Conwy County Borough Council 2016 Air Quality Progress Report
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Conwy County Borough Council Conwy County Borough Council 2016 Air Quality Progress Report In fulfillment of Part IV of the Environment Act 1995 Local Air Quality Management July 2016 LAQM Progress Report 2016 Conwy County Borough Council Local Authority Simon Cottrill Officer Department Regulatory and Housing Services Civic Offices, Colwyn Bay, Conwy, LL29 Address 6DW Telephone 01492 575266 E-mail [email protected] Report Reference CCBC PR 2016 number Date July 2016 LAQM Progress Report 2016 ii Conwy County Borough Council Executive Summary This Progress Report outlines the latest air quality monitoring within the Conwy County Borough Council area. The report has considered the available evidence to identify whether emissions of statutory key pollutants have increased significantly. The report includes the third year of monitoring data obtained from a PM10 monitoring station situated in close proximity to the largest transport emission source within Conwy County Borough. The area was originally selected as a suitable location and as it is located in close proximity to housing receptors and it represents a worst case scenario. Nitrogen dioxide also continues to be monitored in proximity to potentially significant traffic sources with monitoring sites being routinely relocated to new areas where exposure may increase due to proposed development changes. No significant increases in pollutant concentrations have been identified at all monitoring locations. The ongoing air quality monitoring completed during 2015 confirms that it is likely that national air quality objectives are being met across the Conwy County Borough and no Detailed Assessments are required for any pollutants. LAQM Progress Report 2016 i Conwy County Borough Council Table of Contents Executive Summary ............................................................................... i 1 Introduction .................................................................................... 1 1.1 Description of Local Authority Area ........................................................... 1 1.2 Purpose of Progress Report ..................................................................... 2 1.3 Air Quality Objectives ............................................................................... 3 1.4 Summary of Previous Review and Assessments...................................... 5 2 New Monitoring Data ..................................................................... 7 2.1 Summary of Monitoring Undertaken ......................................................... 7 2.2 Comparison of Monitoring Results with Air Quality Objectives ............... 16 3 New Local Developments ............................................................ 32 4 Planning Applications ................................................................. 33 5 Conclusions and Proposed Actions ........................................... 35 5.1 Conclusions from New Monitoring Data .................................................. 35 5.2 Proposed Actions .................................................................................... 35 6 References ................................................................................... 36 List of Tables Table 1.1 Air Quality Objectives included in Regulations for the purpose of LAQM in Wales...............................................................................4 Table 2.1 Details of Automatic Monitoring Sites..............................................................11 Table 2.2 Details of Non-Automatic Monitoring Sites......................................................14 Table 2.3 Annual Average Nitrogen Dioxide Concentrations measured between 2009 and 2014 at sites for which monitoring was discontinued at the start of 2015.....................................................................17 Table 2.4 Results of NO2 Diffusion Tubes (2015)...........................................................19 Table 2.5 Results of NO2 Diffusion Tubes (2011 to 2015)..............................................21 Table 2.6 Results of Automatic Monitoring for PM10: Comparison with Annual Mean Objective...................................................................................27 Table 2.7 Results of Automatic Monitoring for PM10: Comparison with 24-hour Mean Objective.................................................................................29 LAQM Progress Report 2016 i Conwy County Borough Council List of Figures Figure 2.1 Automatic Monitoring Site Location Measuring PM10 Levels Near to Sensitive Residential Receptors in Proximity to the A55 Dual Carriageway.....................................................................................8 Figure 2.2 Site Photo of BAM Air Monitoring Station.........................................................9 Figure 2.3 Location of Passive NO2 Diffusion Tube Monitoring Sites Operated with Conwy CBC during 2015.........................................................13 Figure 2.4 Annual Average Nitrogen Dioxide Results at all Sites Currently Monitored within the Conwy County Borough Council Area............23 Figure 2.5 Annual Average Nitrogen Dioxide Monitoring Results For Sites Currently Monitored within Proximity to the A55 Dual Carriageway............... 24 Appendices Appendix A QA/QC Data....................................................................................................37 Appendix B Plans Showing Locations of Nitrogen Dioxide Monitoring Sites..............................................................................................42 Appendix C Nitrogen Dioxide Monitoring Results Table.....................................................56 Appendix D List of Regulated Processes within Conwy CBC under the Environmental Permitting Regulations (England and Wales) 2010 Grouped by Process Guidance Note.....................................................58 LAQM Progress Report 2016 ii Conwy County Borough Council 1 Introduction 1.1 Description of Local Authority Area The northern coastal boundary of the County Borough of Conwy stretches for 37 miles along the Irish Sea between Llanfairfechan in the West to the River Clwyd in the east. It extends across a variety of landscapes down to Dolwyddelan and across to Cerrigydrudion in the south west covering a total area of 113,000 hectares. The County Borough Council serves a total resident population of 115,2001, 82% of whom are settled along the coastal strip in the larger towns of Abergele, Colwyn Bay and Llandudno, with much of the development on the hillsides which rise steeply inland. 1 Source : Office of National Statistics - 2011 Census Published 11th July 2012 (http://ons.gov.uk) LAQM Progress Report 2016 1 Conwy County Borough Council Approximately 35% of the geographical area of Conwy CBC lies within the Snowdonia National Park making tourism as important inland as in the coastal seaside resorts. During the Summer months the number of people staying within the County Borough, whether as residents or visitors increases dramatically due to high levels of tourism. Being both a major tourist destination and a main trunk route through North Wales there are major arterial roads that are significant sources of emissions from road vehicles. In particular, the A55 dual carriage way is the main trunk route between the north-west and Holyhead ferry port. Other significant single carriage way roads, including A470 progress inland to Snowdonia. The natural geology of the area has been responsible for the historical location of various mineral extraction industries including limestone and granite quarries, and associated mineral processing activities to produce rail ballast, roadstone, macadam and premixed concrete. 1.2 Purpose of Progress Report This report fulfils the requirements of the Local Air Quality Management (LAQM) process as set out in Part IV of the Environment Act (1995), the Air Quality Strategy for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland 2007 and the relevant Policy and Technical Guidance documents. The LAQM process places an obligation on all local authorities to regularly review and assess air quality in their areas, and to determine whether or not the air quality objectives are likely to be achieved. Where exceedences are considered likely, the local authority must then declare an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) and prepare an Air Quality Action Plan (AQAP) setting out the measures it intends to put in place in pursuit of the objectives. For Local Authorities in Wales, Progress Reports are required in the intervening years between the three-yearly Updating and Screening Assessment reports. Their purpose is to maintain continuity in the LAQM process. They are not intended to be as detailed as Updating and Screening Assessment Reports, or to require as much effort. However, if the Progress Report identifies the LAQM Progress Report 2016 2 Conwy County Borough Council risk of exceedence of an Air Quality Objective, the Local Authority (LA) should undertake a Detailed Assessment immediately, and not wait until the next round of Review and Assessment. 1.3 Air Quality Objectives The air quality objectives applicable to LAQM in Wales are set out in the Air Quality (Wales) Regulations 2000, No. 1940 (Wales 138), Air Quality (Amendment) (Wales) Regulations 2002, No 3182 (Wales 298), and are shown in Table 1.1. This table shows the objectives in units of microgrammes per cubic metre µg/m3 (milligrammes per cubic metre, mg/m3 for carbon monoxide) with the number of exceedences in each year that