Response from North Tyneside Borough Green Party
The need for action on air pollution is urgent, both locally and across the UK. Significant harm is being caused to individuals and the wider environmental impacts are all the more pronounced in the context of the climate emergency. Dirty air causes tens of thousands of people to die early each year and contributes to lifelimiting conditions in many more. Particular risks exist for those who are already vulnerable, such as children and those with pre-existing breathing conditions such as asthma. The links between motor vehicle traffic and air pollution are well-established. Relying on upgrading to more modern vehicles to fix the problem for us while our transport behaviours stay the same will not work. This is particularly the case for diesel vehicles, the single biggest contributor to roadside air pollution. A fundamental change towards sustainable transport is essential to tackling the problem. Taxi’s play a role as both part of the problem, and part of the solution. As part of the public transport infrastructure, they are vital to enabling people to move away from private vehicles as a default choice, but they themselves are currently contributing significantly to roadside pollution and global climate change.
North Tyneside Borough Green Party welcomes the “promotion of environmental sustainability” as one of the principle goals of licensing policy, together with some of the positive steps made in the proposals such as the new requirements around non-idling. However, we are concerned that other measures are being introduced at a rate which does not reflect the urgency of the situation and is inconsistent with the council’s declaration of a climate emergency. For example, under the proposals, by 2025 and after 3 rounds of rules tightening, the licensing terms regarding vehicle age restrictions will still be more lax than Gateshead has today. A critical aspect in tackling any problem is understanding it and to that end, we suggest that the range of information which must be reported about vehicles be extended A combined dataset of age/emissions standards / mileage covered reported regularly would provide a far clearer picture of the environmental impact of the fleet, the progress being made, and whether further license/policy changes are required. This information should be made publicly available (possibly aggregated if required), to enable other organisations to contribute to finding solutions and help build public support for action.
The council must align its policies and support these measures with complimentary action. Licensing measures can’t deliver a step change in EV adoption alone, and indeed won’t work at all if the required infrastructure isn’t available. Taxi’s ranks are an obvious choice for rapid charging points, and licensees should be consulted on other locations which would support their transition. It may also be helpful to use the licensing engagement as an opportunity to provide information about upgrade paths, incentives available, the reduced running costs of EV’s and so forth.
This is an opportunity to kick-start a wave of real change, at a time when it is really needed. We implore you to make the most of it, both as a duty to the people of North Tyneside, and out of principle, as the right thing to do.