Further Assessment

October 2007

1.0 Introduction

Part IV of the Environment Act 1995 places a statutory duty on local authorities to review and assess the air quality within their area and take account of Government guidance when undertaking such work.

Thanet District Council undertook its first round of review and assessment of air quality between 1998 and 2001. The First Round concluded that all air quality objectives were likely to be met in Thanet and there was no need to declare any Air Quality Management Areas (AQMAs).

The first phase of the second round of review and assessment of air quality, the Updating and Screening Assessment (USA), provided an update with respect to air quality issues within Thanet. Thanet District Council completed this in July 2003, with the conclusion that all air quality objectives would be met and there was no requirement to progress to a Detailed Assessment. The 2004 Annual Progress Report, however, highlighted 7 areas where exceedences of the NO₂ and (in 5 cases) PM₁₀ annual mean objective may be occurring. The 2005 Detailed Assessment concluded that The Square, Birchington should be declared an AQMA for NO₂ and PM₁₀ on the basis of predicted exceedences of the annual mean objectives. Under recommendation, the area was subsequently declared an AQMA in March 2006 and a continuous monitoring station was installed in 2007 to more accurately monitor changes in pollution levels.

Figure 1 The Square, Birchington AQMA (March 2006)

Click to enlarge

Bureau Veritas has been commissioned by Thanet District Council to provide a Further Assessment of air quality within the Birchington AQMA which will provide technical input to the Air Quality Action Plan.

The Further Assessment has been undertaken in accordance with DEFRA “Guidance to local authorities on the further ("stage 4") assessments of air quality required under section 84 of the Environment Act 1995” and LAQM.TG(03) Guidance methodologies.

The Further Assessment aims, through assessment of monitoring data and modelled predictions,

• to confirm the original assessment of air quality in the AQMA against the prescribed objectives;
• to calculate more accurately how much of an improvement in air quality would be needed to deliver the air quality objectives within the AQMA;
• to refine knowledge of the sources of pollution so that air quality action plan measures can be properly targeted;
• to provide quantification of air quality impacts of introducing particular air quality action plan measures through scenario testing.

The information from the further assessment is required to assist the preparation of the Action Plan measures for the AQMA in order that the measures may be targeted and focused, thereby prioritising the most cost-effective approach to reducing air pollutant concentrations in the AQMA.

Next: AQMA Air Quality Assessment

• Introduction
• AQMA Air Quality Assessment
• ADMS Modelled Results
• Source Apportionment
• Required NO_X and PM₁₀ Reduction
• Conclusions
• Appendices

E-mail:

airquality@thanet.gov.uk 

Tel: 01843 577580

Fax: 01843 290906