The package of measures proposed under the Local Air Quality Plan is part of wider air quality improvement work being undertaken by the Council. The Local Air Quality Plan only comprises of measures designed to deal with a localised and specific problem arising from the Government’s approach to achieving compliance with the EU Limit Value for Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2).

The Council has developed a range of measures that are essential in supporting air quality improvements. There are various funding opportunities available from Government to support such schemes which the Council has already taken advantage of.

Funding has already been received for the following supporting projects:

Cleaner taxis research and engagement programme

  • The Council were successful in obtaining funding of £640,000 to undertake promotion of ultra-low emission vehicle uptake, implementation of electric vehicle charging hubs for hackney carriages in the city centre, amend taxis ranks to electric hackney carriages only, changes to taxi licensing to support the uptake of compliant / low emission vehicles.
  • The Council have also received an Air Quality Grant of £29,750 for taxi fleet emission improvement and have conducted a Duty Cycle study with Cenex.

Clean Bus Technology Fund

  • In early 2018, the Council supported local bus companies to obtain around £2.3million in funding from the Government’s Clean Bus Technology Fund, which is intended for use to upgrade the emissions systems on local buses across Derby.
  • Arriva plan to retrofit 55 vehicles starting in August 2019 and additionally have taken delivery of 19 brand new Euro VI compliant vehicles which were put into service during February and March 2019.

OLEV Go Ultra Low City

  • Derby City Council were successful in a joint bid for funding with Nottingham City Council and Nottinghamshire County Council from the Office of Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) to promote and facilitate the uptake of ultra-low emission vehicles across the region.
  • The OLEV funding is being used for the installation of 37 electric vehicle charge points in some of our public car parks.
  • There is also funding available for promotion and business engagement activities, with events already held in relation to low emission vehicle promotion and awareness in conjunction with LEVEL (the Low Emission Vehicle Enterprise and Learning network) and CleanTech Business Ltd.
  • Recent events include the Air Quality, Clean Air Zones and ULEV Innovations conference in the summer of 2018 and the Derby Ride & Drive Electric Vehicle Showcase in September 2018.

Walking and Cycling Improvement in Derby

The Council is involved in a significant number of capital and revenue projects designed to support and increase the uptake of sustainable modes of travel in Derby, including walking, cycling, car sharing and smarter ways of working. This includes continued investment in new and improved cycle routes connecting key destinations across the city. Including:

  • The South Derby Cycle Package, funded by the Growth Deal, improves the cycle routes and connections from the City Centre to key employment areas in the South of Derby.
  • The Connected Cycle City Western Corridor Extension is a series of cycle network improvements, funded from the Growth deal, linking the city centre to new growth and housing development to the west of the city.

Derby City Council recently procured eBikes Derby which launched in the summer of 2018 – eBikes Derby is the country’s largest electric bike share scheme with 200 eBikes and 30 initial docking stations at key trip destinations across the city.

Supporting and Enabling Travel Behaviour Change

The Council manages an extensive behavioural change programme, which runs until 31st March 2020, following a successful bid to the Department for Transport’s Access Fund. Key projects in the Access Fund programme include:

  • Free household and employee Personalised Travel Planning (PTP)
  • Travel planning activities for local businesses including support with facilitating travel surveys for staff and implementing voluntary travel plans
  • Free adult cycle training delivered by Cycle Derby
  • Free bike repairs via Dr Bike sessions held at job centres and local businesses.

Cycle Derby is a project which provides a wide range of services to support and enable people from all walks of life to cycle including:

  • Free 1-2-1 cycle training to build confidence that includes adapted bikes;
  • Delivering Bikeability levels 1, 2 and 3 to thousands of children in Derby every year; and
  • Running various campaigns and events; Cycle Derby Sportive and Derby’s involvement in the Big Pedal and Love2Ride challenge.

Air Pollution Monitoring and Strategic Work

  • The Council was involved in the set-up of the Derbyshire Air Quality Working Group in 2016. and is also an active member of the East Midlands Air Quality Network (EMAQN), overseen by Public Health England (PHE). These groups bring together stakeholders from a range of relevant Departments and organisations across Derbyshire and regularly meet to discuss and influence air quality improvement measures across the county and city.
  • The Council currently operates a network of around 75 air pollution monitoring tubes (known as diffusion tubes) which monitor nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in the main air pollution hotspots across the city.
  • The Council produces an annual report of the monitoring data (in what is called an Annual Status Report or ASR), which is sent to DEFRA.

Further information on how the Council monitor air pollution and to view the links to the Annual Status Reports is available online.

Further information on how the Council are helping to reduce emissions from biomass burning, planning controls and Environmental Permitting is available here