Local air quality management
Local air quality management is a statutory process introduced by the Environment Act 1995 (Part IV), which places a legal duty on all local authorities to regularly review both the current and future air quality within their areas. These air quality reviews must follow Government guidance that sets health based objectives, which are based on what is considered acceptable given the known effects.
On the whole the air quality across the majority of the borough is good; however there are a number of small areas where, due to traffic, there are concerns about nitrogen dioxide.
Air Quality Action Plan
The development of an Air Quality Action Plan is a statutory requirement once an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) has been declared. Currently Cheshire East has a number of AQMAs , which have all been declared based of levels of nitrogen dioxide due to emissions from vehicles. The Action Plan must detail the measures which the Council proposes to take in improving air quality in all of the AQMAs . Our Action Plan can be found below:
Air Quality Strategy
There is now a statutory requirement for all local authorities to have an Air Quality Strategy (AQS). The aim of the AQS is to support the achievement of how the council will undertake its air quality responsibilities and how it will work both across internal departments and other relevant external partners. This is important to ensure that air quality is considered as part of all relevant decisions and policies across the council.
We are now undertaking a review of the strategy and would like your views on the proposed Air Quality Strategy for 2024 to 2029. Email all feedback on the strategy to us at airquality@cheshireeast.gov.uk by Friday, 17 May 2024.
The main changes of this proposed draft relate to the layout of the document, making reference to the Environment Act 2021, advising we now monitor for Particulate Matter using a Real-Time Analyser, and referencing current Cheshire East plans and strategies such as the Environment Strategy. The objectives of the Strategy remain the same, however four new Strategy commitments have been included in Section 4, which cover domestic burning and Smoke Control Areas, agriculture, indoor air quality and funding air quality. Additional targets have been included in Table 5.1, to strengthen the indicators in monitoring the effectiveness of the strategy.
Low Emission Strategy
Cheshire East has developed a Low Emission Strategy (LES) to ensure that current emissions are reduced as far as possible and emissions associated with new development are minimised. The LES will provide a package of measures selected on the basis of research and current best practice in emissions management.
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Page last reviewed: 10 April 2024
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