Thursday, 4 December 2025

 Nathan LAMBERT (Preston) (14:48): (1453) My constituency question is for the Minister for Environment, and my question is: are there any specific restrictions on exhaust emissions from food trucks, noting that some food truck operators idle their engines continuously while serving customers? I should be very clear that there are many great food trucks in Preston and Reservoir that do not do that, including Chicken HQ up near Dole reserve, where I got a great chicken roll last week, and a shout-out to Ibi, who runs that business. But some food truck operators, particularly ice-cream vans, run their diesel engines continuously while they are serving to power their fridges and other equipment. Diesel engines are not very efficient when they are idling, and there is strong evidence that exposure to spikes in diesel engine pollutants can affect people’s health, particularly children who have asthma, so as a government we are strongly supporting the phase-out of diesel engines and an eventual move to electric vehicles. Any information the minister can provide on this issue will be greatly appreciated.