Climate Change and Air Quality Progress Report 2023 to 2024

There has been a consistent reduction in recorded levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) at most monitoring locations for the last five years (2019 - 2023) (please see Figure 8 to Figure 10) and annual mean NO2 concentrations are all below the National Air Quality Objective, generally resulting in a benefit to human health.

Air quality monitoring data in four of the nine Air Quality Management Areas (AQMAs) in Buckinghamshire has been comfortably below the annual mean objective of 40 μg/m3 for NO2 for five years or more. Furthermore, predictions of future trends in NO2 show that the probability of the objectives being exceeded again is highly unlikely.

Technical guidance published by the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) clearly states: "There should not be any declared AQMAs for which compliance with the relevant objective has been achieved for a consecutive five-year period." Therefore, following the process outlined in LAQM Policy Guidance :22 the Strategic Environmental Protection Team are in the process of formally revoking these AQMAs namely; Tring Road AQMA, Chesham AQMA, South Bucks AQMA and AQMA No. 1 (M40). Revocation orders will be published on the Council’s website and submitted to Defra by December 2024.

All nine of the AQMAs were declared prior to the creation of Buckinghamshire Council on 1st April 2020. Therefore, there was a need to review and consolidate the Air Quality Action Plans (AQAP) developed by the legacy areas for their respective air quality management areas into a single AQAP for Buckinghamshire. The revised and consolidated AQAP was subjected to public consultation in the Summer of 2024. The final version will be published on the Council website in January 2025.