Decision details

Air Quality Monitoring in the City of Sydney Local Government Area 

Moved by Councillor Phelps, seconded by Councillor Vithoulkas –

It is resolved that:

(A)        Council note:

(i)          according to the NSW Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) there are currently no active air quality monitoring stations in the City of Sydney Local Government Area;

(ii)         that a site in the CBD is under active discussion and locating a suitable monitoring location in a densely populated CBD is challenging;

(iii)        the Office of Environment and Heritage must meet the requirements of Australian/New Zealand Standards for monitoring equipment;

(iv)       air pollution is a major human health concern, particularly in urban areas, where 74 per cent of Australians are expected to live by 2061;

(v)         there are around 1 million people in Sydney each day, including tourists, workers, students and residents; and

(vi)       NSW is one of the leading Governments to review the latest scientific evidence of health impacts in relation to annual average particulate matter standards in the National Environmental Protection (Ambient Air Quality) Measure as part of the National Clean Air Agreement Work Plan (2018 - 2020); and

(B)        the Chief Executive Officer be requested to:

(i)          ensure that work with the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage for the delivery of an air quality monitoring station in the City of Sydney Local Government Area remains on track; and

(ii)         include measurements of air quality in Sector Sustainability Plans to ensure ongoing monitoring of air pollution generated in the City of Sydney.

Foreshadowed motion. Councillor Miller foreshadowed that, should the motion moved by Councillor Phelps be lost, she would move an alternative motion.

The motion was lost on the following show of hands –

Ayes (4)          Councillors Chung, Forster, Phelps and Vithoulkas

Noes (6)          The Lord Mayor, Councillors Kok, Miller, Scott, Scully and Thalis.

Motion lost.

Councillor Miller then moved her foreshadowed motion, seconded by Councillor Scully, as follows:

It is resolved that:

(A)        Council note:

(i)          City staff have been working with the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage to find a suitable location to install an air quality monitoring station in the City of Sydney local government area;

(ii)         that air quality monitoring sensors across the Sydney metropolitan area are not located in peak sites and therefore don’t provide accurate data of the air quality on city streets and not available in real time;

(iii)        that an air quality monitoring station was installed on George Street in 2000 but decommissioned in 2004;

(iv)       under Sustainable Development Goal 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable, one of the targets is to “reduce the adverse per capita environmental impact of cities, including by paying special attentional to air quality and municipal and other waste management”; and

(v)         on 3-4 August 2018, EnergyLab, in collaboration with the Deputy Lord Mayor, held a hackathon to address the issue of air quality by challenging participants to deploy technologies to collect air quality data at a human scale and consider how these data sets can be calibrated against EPA ambient air monitoring to provide the community with an open and useful data set; and 

(B)        the Chief Executive Officer be requested:

(i)          to include measurements of air quality in the upcoming Sustainable Sydney 2050;

(ii)         to update Councillors, via CEO update, on the work with NSW Office of Environment and Heritage to install an air quality monitoring station within the local government area;

(iii)        to investigate the deployment of fixed and mobile air quality monitors, as part of future smart city projects; and

(iv)       when air quality data is available, support the provision of real time data to the community as well as other councils and government departments and use the data to guide decision making of issues such as, but not limited to, traffic management, parks and open space locations all with the aim of improving the health and wellbeing of residents and visitors. 

Carried unanimously.

S129263