Air Quality

As a local authority our responsibilities relating to air quality management come from legislation laid out in the UK Air Quality Strategy. View the effects of air pollution - on the Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs website. 

Poor air quality across the country continues to adversely affect people's health at significant public cost. We are committed to regularly reviewing our district's air quality so that we can inform our strategy and our ongoing Air Quality Action Plan. A detailed list of the pollutants that we measure for is available via the Department for Energy, Food and Rural Affairs.

Any area within East Herts not meeting National Air Quality Standards is declared as an Air Quality Monitoring Area (AQMA). Where an AQMA is declared, action needs to be taken to reduce pollution levels.  An action plan must also be produced to tackle the problem. To view the district's air quality action plan this can be found in the downloads bar.

All developments in the district must be in compliance with air quality measures set out in the council's Sustainability SPD.

Breathe Clean, AQ awareness campaign

From June 2023 to April 2024, we are running an important new project across East Hertfordshire, called Breathe Clean.

The project is funded by DEFRA and in collaboration with the Hertfordshire ‘Let’s Clear the Air’ campaign.

Our project team from MP Smarter Travel will be working with schools, workplaces, councillors and community groups to highlight some of the simple, small actions we can all do to protect ourselves from air pollution and reduce our personal contribution to the issue.

The campaign will give particular focus to encouraging drivers to turn off their engines when at a standstill since idling is a major contributor to poor air quality.

Find out more about the project. 

Email info@mpsmartertravel.co.uk to get your school, workplace, or community group involved!
 

Air Quality Alerts

Visit the Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire Air Pollution Alert System to receive air quality alerts straight to your mobile phone.

This free service will be of particular benefit to people with medical conditions that may be affected by pollution, such as asthma, bronchitis and emphysema.

Live Air Quality Data

East Herts Council, through a grant from DEFRA, has now installed three additional ‘live’ air quality monitors to complement the data obtained from the current ‘live’ air quality monitor and NOx tubes which are spread across the district. These new monitors are based in each of the council’s air quality management areas in Hertford, Sawbridgeworth and Bishop’s Stortford. 

These new monitors went live in May 2024 and the data they provide can help us identify trends in pollution levels across the day. Data from all four monitors can be accessed using the links below:

1.    Exiting continuous air quality monitor - Hertford
2.    New continuous air quality monitors – Bishop’s Stortford, Hertford and Sawbridgeworth 

 

Air Quality Management Areas

There are three AQMAs in East Herts. The maps for each can be found below on the Defra website.

• Bishops Stortford AQMA - Covering Hockerhill Street / London Road Junction
• Hertford AQMA - Covering parts of Hertford Town Centre including Gascoyne Way bypass of the Town Centre
• Sawbridgeworth AQMA - Covering the main road through Sawbridgeworth Town Centre

Assessments & Reports

The table below provides guidance on reports for the previous 5 years of written reports.  If you need reports older than that below, please use our Contact us form to request copies.

Reporting Environmental Pollution

If you would like to report an issue you have witnessed or are witnessing referring to factors that will affect air quality such as bonfires, dark smoke etc, you can use our Report Environmental Pollution form