Local Air Quality Management in South Cambridgeshire

Local air quality is legislated for under Part 4 of the Environment Act 1995 which introduces Local Air Quality Management, guided by The Air Quality Strategy for England, Wales and Northern Ireland published by DEFRA in 2000.

Local Air Quality Management is a statutory obligation for all Local Authorities. It involves a rolling programme of air quality assessment, impacting on decisions made by all internal and external bodies responsible for transport planning, highways, growth agendas, development plans and environmental protection.

The Air Quality Strategy provides Local Authorities with air quality objectives and a year by which the objectives should be achieved. With the use of prediction tools and air quality modelling, it is possible to estimate future concentrations of a pollutant at various receptors. If exceedences of any one of the objectives is identified at a receptor point, an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) is declared.

Use the following links to navigate around LAQM in South Cambridgeshire:

Annual Air Quality Reports

South Cambridgeshire District Council has monitored and reported on local air quality annually since 1998. These reports form part of the Council's statutory obligation in the Air Quality Review and Assessment process. All the annual reports are available to download.

Air Quality Management Area (AQMA)

In 2008, as a result of exceedences of the national objectives for annual mean nitrogen dioxide and daily mean PM10, SCDC designated an area of the A14 between Milton and Bar Hill as an AQMA. This has required the Council to create an Air Quality Action Plan which identifies practical, feasible and cost-effective measures that can be implemented to improve.

Click on image below to download the full version:

Reproduced from the 2007 Ordnance Survey mapping with the permission of the controller of Her Majesty's stationary office (c) Crown Copyright. Unauthorised reproduction infringes Crown Copyright and may lead to prosecution or civil proceedings.

Annual Results Tables and Difussion Tubes

South Cambridgeshire District Council undertakes pollution monitoring across the District. There are 4 continuous automatic analysers and 29 diffusion tube locations. The results from all monitoring locations can be downloaded.

Air Quality Action Plan (AQAP)

South Cambridgeshire District Council and Huntingdonshire District Council have declared Air Quality Management Areas along the A14 whilst Cambridge City Council has an AQMA in the City Centre.

The continuing increase in the level of traffic is the main challenge to air quality the south of Cambridgeshire. In 2010, officers from the three Councils decided to produce a joint Action Plan because of the nature of the road network and spatial distribution of housing, recreation and employment in the region.

Guidance from Defra (2003, updated in 2009) specifies that an Air Quality Action Plan must include the following:

Quantification of the source contributions to the predicted exceedences of the objective allowing the Action Plan measures to be effectively targeted
Evidence that all available options have been considered on the grounds of cost-effectiveness and feasibility
How the local authority will use its powers and also work in conjunction with other organisations in pursuit of the Air Quality Objectives
Clear timescales in which the authority and other organisations and agencies propose to implement the measures within its plan
Quantification of the expected impacts of the proposed measures and, where possible, an indication as to whether the measures will be sufficient to meet the Air Quality Objectives

The joint AQAP is available for download:

Air Quality Strategy (AQS) and Low Emission Strategy (LES)

Air Quality Strategy

In June 2008, South Cambridgeshire District Council adopted a Local Air Quality Strategy. The Local Air Quality Strategy goes beyond the statutory duties of the NAQS but shows that we are able, keen and capable of making a contribution to improving air quality.

The LAQS has been created to:

Bring together all internal and external bodies who are either affected by or have an impact on local air quality
Ensure a consistent approach in dealing with air quality internally and externally
To create a platform upon which improvements both in Council performance and air quality can be built

Low Emission Strategy

Low Emissions Strategies provide a package of measures to help mitigate the transport impacts of development on local air quality and on climate change. The LES is secured through a series of planning conditions and legal obligations. They complement other design and mitigation options, such as travel planning and the provision of public transport infrastructure. Strategies are often secured through a combination of planning conditions and planning obligations. They may incorporate policy measures and/or require financial investments in and contributions to the delivery of low emission transport projects and plans, including strategic monitoring and assessment activities.

Some authorities are already making effective use of low emission strategies. The guidance is intended to support wider adoption of the approach, and to encourage the use of both well established and more innovative measures.

Details on the requirements of a Low Emission Strategy is available to download. Please refer to Chapter 10.

Contact

If you have any queries on the work of Health & Environmental Services on Pollution Control or Air Quality, contact:

Susan Walford
Health Protection Team Leader
(01954) 713124 or susan.walford@scambs.gov.uk (This link will open in a new window)

Health and Environmental Services
South Cambridgeshire District Council
South Cambridgeshire Hall
Cambourne Business Park
Cambourne
Cambridge
CB23 6EA