Air Quality

The Environment Act 1995 requires us to periodically review and assess whether the air quality standards, as set out in the National Air Quality Strategy, will be met across the District.

This strategy, published in July 2007, commits Local Authorities to try to achieve air quality levels for seven pollutants. It aims to ensure that polluting emissions, for example from cars or industry, and general background air quality across the country do not cause harm to human health or the environment.

The seven pollutants are:

• Benzene
• 1,3 Butadiene
• Carbon Monoxide
• Lead
• Nitrogen Dioxide
• Particles (PM₁₀), also referred to as airborne dust
• Sulphur Dioxide

If any reviews and assessments show up 'hot-spots' where a standard might be broken for one or more of the listed pollutants, then we must declare that area as an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA). We must then draw up an action plan to improve the air quality in this area.

For copies of past air quality reports for the District, please follow the link to the Essex Air Quality Consortium website.

Further information regarding the individual pollutants can be found by following the link to the Defra website.

Smoke Control Zones

Under the Clean Air Act we can declare whole or part of our District to be a smoke control area. Therefore it would be an offence to emit smoke from a chimney of a building, from a furnace or from any fixed boiler or purchase an unauthorised fuel.

Rochford District Council has not declared any part of our District as a smoke control zone. More details can be found on our bonfires page by following the related link below.