What are we doing?

Our commitment to improving air quality has led to us becoming one of only four Beacon Authorities for air quality in the country.

We have been at the forefront of air pollution control for many years, including:

• becoming the first local authority in the country to declare a Low Emission Zone (LEZ), for the Greenwich Peninsula, in 2004
• creating Low Emission Areas for major regeneration sites in the Greenwich Peninsular, Millennium Village, The Warren, Tripcock Point and Love Lane
• introducing a lorry ban (over 7.5 tonne) on Romney Road in Greenwich Town Centre to help reduce pollutant concentrations in one of the busiest areas of the borough
• upgrading our fleet to reduce pollution contribution
• conducting research into the accumulation of lead in children during the 1980s (leading to government action to introduce lead-free petrol)
• implementing the Smoke Control Area in the 1950s.

Pollution monitoring

The main air quality problem today is vehicle emissions. We have the largest automatic monitoring network in London.

View a map of our monitoring stations (London Air website)

Air Quality Action Plan

This sets out what we are doing to improve air quality over the next few years. We developed the plan to complement the Air Quality Management Area, which covers the whole borough. Air quality issues are also set out in the Unitary Development Plan and Local Implementation Plan.

Annual status report

This details how we are doing in achieving or maintaining air quality objectives, and:

• shows levels of pollutants in the borough over the years
• lists the actions identified in the Air Quality Action Plan and describes the status of each action. You can download the reports here.

Download the Air Quality Action Plan and annual status reports