Clean air is essential for health and in maintaining good quality of life. The Noise & Pollution Control Team is responsible for monitoring the quality of air in Nottingham and ensuring that information regarding air quality in our area is accurate and readily available.

Nottingham City Council periodically undertakes assessments of air quality as part of the Local Air Quality Management process introduced and required by The Environment Act 1995 and the National Air Quality Strategy.

The process originally identified three areas of the city in which pollution levels may exceed particular National Air Quality Objectives by 2005. The Air Quality Management Order No.1 (sulphur dioxide) was revoked in April 2007, the two remaining Air Quality Management Areas (AQMAs) are:

Nottingham No2 AQMA: City centre north, east and south (nitrogen dioxide), and

Nottingham No.3 AQMA: Dunkirk / Clifton Boulevard encompassing the Queen's Medical Centre site (nitrogen dioxide)

Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) arises primarily from road traffic.

Where AQMAs are declared Local Authorities are required to devise and publish Action Plans. Where AQMAs arise from road transport Local Authorities are encouraged to incorporate any Action Plans within the Local Transport Strategy. Nottingham City Council has done this. For more information on how Nottingham City Council and its partners are seeking to improve air quality, reduce congestion, and encourage 'modal shift' please follow the links below.

www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/sitemap/services/transport_and_streets/transport_planning.htm

www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/gtr_nottm_congestion_plan_20apr07_kmv2.pdf

Nottingham City Council continues to be the local site operator for the Automatic Urban and Rural Network (AURN) station on Clinton Street East. The station contains precision real-time air quality monitors and is operated on behalf of DEFRA. The station measures a number of pollutants and the information obtained is updated hourly on the National Air Quality Information Archive web-site at www.airquality.co.uk. The data is also used to provide a guide to current local air quality in a quality-banding format. This is also available on the website and from the following alternative sources:

Teletext: pages 155 and 169 and

Freephone: 0800 55 66 77

Pollutants measured by the AURN station:

Pollutant	Main Sources	Effects
Benzene	Petrol combustion and distribution	Carcinogen
1,3 Butadiene	Petrol combustion and industry	Carcinogen
Carbon Monoxide	Petrol vehicles and industry	Inhibits normal blood oxygen transport reducing supply to the heart and worsening existing heart conditions
Sulphur Dioxide	Power generation, diesel combustion and industry	Irritates the airways of the lungs and can increase the symptoms of those suffering from lung disease
Ozone	By product of chemical reactions between oxides of nitrogen and other chemicals catalysed by sunlight	Irritates the airways of the lungs and can increase the symptoms of those suffering from lung disease.
Nitrogen Dioxide	Road transport, power generation and industrial combustion processes	Irritates the airways of the lungs and can increase the symptoms of those suffering from lung disease.
Particulates (PM10)	Road transport, power generation and industry	Fine particles cause lung inflammation and worsening of lung and heart conditions

Nottingham City Council is also continuously monitoring the above pollutants (excluding benzene and 1,3 butadiene) in the grounds of the Queens Medical Centre using our mobile Air Quality Monitoring Station (AQMS).

In addition we monitor oxides of nitrogen at Carter Gate and Lace Street and have a network of approximatley 20 nitrogen dioxide diffusion tubes at sites in and around both the city centre and Dunkirk AQMAs.

Due to the cross-boundary nature of air pollution, Nottingham City Council is continuing to co-ordinate its process of local air quality management with its neighbouring authorities.

Further information regarding air quality, including a copy of both the Stage 3 Review and Assessment and the new Nottinghamshire Air Quality Strategy document (April 2008) (3.7MB) is available by contacting the Noise & Pollution Control section on telephone 0115 915 6410.  Alternatively the documents are available to download.

• View the Air Quality Review and Assessment: First and Second Stage Report - April 2000 9MB
• View the Air Quality Review and Assessment: Second and Third Stage Report - September 2001  11MB
• View the previous version of the Nottinghamshire Air Quality Strategy A Framework for Action -  389KB
• View the Stage Four Review and Assessment of Nottingham’s Air Quality Management Areas - July 2003 - 3MB
• View the Local Air Quality Management Updating and Screening Assessment October 2003 - 1.3MB
• View the Local Air Quality Management Detailed Assessment October 2004 - 1.3MB
• View the Local Air Quality Management Progress Report April 2005 2MBLink
• View the Local Air Quality Management Updating and Screening Assessment June 2006 - 1.8MB
• View the Nottingham No.1 Air Quality Management (sulphur dioxide) Revocation Order 2007
• View the Nottingham No.2 Air Quality Management Order 2002 (Nitrogen dioxide) - City Centre
• View the Nottingham No.3 Air Quality Management Order 2002 (Nitrogen dioxide) - Dunkirk
• View the Local Air Quality Management Detailed Assessment Consultation Document May 2008
• View the Local Air Quality Management Progress Report 2008

If you experience any problems accessing documents on this page, help is available from our Accessibility page

Click here for Noise & Pollution Control contact details.

Page revised 24 July 2008 GES