Agenda item - Consultation on a York Wide Smoke Control Area (SCA)

To receive a report from the Director of Environmental and Regulatory Services outliningthe results of public consultation on proposals to further reduce emissions of PM_2.5 and other pollutants from solid fuel burning through a York wide Smoke Control Area (SCA).

Resolved (unanimously):

That Executive

a) Considered the consultation summary (Annex C to the report) and full comments (Annex D to the report) received in relation to the public consultation on a draft order to expand the SCA to cover the whole of CYC’s administrative area (and associated revocation of historical orders covering the existing area).

b) Delegates authority to the Director of Environmental and Regulatory Services, in consultation with the Director of Governance, to approve the making of the ‘City of York Council Smoke Control Order (2025)’ (as drafted at Annex F to the report) to come into effect on a date not less than 6 months after the date of making the order (Option A as set out in the report)

Reasons:

A York-wide SCA would:

1) Provide a mechanism to manage both the burning of the most polluting solid fuels and the appliances in which they are burned across the whole of York, thereby protecting the health of all residents. Burning non-authorised fuels contributes to air pollution and especially PM2.5 across the city which harms public health.

2) Ensure consistency in CYC’s approach to dealing with smoke emissions across York, including future residential areas.

3) Ensure clear rules for burning solid fuels (which are currently different depending on the area of York and in some cases even on the same street).

4) Complement wider air quality improvement measure being implemented by CYC and contribute to national emission reduction targets.

The Director of Environmental and Regulatory Services submitted a report which outlined the results of public consultation on proposals to further reduce emissions of PM2.5 and other pollutants from solid fuel burning through a York wide Smoke Control Area (SCA).

The following annexes were attached to the report:

- Annex A – Boundary of existing smoke control area and distribution of homes that have solid fuel appliances

- Annex B – Proposed smoke control area (extended to CYC boundary)

- Annex C – Consultation Summary

- Annex D – Full responses to survey question 16 (other comments)

- Annex E – Equalities Impact Assessment (EIA)

- Annex F – Draft City of York Council Smoke Control Order (2025).

The following officers were in attendance for this item:

- Peter Roderick, Director of Public Health

- Mike Southcombe, Public Protection, Regulatory Support and Advice Manager

- Andrew Gillah, Principal Air Quality Officer.

The Executive Member acknowledged that there were some residents who had thought that the report contained a proposal to ban all wood burners, which was not the case. That it was a communications issue which it was important to address. It was reported that the Director of Public Health together with Executive Members had met with leaders of the parish council last week to address some of these concerns. The Executive Member was also attending the next parish council meeting in March to respond to any queries arising from the implementation. The Council had developed posters, leaflets and other pieces of information to display in rural areas so that residents understood the importance of it. That solid fuel burning was detrimental to human health, which had not been fully understood from some of the consultation responses. There was also a need to ensure consistency of approach across the city. That enforcement was easier when the whole of the city was a smoke-controlled area.

The Executive Member also sought to clarify that whilst some people had previously considered that wood burning was a climate friendly way of heating the home, recent evidence and science had suggested that it had a negative impact. Paragraph 23 of the report outlined the health impacts.