9.3 Monitoring

9.3.1 Working with Districts

The County Council will continue to work closely with the District Councils to monitor air quality in Lancashire and assist with the production of the Air Quality Review and Assessment reports, further reports and where necessary Action Plans. Following stage 1 and 2 air quality assessments, only four of the twelve districts were required to proceed further; Burnley, Lancaster, Preston and South Ribble. To date, only Lancaster, Preston and South Ribble have declared AQMAs. Where an AQMA is declared, a multi agency Air Quality Management Working Group is formed which includes the County as a key member.

To date the County is currently working with Lancaster City Council in testing and assessing the impacts of highway related measures and determining which has the greatest influence on air quality. See the following measures table. The results of this process will form part of Lancaster's Action Plan. Initial results are included in the Lancaster District chapter and in the AQMA Mandatory Indicator and monitoring process section of this chapter.

In addition to the above, Lancashire County Council works closely with Districts to consider the impact of development proposals on Air Quality. Lancashire has established an internal Air Quality Group including engineers, planners and scientists who co-ordinate action on air quality issues within the County.

9.3.2 Air Quality Monitoring

Lancashire's overall air quality will be monitored using the National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory. To date this monitoring only includes nitrogen dioxide and particulates. If other transport related pollutants become an issue, they will be monitored and included in the Annual Progress Reports. A review of this data is included in the air quality background section.

An approach has been developed to monitor the average nitrogen dioxide exposure per resident within Lancashire's Air Quality Management Areas. The approach uses observed air quality and planning data to determine the baseline level used in the calculation of the Lancashire trajectory. Baseline results are available for Districts with AQMAs and in total for Lancashire. See local AQMAs and indicator and monitoring process sections for more detail.

Individual AQMAs will also be monitored using both observed and modelled concentrations, with do nothing and do something trajectories. The production of a mandatory indicator for each AQMA has been undertaken only for Lancaster. Further mandatory indicators will be included in Annual Progress Reports when required.

Lancashire is funding additional air quality monitoring in target city/town centres and on transport corridors that currently suffer from poor air quality.  This work commenced in 2006 and builds on the work undertaken by the Districts. This data will also be used to determine and monitor the actual rate of improvement from air quality measures. Results will be included in the review and assessment reports produced by the Districts.

It is envisaged that real time air quality monitoring will be incorporated into existing innovative transport projects. Air quality results will be made available on the Internet and on VMSs where Lancashire has implemented Urban Traffic Management and Control. This has been installed in Preston and Burnley and is planned for Lancaster. Collected data will be used to monitor change in air quality relative to measures installed and to inform the public and help them in their travel decisions.

Back to Top