Issue details

To approve the procurement of an Automatic Number Plate Recognition Survey from Atkins Air Quality Management Consultants in order to meet the initial requirement of the compliance Directive which was issued to the Council by the Department for the Environment Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) on 27 July 2017.

In November 2016, the non-profit environmental law organisation ClientEarth won a Supreme Court ruling against the Government which ordered ministers to come up with a plan to bring down air pollution levels to within legal limits as soon as possible. The latest plan was published in July 2017 and Fareham Borough Council was highlighted as one of the Authorities that must produce a targeted local plan to tackle likely exceedances of Nitrogen dioxide levels. This relates to an area of road from the M27 motorway Junction 11 to the A27 Market Quay ‘through-about’ and along the A27 to the Station roundabout and branching into the Portchester Road and into the A32. To that end on 27 July 2017 the Department for the Environment Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) issued a compliance Directive on Fareham Borough Council, along with the other Authorities that were listed. This Direction requires the Authority to undertake and submit by 31 March 2018 a Feasibility Study (Initial Plan) to identify the option which will deliver compliance with legal limits. The Authority must also submit a Final Plan by 31 December 2018 which must identify the preferred option to deliver compliance. The Government is funding this work. The Joint Air Quality Unit (JAQU) which is a Government unit consisting of staff from DEFRA and the Department for Transport (DfT) are closely monitoring progress on compliance with the Directive. They have produced detailed guidance on the work that must be undertaken and are requiring approval at each stage. One of the first tasks as part of the evidence gathering stage is to conduct a traffic survey for ascertaining the fleet composition (including the Euro standard mix). This should use Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras and associated equipment at key locations to simultaneously monitor traffic coming into/out of the study area over a continuous seven-day period. It should cover the major routes that will provide effective coverage of journeys in to the study area. The study area is expected to be affected significantly by measures to be implemented under the local plan when developed. Officers from Environmental Health and Planning, together with colleagues from the Highways Department at Hampshire County Council have determined the study area and designed the ANPR traffic survey. This has been approved in principle by JAQU and Atkins Air Quality Management Consultants have engaged a survey company to undertake the work as part of some wider work they are also doing on this project. Three quotes were obtained and the selected supplier is standing by for an order to be placed so as the Survey can take place, week commencing 20 November 2017. The cost of this work is approximately £94,000, JAQU have confirmed that this quote is reasonable and are set to authorise the spend, the funds have already been released by them for this work to be undertaken.