Air quality

Air quality - What do we do about air quality?

Local authorities must consider air quality in their area and report the results to central government, via DEFRA. Government then reports the results for the whole country to the UN.

If a local authority finds an area where air quality results are above levels set by government, it has to declare the area as an Air Quality Management Area or AQMA and then produce an Air Quality Action Plan which shows how they will improve the situation.

In South Ribble we measure particulate matter in Leyland and Lostock Hall and nitrogen oxides in Leyland, Lostock Hall, Penwortham, Walton le Dale and Bamber Bridge.

All our AQMA coincide with areas of high traffic flow that is restricted by traffic lights and/or roundabouts.

We currently have AQMAs at these locations:

In July 2023, after several years of repeated monitoring results below the national limits, Defra have agreed to our plans to revoke the AQMA in Penwortham.

Junction of Priory Lane and A59 Liverpool Road, Penwortham (PDF) [169KB]

This improvement has come about as a result of a reduction in vehicle pollution in the area, partly attributed to the new Penwortham Bypass that has redirected through traffic away from Liverpool Road, reducing vehicle numbers and congestion. New and improved active travel links have created cycle lanes and footpaths which link to the new cyclops junction on our boundary with Preston.

Air quality monitoring will still take place along Liverpool Road to ensure levels of pollutants stay low.

Following the declaration of the Air Quality Management Areas (AQMA's) within the borough, South Ribble Borough Council, in consultation with its partners, published an Air Quality Action Plan. In September 2024 this was replaced with a new Air Quality Strategy and an updated Air Quality Action Plan.

The AQAP sets out the measures the council and its partners aim to achieve to help reduce the harmful levels of air quality pollutants across the borough.