Published: Friday 26th August 2022 | 1.33pm
Cabinet heard at their meeting yesterday, that air quality has improved sufficiently, that two of the Air Quality Management Areas (AQMA’s) could be revoked.
The Council has been monitoring air quality in three hotspots since 2014. The hotspots are at the following locations:
• A5 Watling Street in Bridgtown
• A5 Watling Street (Churchbridge and the Turf Island)
• A5190 Cannock Road, Heath Hayes (Five Ways Island)
All three of the AQMAs have decreased, this is primarily due to improvements in engine technology. However, air quality has improved in A5 Watling Street in Bridgtown and A5190 Cannock Road, Heath Hayes (Five Ways Island) has improved enough that they are now under the threshold.
The Council has a legal duty to monitor air quality in their areas and are required to submit an Annual Status Report (ASR) to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), reporting progress in reducing emissions of pollutants, such as, nitrogen dioxide (Now) and nitrogen monoxide (NO).
The main pollutant in our District is nitrogen dioxide (NO2). It is chemically related to nitrogen monoxide (NO), which could also be called nitrogen oxide or nitric oxide). Together, NO2 and NO are known as NOx. Nitrogen oxides are a mixture of colourless, non-flammable gases. NOx is released into the atmosphere when fuels are burned, such as petrol or diesel in a car or natural gases in central heating boilers or power stations.
Nitrogen dioxide can affect our health, high levels of NO2 can inflame the airways on our lungs over a long period of time and people with asthma can be particularly affected.
Road transport is the largest contributor to NOx emissions both in the UK and in Cannock Chase.
Councillor Justin Johnson, Portfolio Leader for Environment and Climate Change said “This is great news for the District. Two of the three zones are currently under the reporting threshold. Although 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic, there was a marked improvement in levels, due to the lockdown restrictions. These improvements have been maintained during 2021. This is very encouraged not only for air quality but also for the climate.”
The Council will now update the AQAP and Action Plan will be updated following the revocation of the AQMA’s.
This will be reported to Cabinet, following the statutory consultation.