Consultation on a revised Air Quality Action Plan (AQAP) for Durham City

Background

'Air quality' is the term we use to describe the levels of pollution in the air we breathe in. When air quality is poor, pollutants may impact on people's health, particularly the young, the elderly and those with lung or heart conditions.

Clean air is a basic requirement for a healthy environment. Air quality has improved a lot in recent decades, but there are still some parts of Durham City where there are levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) (a pollutant) higher than the Annual Mean Air Quality Objective. We are committed to reducing, as soon as possible, the levels of air quality pollutants in our air, and therefore we are developing a revised action plan to help improve the air quality in Durham City.

The Durham City AQMA was declared in 2011 and we adopted an initial AQAP in 2016.

The AQAP

The initial AQAP focused on actions to try and reduce NO₂ to national targets. We have now reviewed and revised the current plan, which now includes 21 actions to help reduce and maintain NO₂ levels to below the air quality objective, and then maintain these levels going forward. As part of this process, we recently held an event in Durham City to bring together the local community, including local businesses, residents' groups, and partners, to share and discuss their views on the draft actions and invite suggestions for alternatives to help us develop the draft AQAP.

Please read the 21 Actions Explained before you complete the survey as it provides some further information about some of the actions so they are clear to understand.

Air Quality Action Plan - 21 actions explained (PDF, 154 KB)

Have your say

We want your views on the 21 draft actions, and whether you have any suggestions for alternatives.

Consultation outcomes

As part of the consultation, we talked with our relevant internal services, held a councillors briefing session, and held a local engagement event including representatives from the Area Action Partnership, the Parish Councils, local councillors, the City of Durham Trust, Durham University and local voluntary and community groups. We also held a statutory and a public consultation. The statutory consultation involved writing to and providing a copy of the draft action plan to neighbouring local councils, the Highways Authority and organisations with business interests in Durham City.

We received 151 responses to our public survey which focused on 21 proposed actions.

Following the feedback we received, the AQAP for Durham City now includes 23 actions. They have been prioritised taking into consideration the costs; funding, timescale, benefits to air quality and level of support from the consultation. The draft plan was submitted to DEFRA in December 2024, and they have accepted that it meets their statutory requirements. The AQAP for Durham City was considered and approved by Cabinet on 12 March 2025. To view the full list of actions in the Plan visit Air quality in Durham City.