Brentwood Borough Council Environment - Air Pollution - Air Quality Review

Air Quality Review

The Council has undertaken a detailed review and assessment of air quality within the Borough.

The Council is required by law to assess the quality of air within the Borough to ascertain if it is likely to meet the Government’s Air Quality Objectives.  These objectives relate to seven pollutants, namely:

• carbon monoxide m
• benzene
• 1,3 - butadiene
• lead
• nitrogen dioxide
• sulphur dioxide
• particulate matter

Air quality has been monitored and various reports commissioned for a number of years and the Council is satisfied that the air quality objectives will be met for all the pollutants except for nitrogen dioxide.  The air quality objective for nitrogen dioxide is a yearly average of 40ug/m3 to be achieved by the end of 2005. 

The summary of the Government’s Air Quality Expert Group entitled Nitrogen Dioxide in the UK explains the significance of nitrogen dioxide as a pollutant.  Use the link below to view this document:

Nitrogen Dioxide Summary

Unfortunately computer modelling of the likely pollution levels indicated that this objective probably will not be met in some areas of the Borough. 

If an area is not likely to meet the Government’s Air Quality Objective then the Council is obliged to designate an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA).  The Council has no discretion as to whether areas are designated or not, but does have some discretion as to how extensive the areas are. 

Nitrogen dioxide is a product of combustion and in Brentwood is mainly associated with busy roads. 

All the likely exceedances of the air quality objective are near to busy roads, namely at:

1. Nags Head Lane at its junction with the M25.
2. Brook Street at its junction with the M25 and A12 (Brook Street   Roundabout).
3. Greenshaw/Porters Close near to the A12 Brentwood Bypass.
4. Warescot Road/Hartswood Avenue/Ongar Road at their junction with the A12.
5. B1002 Roman Road, Mountnessing close to A12.
6. Fryerning Lane, Pemberton Avenue and Trimble Close close to the A12.
7. Junction of A128/A1023 - Wilson’s Corner.

The Council has carried out consultation directly with residents living in the proposed areas and following this has declared AQMAs in the areas listed above.  A copy of the maps can be viewed from the link below:

Brentwood AQMA maps

Declaring an Air Quality Management Area will not in itself improve the quality of air.  However, it should focus attention on this very important issue.  It will also encourage the Highways Agency (the Government body responsible for the major roads such as the M25 and the A12) and Essex County Council (responsible for other main roads such as the A128 and A1023) to examine ways of reducing car pollution and improving the quality of air in Brentwood.  The Council sees this process as an opportunity to produce long-term benefits for residents and thoroughly examine transport policy in Brentwood and its impact on residents.

The next stage
 
The Council carried out a more detailed assessment of the cause of the pollution to establish, for instance, whether it only occurs at certain times or whether it is due to a certain type of road traffic, such as lorries.  The detailed assessment can be downloaded as a .pdf document from the link below:

Brentwood Further Assessment Report

The detailed assessment recommended that some of the existing air quality areas be revoked as the further, more detailed study indicated that they were likely to achieve the Government's air quality objectives.    

The Council has produced an Action Plan with partner organisations such as Essex County Council and the Highways Agency to try to reduce levels of pollution.  The action plan can be viewed by clicking the link below

Air Quality Action Plan 2008

The third round Updating and Screening Assessment

Each year the Council has to submit a progress report giving details of any change since the previous updating and screening process. However, every third year a new comprehensive update screening report has to be completed reviewing air quality across the borough for all the relevant pollutants to see if further actions are required. The next update report is due in April 2009.

The third round Updating and Screening Assessment report provides a new assessment to identify those matters that have changed since the last review and assessment, and which might lead to a risk of the objective being exceeded.  The report can be downloaded as a .PDF document from the link below:

Brentwood Third Round Updating and Screening Assessment

You can find the latest (2008) progress report by following the link below:

2008 Progress Report

Other relevant documents:

The following documents can be downloaded as pdf documents:

Brentwood USA Final Report - Updating & Screening Assessment (October 2003)

Detailed Assessment (April 2004)

2005 Progress Report (April 2005)

2007 Progress Report

If you require any further information please contact us by e-mail to envhealth@brentwood.gov.uk or telephone 01277 312507.