Air quality management areas
Areas where air pollution levels have exceeded the national air quality objectives
- Design stage
- Test and iterate
- Tags
- local plan
- Also known as
- Air quality management locations, AQMA
- Datasets
- Frequency of updates
- Ad hoc
- Legislation
- The Environment Act 1995
- Discussion
- Join the discussion on GitHub
- Last updated
- 5 February 2025
Backlog
Who asked for 'Air quality management areas' data?
Identified as a potentially high value consideration with possible national data already available
What is the driver for the request?
Other
Which 2024 focus area does the request support?
Modern planning software;Faster local plans
Screen
What is the 'Air quality management areas' consideration?
An Air Quality Management Area is a region in which air pollutants fall below a specific threshold, in line with national air quality objectives.
"If a local authority finds any places where the objectives are not likely to be achieved, it must declare an Air Quality Management Area there. This area could be just one or two streets, or it could be much bigger."
Is there legislation that defines 'Air quality management areas'?
Yes
What is the legislation that defines 'Air quality management areas'?
What is the specific part of the legislation that describes how a 'Air quality management areas' gets designated?
26.—(1) Where the levels of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, benzene, carbon monoxide, lead and PM10 in ambient air exceed any of the limit values in Schedule 2 or the level of PM2.5 exceeds the target value in Schedule 3, the Secretary of State must draw up and implement an air quality plan so as to achieve that limit value or target value.
(2) The air quality plan must include measures intended to ensure compliance with any relevant limit value within the shortest possible time.
Who, in law, is responsible for the planning consideration or makes decisions about 'Air quality management areas'?
- Secretary of State, Defra
Which organisations do we think should publish the data?
UK Air (Defra)
Is the Air quality management areas a trigger?
Yes
What needs to be done because Air quality management areas has acted as the trigger?
An Air Quality Assessment
Is the Air quality management areas something to consult during plan making?
Yes
Provide information about when Air quality management areas is used during plan making
Generally, air quality is considered when assessing sites to be taken forward through the selection and allocation process. It is likely that the presence of an air quality management area will lead to further scrutiny in the site selection process, and as well as the preparation of an air quality assessment, developers will likely be required to demonstrate mitigation.
Is there any Air quality management areas data already available?
Yes
What Air quality management areas data is currently available?
- AQMA Boundaries (publisher: Defra; coverage: England; licence: OGL; fields: Local Authority;AQMA Name;Pollutants Declared;Date Declared;Date Amended;Date Revoked;Source)
Do we think the data should come from a single source?
Yes - Defra, UK Air
Will a data standard be required?
No
Research
What other planning considerations does it interact with?
- Local plans - AQMAs are referenced a number of times in local plans, so we think that this consideration feeds into the process of creating a local plan.
Who are the statutory consultees for Air quality management areas?
Environment Agency
What are the planning needs for this data?
Air Quality Management Areas are a useful planning consideration for the platform, as they are taken into consideration in both plan-making and development management decisions. Understanding air quality when selecting, assessing and allocating sites is important to ensure that any decisions in relation to the development of the site will mitigate existing poor air quality, and take into account risks of worsening air quality of the area.
From what we have learnt so far are there any risks to making Air quality management areas data available?
It appears that the dataset can be downloaded, but as a snapshot in time. We may need to work with Defra to see if we can always have up-to-date data.