Minutes

The Cabinet Members states:

-         There are currently no Air Quality Management Areas (AQMA) in the ward of Bishton and Langstone.

-         Newport currently has 11 Air Quality Management Areas. However, our existing monitoring demonstrates that the air quality in Newport does not exceed current air quality objectives.

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The previous Cabinet member stated:

-         Environmental Health would continue to monitor air quality and would update the Council’s Air Quality Action Plan with actions to improve air quality in these AQMA’s.

-         A key part of the action plan would be to establish local action groups to engage with the local communities.

-         We were about to establish the first local action group in Caerleon and that would then be rolled-out across the other AQMA’s" NCC September 2021.

In response to the above my related questions are:

-         Where can we get of the Council Air Quality Plan.

-         Can you now establish a local AQMA facility taking in account the M4 overspill relating to the Magor Road and the A48 road to the Coldra Roundabout (now ironically known locally as the Langstone M4 relief route). With the A449 joining at the Coldra this creates a triangle of pollution both air and noise affecting residents locally.

-         What does it mean when you say air quality does not exceed current objectives. That is very vague without clear reference to a plan and indeed the objectives.

-         Can you give an update on the established local action groups and the outcomes they have achieved in detail over the last few years.

-         Can you advise how in our Bishton and Langstone ward, once an AQMA is in place, how we set up such an action group as mentioned.

The Councils existing air quality Plan and the annual updates regarding monitoring can be found in the Air Quality section of the Council’s website. The next air quality plan is currently in draft, soon to be issued for public consultation and due to go to Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 27^th October 2023.

An Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) is not something that can be established on request. They are declared where it is identified that there are areas of non-compliance with the air quality objectives set out in legislation, and that there is relevant public exposure. The principal pollutant driving AQMAs in Newport isNO2.

We are not aware of any Air Quality Objectives (AQO) breaches in the Bishton and Langstone Ward, and therefore an AQMA cannot be declared in the area.

Current objectives are set nationally and can be found in Welsh Government’s air quality website:

Standards and Objectives | Air Quality In Wales (gov.wales).