Uttlesford District Council: Saffron Walden Clean Air Project

Introduction

Uttlesford District Council were awarded just over £500,000 from Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) for this project to pilot shared mobility schemes across a rural market town, as well as pollution awareness campaigns and behaviour change projects.

This project has involved schools education, assemblies, anti-idling workshops and clean air pledges. The project also launched a on-street e-bike hire scheme, which has seen over 3,500 journeys completed since launch in April 2024. There has also been community bike rides, bike Doctor workshops, learn to ride sessions, wood burning awareness campaigns, the launch of an electric vehicle (EV) car club, long term bike loans and much more.

Aim

The Saffron Walden Clean Air Project is aimed at creating a 'cleaner, healthier and greener' environment, that will be delivered across all businesses, schools, and residents in Saffron Walden. To encourage walking or cycling as the first choice of transport for short in-town journeys, leading to a reduction of car usage.

The overarching project objectives were to:

To develop a package of air quality interventions for Saffron Walden that can be replicated and shared as best practice with similar historic market towns elsewhere.
Raise awareness of air quality issues and their impact in smaller urban areas like Saffron Walden where attitudes to air pollution are still evolving.
To reduce nitrogen and particle matter emissions.

Background to project

Saffron Walden is a historic market town located in the north of the Uttlesford District and was declared and Air Quality Management Areas (AQMA) in 2012 due to poor air quality in the town. Road traffic throughout the town’s ancient road layout is the predominant cause of the problem, which is exasperated at peak times surrounding the school run. As part of the AQAP, Uttlesford District Council applied to DEFRA for grant funding to address the above problem.

Project mobilisation

Project mobilisation began in late 2023 and after scoping, a period of extended engagement and research commenced, launching town wide surveys and gaining peer support from Collaborative Mobility UK (CoMoUK) as to the best options for delivery of work packages. These conversations and research shaped the project and added scope as to what would be possible to deliver within budget and at a small market town scale. Many deliverables, such as the shared bike hire scheme, had never been delivered or operated in small towns before, so traditional large-scale operators (such as Lime, Voi and Forest) were unwilling to trial after detailed discussion and understanding the demographic.

As part of the project governance, a stakeholder steering group was established. This group was made up of key local stakeholders and elected members. The steering group was reported into and officers were guided by this group on a quarterly basis. Agreement on project scope, deliverables and direction was achieved at each meeting as well up updates and risks.

Activities and impact

Town wide pollution awareness and behaviour change campaign

As part of this work officers planned and run a community bike ride and picnic (pictured adjacent) where we had over 60 local residents join us on a mass community bike ride! Local food vendors were in attendance, as well as local bike shops offering free try-outs. The Essex County Council (ECC) bike doctor attended alongside emergency services. This showcased great engagement from the community and encouraged those to get cycling on the roads in a safe manner.

The ride was such a success that other local authorities have got in touch for advice and support.

MP Smarter travel supported with design and placement of anti-idling banners around the town. They also developed a community travel map and assisted with grant awards to schools who participated in the engagement project.

Several other events were also planned and carried out to support active travel work streams and increase the profile of this project. For World Bike Day each year officers worked with the town council and ECC trainers to carry out free learn to ride sessions, which were fully booked, children’s activities, confidence building led bike rides and the bike doctor for free repairs and bike servicing. The Bike Doctor fixed 46 bikes over one summer of sessions, and in 2024 we had 22 participants in adult confidence building led bike rides.

In July 2024 the cyclist discount scheme 'Pedal Perks' was launched - offering people special deals at local shops and tourist attractions if they arrive by bike.  All people need to do is show their cycling helmet at the point of purchase to redeem the offers which include 20 per cent off admission to Audley End House and Gardens, a free soft drink at the Railway Arms and 10 per cent off at Blossom Bites cafe. More information of local business taking part can be found on the Pedal Perks webpage.

Wood burning campaign

Wood burning hurts your health, wallet and the planet.

Uttlesford District Council (UDC) commissioned charity Global Action Plan (GAP) to carry out a wood burning awareness campaign. A survey of the town as to perceptions around wood burning and had over 800 responses, 80 per cent of which had a wood burner, well above the UK average.

