Air quality
We have a duty to regularly monitor air pollutant levels to assess current and future air quality.
The pollutants of concern are:
- Nitrogen dioxide
- Fine particles
- Carbon monoxide
- Sulphur dioxide
- Benzene
- 1,3 Butadiene
- Lead
- Polyaromatic hydrocarbons
- Ozone
Read more about these air pollutants and their effects.
The United Kingdom Air Quality Strategy 2007 requires we improve areas of poor air quality and reduce any remaining significant risks to health. This will help achieve the wider objectives of sustainable development about air quality in the UK.
Air quality reports
We produce Annual Status Reports on air quality within West Oxfordshire. These provide an overview of air quality, consider the latest air quality monitoring data and update progress on actions to improve air quality.
We compile these reports in accordance with the Local Air Quality Monitoring (LAQM) Policy and Technical Guidance and submit them to Defra. You can download recent reports below.
Air Quality Annual Report 2023 - pdf - 4.87 Mb
Air quality management areas
Areas within West Oxfordshire which don't meet National Air Quality Standards have been declared Air Quality Management Areas (AQMAs). We have produced Air Quality Action plans* for these areas to find out the source of the problem and reduce concentrations of air pollutants to below National Air Quality Standards.
Areas in West Oxfordshire not meeting the objective for Nitrogen Dioxide are:
- Bridge Street, Witney
- Horsefair and High Street, Chipping Norton
*Plans are currently being drawn up to update these Action Plans and will be made available here.
Public consultation on Witney & Chipping Norton Air Quality Action Plans
To address the elevated nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations in both Witney and Chipping Norton, West Oxfordshire District Council is required to develop an Air Quality Action Plan for each town. The Air Quality Action Plans (AQAPs) have been drafted with the assistance of Ricardo Energy & Environment, and consultation with Steering Groups comprising key stakeholders who live, work or represent businesses operating in each town. We ran a public consultation which ended on Friday 14 July 2023 and the results will be published shortly.