Submission To The Parliament Of Victoria Environment And Planning

submission to the parliament of victoria environment and planning committee’s inquiry into health impacts of air pollution in victoria

Submission to the Parliament of Victoria Environment and Planning
Committee’s Inquiry into Health Impacts of Air Pollution in Victoria
May 2021
The City of Melbourne welcomes and supports the Parliament of Victoria
Environment and Planning Committee’s Inquiry into Health Impacts of
Air Pollution in Victoria.
The health and wellbeing of our community is of paramount importance
and the health impacts of air pollution is an area that should be
thoroughly researched and acted upon to maintain our high living
standard in Victoria, and to ensure that health risks associated with
air pollution are actively and effectively eliminated or mitigated to
an appropriate level.
Climate Change
==============
Growing air pollution in cities presents challenges for cities
achieving both their health and climate change goals. Greenhouse gas
(GHG) emissions and events such as bushfires, heatwaves and
thunderstorm asthma all impact air quality in Melbourne. For example,
in January 2020 Melbourne’s air quality was the worst in the world due
to smoke from bushfires and Australia wide the bushfire smoke affected
80% of the population and contributed to hundreds of deaths (Royal
Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements - Report,
2020).
The air pollution and particulate matter (PM2.5) that is generated by
the emission of GHGs and bushfire events can have adverse impacts on
human health including cardiovascular and respiratory health, heart
attacks and asthma attacks. Poor air quality particularly affects some
of our more vulnerable residents, for example those with underlying
health conditions such as asthma and other respiratory conditions.
The City of Melbourne's Climate Change Mitigation Strategy to 2050
recognises the benefits taking action on climate change can have on
reducing air pollution. Health benefits are generated when actions to
reduce emissions also address existing health challenges. Reducing
emissions in the energy and transport sectors can reduce air
pollution, which can lead to immediate improvements in cardiovascular
and respiratory health, and result in fewer heart attacks and asthma
attacks, and fewer hospitals admissions.
The City of Melbourne would welcome the prioritisation of policies and
interventions that simultaneously reduce air pollution and mitigate
climate change. Investing in renewable energy can reduce health
impacts and ecosystem impacts from air pollution. To achieve City of
Melbourne's emissions reduction goals, the city’s buildings, precincts
and transport need to be electrified and powered by 100 per cent
renewable energy. This requires a transition away from gas, petrol,
diesel and coal. It will generate investment opportunities in clean
energy infrastructure.
Increasing green infrastructure such as urban tree canopy, parks and
gardens, green roofs can also improve air quality - it lowers
greenhouse gas emissions, and leads to improvements in mental,
physical and social health. Green infrastructure can also cool the
city, reduce the impact of floods and provide shade and respite for
people while they are travelling around the city.
The Victorian Government could consider supporting air quality
improvement through the following ways:
1.
Monitoring and measuring: improving air quality data collection,
analysis, and communication in cities to identify sources, raise
awareness, track progress, evaluate risk, and enforce policy.
2.
Analysing health impacts: further research into the health impacts
of air pollution and the benefits from taking action.
3.
Policy implementation: implementing policies to address the
sources of pollution and support a transition away from fossil
fuels.
Transport
=========
The City of Melbourne’s Transport Strategy 20301 notes that motor
vehicles are a major source of pollution. In addition to carbon
dioxide, motor vehicles emit particulates, nitrogen oxides and
volatile organic compounds, which are harmful to human health.
The City of Melbourne would welcome initiatives to improve the
measurement of air pollution in the city, particularly around busy
roads with high volumes of diesel vehicles. Ideally, information about
air pollution would be available publicly via the internet including
advice to the public on how to minimise exposure. A comparison of air
quality near busy roads with air quality in other parts of the city
(parks, indoors, in quiet streets) would help us prioritise mitigation
measures in relation to traffic pollution.
In February this year, the Lord Mayor wrote to the Minister for Public
Transport, Minister Carroll, supporting the introduction of
zero-emission buses in the central city, following the Victorian
Government’s announcement that it had allocated $20 million in the new
State budget for a trial of zero emission buses. One of the reasons
the City of Melbourne supports zero emission buses is the need to
improve the quality of the outdoor environment in the city, including
reducing air pollution, to support all sorts of activity including
outdoor dining as well as to reduce the harmful effects of pollution
on health.
As an example, one of our major bus routes is Lonsdale Street. At peak
times more than 1,400 people walk on Lonsdale Street between Swanston
and Russell Streets every hour. There are more than 1000 bus movements
each day on Lonsdale Street serving 16 bus routes. The buses run on
diesel fuel, the emissions of which are implicated in human cancer,
heart and lung damage, and undermining mental functioning.
Converting the Lonsdale Street bus corridor to zero emissions would be
a significant step towards reducing the harm caused by air pollution
in the city.
The City of Melbourne’s Transport Strategy 2030 contains a range of
other policies and actions to support a reduction in motor vehicle air
pollution. These include:
*
Promoting walking as the main mode of transport in the central
city.
*
Construction of protected bicycle lanes to make it safe for more
Victorians to use bicycles for their daily travel needs. Riding
bicycles is virtually pollution free.
*
Attracting more people to use public transport, much of which runs
on electricity and does not emit pollution in the city.
*
Reducing the amount of traffic which travels through the City of
Melbourne but does not have any business to transact in the city.
*
Supporting the transition to electric power for private vehicles.
*
Supporting the use of electric bicycles as a healthy,
low-pollution alternative to driving.
*
Prioritising lower emissions for commercial freight vehicles
including ships. Container ships contribute 10 per cent of the
total transport emissions in the City of Melbourne and have a
significant impact on air quality due to the use of unrefined
(bunker) fuel while in-port.
Urban Development
=================
The City of Melbourne is working closely with the Victorian Government
on the development of some of Australia’s most important urban renewal
sites including Arden and Fishermans Bend. The planning visions for
these precincts commit to achieving ambitious goals in transport,
greening and energy use. If these are delivered, they will make a
significant contribution to ensuring that the new precincts deliver
much better air quality outcomes than current practice. They will also
serve as demonstration projects for new ways of living and working
sustainably. It will be important to ensure that the detailed
policies, planning rules and local framework plans which will govern
the development of these precincts strongly support the transition to
sustainability and do not fall back to a business-as-usual approach.
Localised air pollution
=======================
Significant research exists on the potential health effects of indoor
cooking without adequate ventilation, however there appears to be a
lack of research into the contribution and subsequent health impact of
air pollution caused by cooking fumes being emitted to the local
environment. Furthermore, there is no regulatory framework to monitor
or control the quality of air being discharged from kitchen exhausts
which may pose health risks in areas of dense residential living with
a concentration of food businesses such as Melbourne’s CBD. Research
into this area is recommended to determine the contribution of cooking
fumes to air pollution and subsequent health impacts.
Localised air pollution due to the popularity of ‘fire-pits’ in
urbanised areas has given rise to complaints to councils about smoke
affecting neighbours. It is requested that this area be considered in
the inquiry to ascertain whether a state wide approach is appropriate.
Thank you for providing the opportunity to make this submission.
1
https://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/SiteCollectionDocuments/transport-strategy-2030-city-of-melbourne.pdf