Air pollution

Air is polluted if it contains substances that have a harmful effect:

• on the environment
• on health
• or cause a nuisance

We depend on clean air for our wellbeing. Air pollution causes a range of health effects from minor symptoms such as headaches, sore throats and coughs to more serious problems such as difficulty in breathing and aggravation of respiratory conditions.

Everyday activities have the potential to pollute the air such as fumes from road traffic, fuel-burning heating devices and industrial emissions.

Local air quality management

The environment act 1995 places a duty on local authorities to manage air quality in their area and work towards meeting national objectives set out in the national air quality strategy.

If investigations indicate pollution levels are above the levels set in the objectives, an air quality management area (AQMA) must be declared covering the affected area. Action plans must then be drawn up, setting out how further objectives are to be achieved.

Air quality in Newark and Sherwood

We review and assess local air quality on an annual basis and submit a report of our findings to the government.

Read the latest Newark and Sherwood air quality annual report (PDF File, 990kb)

Each year the report updates the information since the last submission by considering:

•    new monitoring data for the area

•    new sources of emissions to air

•    changes to existing sources that may be significant to local air quality

During the last reporting period, our assessment indicated that within the district all relevant air quality objectives were likely to be met at all locations. This conclusion was accepted by DEFRA.