At Council on 13 October, New Forest District Council (NFDC) approved its new Air Quality Strategy for 2025, which sets out how it will continue to improve air quality, protect public health, and help meet environmental targets.
The council monitors air quality across the district by reviewing concentrations of pollution, such as nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and particulate matter (PM) from sources such as industry, transport, and domestic wood burning, and to ensure levels remain in line with Government set objectives.
The new strategy includes what the council has done and will continue to do to further reduce these levels of pollution and improve air quality. This is in addition to how it is working to reduce pollution from greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4).
Recent actions include revoking an air quality management area after it consistently met air quality objectives for eight consecutive years, and working with neighbouring authorities and organisations such as the Environment Centre to raise awareness of the issues caused by domestic wood burning.
The strategy considers six priority areas of action for how the council will improve air quality. These areas consider public awareness and behaviour change, reducing health inequalities, improving its understanding of particulate matter pollution, wood burning and improving indoor air quality, reducing road transport emissions, and reducing the impact of new developments.
Cllr Dan Poole, Portfolio Holder for Community, Safety, and Wellbeing, said: “Air quality is central to the health and wellbeing of our communities and our environment, which is why it must remain a priority for us all. Here in the New Forest, we have already taken positive steps to monitor and manage local air quality, with levels currently below the UK’s national objectives for all measured pollutants across our district.
Large parts of the New Forest already enjoy air quality that is considered good. However, we know that there is still more that we can do and it’s important that we keep building on our progress. This new strategy will help us do exactly that — setting out clear actions to further improve air quality, protect the health of people who live, work and visit the New Forest, and safeguard the wider environment for future generations.”
More information about the strategy is available at https://www.newforest.gov.uk/article/3932/Air-quality-strategy
