Air Quality Action Plan Engagement (2026-2030)

Overview

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Background

Air pollution is the largest environmental risk to health in the UK. The health effects of exposure to air pollution are wide-ranging and can affect everyone. They can particularly affect vulnerable groups such as children and the elderly. There is evidence that exposure to air pollution can:

• lead to or worsen asthma
• result in poor lung development in children
• contribute to diabetes, dementia and worsening mental health

The entirety of Hackney is an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA). The AQMA was first declared in 2006. An AQMA can be declared when levels of air pollution exceed certain legal limits, known as air quality standards and objectives. When an AQMA is declared, local authorities are obliged to produce an Air Quality Action Plan (AQAP). The AQAP outlines how the local authority will work to reduce levels of air pollution.

Hackney has had an AQAP in place since 2006, and the current AQAP was published in 2021. An AQAP must be reviewed at least every five years. Hackney Council is now looking to review its AQAP to ensure the Plan remains up-to-date.

You can review the current AQAP by visiting this link: https://hackney.gov.uk/air-quality-reports

Why we are engaging with residents and businesses

There are many pollutants which contribute to poor air quality, and these pollutants come from a wide range of sources. You can find out more in the ‘Air quality in Hackney’ box below. As a result, actions in the AQAP will cover many areas of the Council’s work. These include pollution control, transport, parking, planning, housing, schools and procurement. We understand that many people in Hackney may be affected by the actions that we take to reduce air pollution.

The new AQAP is in the very early stages of development. We would be interested in hearing from those who may be affected by - or who have an interest in - the actions we will take to improve air quality

What feedback can we take onboard?

At this stage, we can take on board suggestions and comments to shape the direction of the AQAP. We would be interested to receive feedback, suggestions and comments on:

• The actions we include in the AQAP, or the themes that help us organise these actions
• The specific measures we can take to help implement actions - these might have targets or outputs
• The extent or ambition of the AQAP (or the actions and measures within it)

The AQAP is a statutory document. It is produced under the requirements of the Environment Act 1995 and the London Local Air Quality Management framework. As such, there is guidance that we must follow in line with the Mayor of London and the Greater London Authority.

The Mayor of London directs London Boroughs to include a number of ‘priority’ actions. We must include these actions in our AQAP, although there is flexibility in how we implement these locally. More information on these actions is provided in the ‘LLAQM Borough Air Quality Action Matrix’ on the Mayor of London’s website.

There are some other limitations in what we can include in the AQAP. We must ensure the actions in the AQAP accord with other Council plans, policies and strategies. These include, for example, our Local Plan, Transport Strategy and Local Implementation Plan, Climate Action Plan and Procurement Strategy.

We must also ensure that the actions in the AQAP can be delivered across the Council.

What happens with your feedback?

Your feedback will be used to draft the AQAP. It will be collated into a report which will be published, explaining how feedback has been considered.

Once a draft AQAP has been produced, we will then undertake a statutory consultation. We will publish the draft AQAP and share with consultees, including businesses and residents, so that they can provide a response to it. We predict this statutory consultation will take place in spring 2025. We will then consider any further changes before publishing our final AQAP. The final AQAP will need to be formally approved by the Mayor of London’s office and adopted by Hackney Councillors.

We will report back on how this engagement and consultation process has shaped the AQAP.

What this survey is about

We have begun work on what we should include in the new AQAP. However, we would like to seek your views on:

• What you think works, or does not work, in our current AQAP
• The themes, actions and measures that could help shape the draft of our new AQAP

The following survey will take approximately 15 minutes to complete. 

If you require this document in a different format, please email landwaterair@hackney.gov.uk We will consider your request and get back to you in the next five working days.

If you would like to provide a more detailed response, we also welcome additional written submissions via email at landwaterair@hackney.gov.uk