GONW Claims Air Quality Irrelevant

On 17th April we received this reply from GONW regarding our complaint that Centros applications 08/00864/OUT, 08/00865/OUT and 07/00602/OUT were not referred to them by Lancaster city council. See our blog entry of 2nd April for details. We sent GONW all the document extracts listed in the blog, but it seems that air quality and the health of local residents is not relevant to them - in their own words "no issues appear to arise on those applications as to justify our intervention."

A Tangled Web

In our pursuit of information on how our council has considered the air quality impacts of the centros scheme, we have been consistently stonewalled by Nick Howard, Environmental Protection Manager of Lancaster Council Environmental Services. Not only has Mr Howard failed to advise councillors that the Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) risks extension if 08/00864/OUT goes ahead, but according to the documents that he has reluctantly provided under Freedom of Information requests, the Air Quality Management Area steering group has never discussed the effects that the extra 500 parking spaces over and above existing car parking or the major roadworks that have been proposed might have on air quality in the city. If true, then Mr Howard who is the person responsible for improving our local air quality is guilty of a staggering degree of incompetence and a dereliction of duty.

Under Freedom of Information regulations, we obtained a November 29th 07 email that Mr Howard sent to a list of AQMA steering group members reminding them of arrangements for a meeting the next day. The email shows an extensive agenda and the list of recipients includes several from Lancashire County Council (Planning, Highways, County Engineers and Public Transport), Lancaster City Council Planning Dept, the Highways Agency, North Lancs Primary Care Trust, and the Environment Agency.

Mr Howard first claimed that this meeting never took place. We did not believe him and after complaining about this, Sarah Taylor, Head of Legal and Human Resources/Monitoring Officer conducted a 'review' and we got this response. This was not helpful and we wrote back to her attaching a copy of the email from Mr Howard to the AQMA steering group commenting that reliance on Mr Howard's word did not constitute an adequate review of the complaint and pointing out the large number of participants and suggesting that Mr Howard's offical diary might shed some light on the matter.

Today we received this response which finally admitted that the meeting did take place on the 30th November 2007, but that there are no minutes. In her previous response to us, Sarah Taylor says "Mr Howard has also contacted County Council officers who might have attended such a meeting, but again these inquiries have not produced any evidence that a meeting took place on that day." In her latest response, she says "Contact with the County Council has now identified one officer who has been able to confirm that he attended the meeting on the 30th November 2007".

Based on the results of our Freedom of Information requests, the record suggests that Mr Howard and the AQMA steering group has never considered the air quality implications of the centros development, but we find this unlikely and have to wonder what was discussed at the meeting that Mr Howard seems to be so anxious to conceal. Our council has a statutory duty to improve air quality and we believe this is a matter of great public concern.

We first became aware that things were not as they should be when a scientist employed by the local Environment Agency told us that she had been threatened with the sack if she continued to help us as this article explains. Mr Howard's web is gradually unravelling and he and his fellow travellers in our council and the Environment Agency should take note.

If you want to make your views known on this, we suggest you write to Nick Howard and copy in Sarah Taylor, Head of Legal and Human Resources/Monitoring Officer and Mark Cullinan, Chief Executive of Lancaster Council.