Air quality limits

The Government has set limits for certain pollutants, which are seen to be of the most concern for this country and Europe. The full details of these limits and information regarding the local air quality management process are available from the DEFRA website and information on the specific pollutants and their health effects can be found on air quality in Europe  web site.

All of the limits have been set by a national panel of experts and are based on the effect each pollutant has on health. 

Pollutants of concern in Rushcliffe

The council has been assessing the levels of the main air pollutants identified by the Government for a number of years now and continue to do so today as part of the its duty under the Environment Act 1995. A detailed assessment was undertaken for traffic-related nitrogen dioxide in West Bridgford and sulphur dioxide emission from the cement works in Barnstone. The assessments found that the limits were being exceeded in both these locations and as a result three Air Quality management Areas were declared in September 2005.
Lafarge UK Ltd have since took the decision to close the kiln responsible for the sulphur dioxide emissions, and monitoring has confirmed that the limits are no longer being exceeded. The AQMA3 has now been revoked after consultation.

A further assessment of air quality (Stage 4 assessment) has been carried out in the AQMAs in West Bridgford, and this has confirmed that the air quality standards continue to be exceeded for Nitrogen Dioxide in certain areas. The more recent progress report published in 2008 assesses the results of the monitoring undertaken by the Council in 2007 and demonstrates the progress made with meeting the actions set out in Air Quality Action plan 2007.

Air Quality Action

The action plan contains measures aimed at working towards reducing traffic pollution in AQMA1 and 2 due to levels of nitrogen dioxide. The full action plan report is available and can be downloaded below.

The action plan has been drawn up with relevant organisations such as the Environment Agency, Highways Agency, Nottinghamshire County Council, other council departments, bus and transport operators, etc.

For nitrogen dioxide from road traffic emissions, this will involve more widespread actions. Unfortunately, as other councils have experienced, there is no magic solution to the problem of congestion in our urban areas and major roads. Some of the actions may involve the following:

• Improved traffic flows.
• Park and ride systems.
• Bus priority routes.
• Green transport plans for companies.
• Encourage use of ‘greener’ vehicles.
• Information and education activities.
• Vehicle emission testing.
• Encourage more home/remote working initiatives.
• Encourage companies reduce their environmental impact.
• Reduce the council’s own environmental impact.
• Low emission zones for use with greener vehicles.
• Encouraging people to use more public transport.
• Improvements to public transport.
• Considering air quality impacts from major developments.

A lot of these measures are linked to the Local Transport Plan, which has been developed by Nottinghamshire County Council. http://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/home/traffic_and_travel/strategy-policy/ltp.htm

A key part of these actions are that we can all play our part in reducing air quality in the way we live. We can choose ‘greener’ vehicles and reduce our dependence on cars.

In addition the council must continue to monitor and predict air quality levels for comparison to the national levels.

Air Quality Management Areas

An Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) is an area of land where air quality levels are breeching the national limits and require action to deal with or ‘manage’ this. The Council has 3 AQMAs currently in force in the Borough which came into effect on 1 September 2005.

• AQMA 1 - covering the Lady Bay Bridge/Radcliffe Road junction, Trent Bridge/Loughborough Road/Radcliffe Road junction and Wilford Lane/Loughborough Road/Melton Road junction.
  
• AQMA 2 - covering the A52 southern ring road between Rushcliffe Borough Council’s boundary and the east side of the Nottingham Knight roundabout. This is due to nitrogen dioxide emissions from road traffic.

Maps of these areas are available at the foot of this page, along with the corresponding AQMA orders.

Why have these boundaries been chosen?

Guidance is provided by the government and also the National Society for Clean Air on how these areas should be drawn up.

The council must include all areas where the limits are or are predicted to be exceeded. The boundaries chosen have incorporated all these areas and also extended out to include as much as possible physical landmark boundaries, such as roads, properties, footpaths, fields etc. The areas are designed to be able to develop relevant actions to reduce pollution levels within them.

It is at the discretion of the council to decide on the extent of the boundaries, but not whether to declare or not, as this must be done where the limits are exceeded. 

Implications for my property in the affected areas

The declaration of Air Quality Management Areas indicates that the council recognises that air quality is poor within the areas, and that positive steps now need to be taken to reduce these levels.

The declaration is a legal requirement and the Council do not have any choice in the matter.

Many other Councils have declared AQMAs and to the best of our knowledge there have been no reported effects on property values.