This campaign has been sensitive and is pitched as awareness raising, not behaviour change.

School engagement project

Group photo of students and teachers holding a banner.

We also carried out a schools engagement project with all six schools in Saffron Walden. This involved Multiple visits and assemblies at each school, progress towards mode shift stars, remote support sessions, mode surveys, anti-idling events with children, workshops and air aware diaries. The air aware diaries involved giving each school a handheld air pollution monitor for them to take home and make a diary of where they noticed changes in air quality. One student noted in their diary that “inside my house it was green but on the busy road it was red” noted one student in their diary.”

This citizen science was a brilliant opportunity to make children more aware of how their actions can impact air quality and areas to avoid. All six schools noted the impact of this project and how much the children enjoyed seeing the changes in air quality for themselves.

In July 2024, three of the schools made formal pledges to continue to promote active and sustainable travel beyond the duration of the project and within their communities.

All six schools were able to achieve mode shift stars accreditation to bronze level and they received a grant from the project which has allowed them to purchase active travel infrastructure including scooter pods or bike parking/shelters. This has further increased the number of children that travel to school by scooter/bike or walking, helping to reduce congestion within Saffron Walden.

Active Travel and Zero Emission Pilot projects

EV car club

This project has delivered an EV car club in Saffron Walden in two key locations over the period of three years. The council put in two new dual chargers in one car park to facilitate the project. Usage by the public has been slowly growing, with peak times of use noted during the holidays and festive seasons.

In addition to this, officers were able to organise a pilot project of staff EV car usage at a discounted rate. This has hugely increased the usage of the cars and has proved very popular with staff – saving 633.35kg of C02 and travelling 3,201 miles in only nine months.

Bike hire

This project also delivered 35 on-street bikes for hire across Saffron Walden. This involved putting in several new bases and bike stands at identified locations across the town. There are currently 11 locations in operation, including a key link between the town and Audley End train station.

Usage of the scheme has grown month on month, and there have been over 3,500 journeys by e-bike since the scheme launch in April 2024. This represents a sizeable reduction in car journeys across town.

Bike loan scheme

Residents are able to hire a selection of approximately 50 bikes, e-bikes and e-cargo bikes from one to six months for a small fee. We have been able to now extend this pilot scheme across the whole of the district. Ordering and choosing the bikes is done via an online platform and bikes are delivered and collected to resident’s home address or place of work. Users are given full training of how to use and store the bikes before being left with them.

Clare from Wicken Bonhunt had an e-bike on loan for four months.

My e-bike is a practical alternative to a car and I do regular short trips on it every day, sometimes several times a day... I was a reluctant cyclist – but now I love it!" said Claire from Wicken Bonhunt

Community cargo club

Woman cycling community cargo bike with two children

The community e-cargo bike is located in the centre of the town and is available for local businesses and residents to hire on a 15-minute basis (75 pence per 15 minutes).

Currently there are 64 registered members within the town. 22 hires within the last six months, and a total of 130km travelled so far. Journeys up to 15km have been recorded – families taking their children out in the cargo-bike, as the case study below shows.

Tom used the cargo bike to take his two young children.

We have wanted a cargo bike for a long time but could never afford one. This scheme has allowed our family to experience what it would be like to own such a bike for very little cost. Our kids love it!’’ said Tom.

Lessons learnt and outcomes

Saffron Walden has got behind this movement and mode shift has been observed as a result of the project. By being able to pilot these schemes in a rural setting and learn from them, many projects and schemes are now able to expand beyond Saffron Walden, as it has now been successfully shown how to make active travel and behaviour change work in small rural market towns. This work has helped move the narrative beyond clean air sustainable cities, and towards clean air sustainable rural neighbourhoods, villages and towns.

Moving forward

As a result of the huge success of the above, we have been able to expand the bike loan scheme across the whole of the district and we are taking our cycling events to Dunmow for 2025. We also hope to be able to keep the on-street bike hire scheme running beyond the duration of the funded period of the project via section 106 agreements.