Air quality improves across the district
Tuesday, January 14, 2025
Air quality in the Wakefield district has further improved over the last year and the whole district is now meeting target levels on air quality.
All the Council’s Air Quality Management Areas are now below the legal limit for Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2).
An Air Quality Management Area must be declared when a local authority finds any places where the target levels are not likely to be achieved.
“Breathing in polluted air affects our health and costs the NHS and our society billions of pounds each year.
“It’s pleasing to see the progress we are making in reducing Nitrogen Dioxide emissions across the district, year on year.
“By publishing this report, we hope to inform people about the health benefits of improved air quality, to engage them in the process and participate in measures to help ensure sustainable improvements for the future.
“Air quality is improving because emissions from transport are lower than they used to be. And can be improved even further if people change their travel habits, such as walking and cycling more, using public transport and switching to zero or low emission vehicles.”
Cllr Jack Hemingway
Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change
The Council will now review its Air Quality Management Areas (AQMAs) with a view to removing those that have been compliant over many years.
These results have been taken from the Council’s Air Quality Annual Status Report (ASR) 2024.