Location: North Yorkshire
Purpose: The council was concerned about the number of air pollution hotspots across the county. To reduce pollution to safer levels the council created a strategy to ensure the region has a coordinated approach at all local council tiers, through the planning system and to nudge behaviours that improve air quality.
Description: The strategy has two elements:
The nature of the problem: This includes the composition of the air pollutants causing the hotspots and the county’s monitoring operation.
The solution: This includes how the council aims to utilise national policy and frameworks to implement their air quality strategy and commitments which include a county-wide air quality officer, targets for electric vehicle infrastructure, active travel and school buses.
Conservative councillor/ council lead: Executive Member for Highways and Transportation, Cllr Keane Duncan and Executive Member for Working in Localities and the Council’s Response to Climate Change, Cllr Greg White.
Further links: The strategy, Yorkshire Post write up and the Air Quality News write up.