South Oxfordshire District Council 2020 Air Quality Annual Status Report (ASR) In fulfilment of Part IV of the Environment Act 1995 Local Air Quality Management June 2020 LAQM Annual Status Report 2020 South Oxfordshire District Council Local Authority Carmen Cubillas Martinez Officer Department Environmental Health South Oxfordshire District Council, 135 Eastern Address Avenue, Milton Park, Abingdon, OX14 4SB, Oxfordshire Telephone 01235 422403 E-mail [email protected] Report Reference ASR 2020 number Date June 2020 LAQM Annual Status Report 2020 Executive Summary: Air Quality in Our Area Air Quality in South Oxfordshire District Council Air pollution is associated with a number of adverse health impacts. It is recognised as a contributing factor in the onset of heart disease and cancer. Additionally, air pollution particularly affects the most vulnerable in society: children and older people, and those with heart and lung conditions. There is also often a strong correlation with equalities issues, because areas with poor air quality are also often the less affluent areas1,2. The annual health cost to society of the impacts of particulate matter alone in the UK is estimated to be around £16 billion3. South Oxfordshire District Council (SODC, the council) declared AQMA’s in three towns within the District: Henley, Wallingford and Watlington, all because of high levels of NO2 from traffic fumes. These can be viewed at the following link: https://oxfordshire.air-quality.info/. The monitoring results recorded in 2019 show a slight decrease in pollution levels from 2018 in most areas of the District, following the downward trend identified last year. In order to improve air pollution across the district, the council works in collaboration with partners like Oxfordshire County Council (OCC), Oxford Bus Company (OBC) and other local authorities within Oxfordshire, putting in place some measures to reduce NO2 and PM levels further, both in the AQMAs and also across the entire district. Meetings of the Oxfordshire Air Quality Group are held quarterly and include representatives from Public Health and Public Health England (PHE), enabling joint working and a more comprehensive approach to our future projects. Actions to Improve Air Quality In order to improve air quality within the district, the council have undertaken a number of initiatives over the past year which include: 1 Environmental equity, air quality, socioeconomic status and respiratory health, 2010 2 Air quality and social deprivation in the UK: an environmental inequalities analysis, 2006 3 Defra. Abatement cost guidance for valuing changes in air quality, May 2013 LAQM Annual Status Report 2020 i - Launching our anti-idling campaign “Turn it off” on Clean Air Day (see Figure 1 below) and shared information on the impacts of engine idling during a series of promotional events. Figure 1 Launch of the anti-idling campaign "Turn it Off" in Henley, Clean Air Day 2019 During the second stage of the campaign, SODC targeted drivers specifically by advertising the campaign in the nozzles of petrol stations in Wallingford and Watlington (see Figure 2 below). Since many members of the public showed interest in helping spread the message, SODC has been sharing promotional materials with individuals and organisations for the last year. Figure 2 Advertisement for the anti-idling campaign in petrol stations LAQM Annual Status Report 2020 ii A third stage of the campaign had been planned to take place in March-June 2020, this time targeting sensitive receptors, by launching an artwork competition. This project has however now been postponed due to the current lockdown and school closures. - Using the Planning Regime as a tool to improve air quality, by encouraging developers to support the construction of an edge road in Watlington. - Launched a competition asking people not to use their car on Car Free Day (22 Sept 2019) and asking them to share how they spent the day instead to win a prize. - Produced a leaflet with eco-driving tips that was sent out to all the residents of the district with the council tax invoices in February/March 2020 (see figure 3 below). Figure 3 Eco-driving tips leaflet shared with the residents of South Oxfordshire In 2019, South Oxfordshire District Council was the lead authority in drafting a joint bid, together with other Local Authorities in Oxfordshire, to apply for Defra’s AQ funding in 2019. The proposal, although unsuccessful, aimed to obtain funding to update the existing Oxfordshire Air Quality website (https://oxfordshire.air- quality.info/). LAQM Annual Status Report 2020 iii Conclusions and Priorities In 2019, two exceedances of the annual objective of NO2 were identified in South Oxfordshire, within Watlington and Henley AQMAs, at monitoring sites that had registered exceedances in previous years. The five-year trend of NO2 levels in the district continues to be a decreasing one, although some monitoring sites have registered higher concentrations than in 2018. Despite the overall improvement in air quality, the revocation of the existing AQMAs is not yet being considered due to the recent exceedances and the fact that more data is needed to support the decreasing trend before trusting that NO2 levels will remain below the national objectives. The council’s priorities for the following reporting year include producing an updated Action Plan, publish the updated AQ Developers Guidance document and re-schedule those actions that were planned for the spring-summer 2020 but have been delayed due to the current pandemic. Local Engagement and How to get Involved There are many ways in which the public can get involved in helping to improve air quality in their area, from using your car less, driving more efficiently when you do have to drive or considering a cleaner vehicle when you choose to upgrade your car. Many smart travel choices and other tips to reduce air pollution can be found in the links below: • https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/cms/public-site/travel-choices • http://www.traveline.info/ • https://oxfordshire.air-quality.info/what-can-you-do-to-improve-air-quality LAQM Annual Status Report 2020 iv Table of Contents Executive Summary: Air Quality in Our Area .......................................................... i Air Quality in South Oxfordshire District Council ................................................................. i Actions to Improve Air Quality ............................................................................................. i Conclusions and Priorities ................................................................................................ iv Local Engagement and How to get Involved ..................................................................... iv 1 Local Air Quality Management ........................................................................ 1 2 Actions to Improve Air Quality ........................................................................ 2 2.1 Air Quality Management Areas .............................................................................. 2 2.2 Progress and Impact of Measures to address Air Quality in South Oxfordshire ....................................................................................................................... 4 2.3 PM2.5 – Local Authority Approach to Reducing Emissions and/or Concentrations.................................................................................................................14 3 Air Quality Monitoring Data and Comparison with Air Quality Objectives and National Compliance .................................................................... 18 3.1 Summary of Monitoring Undertaken .....................................................................18 3.1.1 Automatic Monitoring Sites .......................................................................................... 18 3.1.2 Non-Automatic Monitoring Sites................................................................................... 18 3.2 Individual Pollutants .............................................................................................18 3.2.1 Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2)................................................................................................. 18 Appendix A: Monitoring Results ........................................................................... 20 ................................................................................................................................. 40 Appendix B: Full Monthly Diffusion Tube Results for 2019 ................................ 42 Appendix C: Supporting Technical Information / Air Quality Monitoring Data QA/QC ............................................................................................................. 51 Appendix D: Map(s) of Monitoring Locations and AQMAs ................................. 57 Appendix E: Summary of Air Quality Objectives in England .............................. 63 Appendix F: Screening Assessment of Road Traffic PM Sources in South Oxfordshire’s AQMAs. ........................................................................................... 64 Glossary of Terms .................................................................................................. 65 References .............................................................................................................. 66 Other references ..............................................................................................................66