What does sustainability mean to Leeds?

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Using EMS to deliver strategic environmental
priorities
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Joseph Priestley 1733 - 1804
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Leeds

• gt 700,000 population
• 550 km2
• City charter 1207
• EMAS accreditation 2002
• gt 30,000 staff
• 2.34m passengers through Leeds Bradford Airport
  (2004). Forecast 7m by 2030
• 34,380 ha greenbelt highest in country
• 7 wards in the 10 most deprived wards in England

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6th Environment Action Programme

• Thematic Strategy on the Urban Environment (2005)
• contributing to a better quality of life
  through an integrated approach concentrating on
  urban areas and to contribute to a high level
  of quality of life and social well-being for
  citizens by providing an environment where the
  level of pollution does not give rise to harmful
  effects on human health and the environment and
  by encouraging sustainable urban development.
• Managing Urban Europe 25 project

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Elements of EMS
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Plan Environmental Policy

• Environmental Policy (2006) covering development,
  energy climate change, waste, pollution,
  transport, local environmental quality,
  procurement, biodiversity, education and
  awareness raising
• Local Area Agreement Strategic Outcome (2007/8)
  Reduced ecological footprint through leading the
  response, influencing, mitigating and adapting to
  environmental and climate change

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Plan Aspects identification Evaluation of
significance

• Baseline review of strategic environmental
  conditions in Leeds
• Essential evidence base for Sustainability
  Appraisals (SA) and Strategic Environmental
  Assessment (SEA)

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Ecological footprint
Ecological Footprint measures the total quantity
of land and sea area required to produce the
food, fibre and minerals we consume, absorb the
waste we produce (including CO2 emissions), and
provide the space for our infrastructure.

• Per capita earth share 1.8 gha
• World average footprint 2.2 gha
• Leeds average footprint 5.37 gha

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Leeds Ecological footprint
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Topic Water Quality
Chemistry General Quality Assessment Scores
Leeds Rivers
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Topic Municipal Waste
Current methods of disposal and projections for
future waste disposal in Leeds
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Topic Transport Related Air Quality
Air Quality Management Areas and Areas of Concern
in Leeds
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Topic Land Contamination
Potentially contaminating historic land uses in
southern and western Leeds
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Topic Flood Risk
Environment Agency Flood Zones in Leeds
Floodzone 2 Annual River Flooding Probability
of 1 or greater
Floodzone 3 Annual River Flooding Probability of
0.1 to 1
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Topic Index of Deprivation
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Topic Energy Production and Consumption
Energy Consumption Statistics for Leeds 2003
(estimated)
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A summary of CO2 emissions in Leeds 2004
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TRAFFIC GROWTH TRENDS IN LEEDS

• 5 Annual growth 1985- 1990, 1 since 1990.
• Peak spreading
• Night-time flows?

• 7 reduction in car usage
• 4 increase in train/ bus usage
• 100,000 vehicles access central Leeds
  (AM peak period)

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FUTURE CLIMATE IN LEEDS?

• Long term/seasonal averages
• Warmer drier summers.
• Milder wetter winters.
• Rising sea levels.
• Extremes
• More very hot days.
• More intense downpours of rain.
• Increased storm surges.
• Uncertain changes in storms, possible increase in
  winter.

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• Historical data (1908-2006) obtained from the Met
  Offices Bradford weather station

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• Air frost defined as the number of days the
  temperature the 15-minute average temperature
  fell below 0C.

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FLOODING IN LEEDS (15th 25th JUNE 2007)
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Plan Objectives, targets programmes

• Agriculture Leeds Food Matters, UDP section 5.5,
  appendix 5 (2001)
• Air quality Air Quality Action Plan Jan 2004
• Biodiversity Biodiversity Action Plan for Leeds
• Contaminated land Contaminated Land Inspection
  Strategy 2001
• Education awareness Leeds Healthy Schools
  Standard
• Energy production/consumption Regional Energy
  Plan
• Flooding Strategic Flood Risk Assessment
• Forestry Towards a Leeds Forest Strategy
  (consultation document)
• Greenhouse gases Leeds Climate Change Strategy
• Historic Env Conservation Area Appraisals
  Buildings at Risk Strategy UDP section 5.3,
  appendices 3 4 (2001)
• Land use UDP / Local Development Framework
• Landscape townscape City Centre Urban Design
  Strategy, Neighbourhoods for Living, etc. UDP
  section 5.3, appendix 3 (2001), Leeds Landscape
  Assessment (1994)
• Natural resources Minerals Policies UDP section
  5.5, appendix 6 (2001)

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Plan Objectives, targets programmes

• Nuisance Various statutory tools Environmental
  Protection Act 1990
• Pollution Prevention and Control Regulations
• Parks Greenspace A Parks and Green Space
  Strategy for Leeds (consultation draft)
• Permitted processes Pollution Prevention Control
  (England and Wales) Regulations 2000,
  incorporating Integrated Pollution Prevention
  and Control (IPPC), Local Authority Integrated
  Pollution Prevention and Control (LA-IPPC), Local
  Authority Pollution Prevention and Control
  (LAPPC)
• Radioactivity EA Radioactive Substances
  Regulation Strategy
• Transport West Yorkshire Local Transport Plan
• Transportation noise Environmental Noise
  Directive
• Waste Integrated Waste Strategy 2005-2035, UDP
  section 5.5, appendix 7 (2001)
• Water consumption Yorkshire Water Water
  Resource Plan 2005-2010
• Water quality Yorkshire Water Monitoring Plan
  2005-10

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Do Resources roles, competence communication /
Operational control

• Need to consider strategic skills such as
  partnership working and analysis of evidence
• Need to influence business and service planning -
  programme of improvement
• Need to audit implementation of key strategies

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Upstream Issues Agriculture, Built Env, Energy,
Water, Greenspace, Land Use, Transport
Air quality, Biodiversity, Flooding, CO2, Noise,
Waste, Water Quality Downstream Effects
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Check Monitoring

• National indicators (October 2007)
• Overall satisfaction with local area (5)
• People killed or seriously injured in road
  traffic accidents (47)
• Congestion avge journey time during morning
  peak (167)
• Previously developed land that has been vacant gt
  5 yrs (170)
• Access to services by public transport, walking
  and cycling (175)
• Working age people with access to employment
  (176)
• Local bus passenger journeys (177)
• Bus services running on time (178)
• Food establishments broadly compliant with the
  law (184)
• Climate change fuel poverty (185-189)
• Waste management (191-193)
• Air quality (194)
• Cleanliness (195-196)
• Biodiversity (197)
• School travel (198)

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Check Review Audit

• Aim to embed within Local Strategic Partnership
  and LAA performance monitoring framework
• Difficult to audit!

Report Environmental Statement

• Incorporate as part of main reporting framework.
  Not separate.

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Outstanding issues

• EMS should be about environmental improvement.
  Need to influence strategic issues
• Audit strategies is really about auditing
  expenditure (). More environmental bang for buck
• Lead by example and maintain legal compliance

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Outstanding issues

• How important is legal compliance at a strategic
  level?
• Significance need greater certainty on critical
  environmental infrastructure
• Need to understand pressures on local environment
• Can this be audited / verified?

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Thank you

• http//ec.europa.eu/environment/urban/home_en.htm
• www.mue25.net
• www.leeds.gov.uk
• thomas.knowland_at_leeds.gov.uk