Council says that air quality has improved on busy Banbury road

Cherwell District Council has agreed that air quality on Horsefair and North Bar has improved enough to lose AQMA status; however, it still remains one of the most polluted areas.

The AQMA status is given to areas where nitrogen dioxide levels exceed limits set by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Hennef Way is the only remaining area of Banbury that carries AQMA status, and the council will continue to monitor the air quality there using data collected from diffusion tubes.

An area can lose AQMA status if nitrogen dioxide emissions can be shown to have been below the DEFRA limits for at least five years.

Cllr Phil Chapman, portfolio holder for healthy and safe communities, said: “Air pollution is recognised as contributing to the onset of heart disease and cancer and particularly affects the most vulnerable in society: children, older people, and those living in less affluent areas.

“In recent years, we have been supporting the take-up of electric vehicles and encouraging people to use active transport wherever possible. Although it is good to see air quality improving in some of the district’s worst-affected areas, our work to seek further improvements must continue.

“As well as ongoing cooperation with Oxfordshire County Council, the highways authority, we are determined to lead by example in areas that are under our direct control, such as policies related to new developments and our fleet of vehicles, with preparatory works underway to increase the number of electric vehicles we can charge at our depots.”