moving north onto Preston Road. I agree that it would be a pity for London Road to be without a Post Office. But this campaign should not disguise the fact that Green Councillors have presided over a long period of decline in the London Road which will take more than a Post Office to reverse.

I was involved in Another London Road, a campaign which started when Tesco expressed an interest in a major development at Preston Circus. This plan was wrong for the London Road (being a massive three-storey mall with huge car park) and I was pleased when Tesco pulled out. Throughout the campaign there was a lot of talk about offering real options for what the London Road needed instead. But a year or so down the line, we seem to be in exactly the same position.

There is talk of revamping the Open Market. But when? This has been on the drawing board for years. Plans for refurbishing New England House and attracting new small businesses - but no action. And aims to reduce traffic, but no no support for initiatives which might help, like a Park and Ride scheme for example.

The ward London Road is in (St Peter's and North Laine) has had Green Councillors for 13 years. What have they achieved in that time? It's fine being against things but you have to be for something also, and able to deliver on it.

Labour has a track record of delivering in Brighton and Hove. Attracting creative industries here and establishing the city as a digital media hub is one - leaving us much better positioned to weather the recession than other towns in the region. The New England Development has brought much-needed affordable housing to an area in dire need of regeneration. We support a Park and Ride scheme to free up our city centre streets. And we don't just talk - we have made it happen in the past and we can do so again.

"Catching the Sun" solar energy event on Fri 21st Jan

Hanover Action for Sustainable Living (HASL) formed just over a year ago as a spontaneous reaction to a showing of the film The Age of Stupid in Hanover. I feel it still has the spirit of "This is important, right what are we going to do about it?" which I love.

I suggested the idea of bringing solar energy installers together with local Hanover residents, to publicise the Labour government's feed-in-tariffs deal. Feed-in tariffs mean that if you install solar PV panels, you get paid for every unit of electricity they generate, even if you use it yourself, and if you generate surplus electricity it goes back into the grid. It's designed to offer a generous incentive to those home owners who are able to make the initial investment and willing to lead the way. What you generate will vary, but typically the return on investment is around 9% over the whole 25-year period you get the tariff. Crucially, if there are several people interested, they can work together with installers to get a good deal on the installation costs.

The idea of an event was taken up enthusiastically by HASL, and it has grown to include a presentation from Brighton and Hove Energy Co-operative, amongst other things, for those people who are interested in investing in FITs but don't happen to own a roof! It's all happening this coming Friday, Jan 21st, at 7.30pm at the Hanover Centre.

Tracey Hill

Ed Miliband's approach is right for the party and the country

Listening to Ed Miliband's Q and A session in Hove this morning, I really felt that his approach at this time is right. Of course in the press, Labour can do nothing right, but Ed was elected leader on the basis that he would get back in touch with members of the party and with the broader public. And that takes time - sessions like the one today with hundreds of people of all political persuasions, listening to their concerns and feeding them in, allowing them to steer where we go next. It would be easy to wade in with policy ideas now and risk alienating voters and Labour loyalists all over again. We need to recognise what we got wrong, while at the same time appreciating what we did well, and that is absolutely what Ed is doing.

Ed really shows himself to be someone who cares about doing things right on issues I agree with - reducing inequality, combating climate change and ensuring that we have excellent public services. He is a great Leader of the Opposition for Brighton and Hove, and anyone who would like to see the back of this Coalition government should be right behind him.

Points raised were varied but included - what more can we do to address climate change, NHS funding and staffing, libraries, further education, police handling of protests, and attitudes to people on benefit. On this latter, I was struck by the experiences of someone who advises benefit claimants: we are always hearing about benefit cheats and of course that needs to be addressed, but there are many people out there who are under-claiming, and not getting what they need and are entitled to.