Harrogate and Knaresborough air quality zones could be revokedCouncil to revoke two air quality areas in Harrogate district

North Yorkshire Council is set to remove two air quality management areas in the Harrogate district after levels of nitrogen dioxide dropped.

The council currently monitors air pollution on Low and High Skellgate in Ripon and York Place in Knaresborough.

Both management areas were introduced to review levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), which are caused by traffic levels.

Monitoring of NO2 has been in place on Skellgate in Ripon since 2010 and on York Place in Knaresborough since 2017.

Both were declared after beaching the legal limit of 40 micrograms of annual NO2 per cubic metre of air.

However, a report due before the council’s transport, economy, environment and overview scrutiny committee on April 10 says both air quality management areas are due to be revoked.

It said the areas had not breached the limit for more than five years and are now planned to be removed.

In its annual air quality report in 2023, the council said the Ripon management area had gone six years under the limit.

It said:

“This is the sixth year that there have been no exceedance of the objective, in line with the above we propose to revoke the AQMA.”

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Meanwhile, air quality management areas in Harrogate on Wetherby Road and Bond End in Knaresborough are set to remain in place.

Both were implemented for breaching the limit for NO2.

However, despite both areas being under the 40 micrograms for this year, the council intends to keep them in place.

The UK government requires local authorities to take action to improve areas with particularly bad air pollution.

In September 2018, North Yorkshire County Council replaced traffic lights at Bond End with a double mini-roundabout to reduce congestion and improve the flow of traffic.

Air pollution rises above pre-pandemic levels at nine locations in Harrogate district

The levels of harmful air pollutants in the Harrogate district have risen above pre-pandemic levels at nine locations – including one which recorded a year-on-year increase despite covid lockdowns.

Knaresborough bus station was the only area in the district to record a yearly rise in nitrogen dioxide levels between 2019 and 2021.

Nine out of all 64 monitoring locations saw an increase during the same period, although each had a drop during 2020 when lockdowns led to tight restrictions on travel.

All locations remain below current legal limits, but these targets are set to be reduced by the government after warnings that pollutants are even more dangerous than previously thought.

Air pollution is associated with a number of serious health impacts – it particularly affects the most vulnerable, including children and older people, and those with heart and lung conditions.

The latest figures for Harrogate have been revealed in a report from the borough council which shows nitrogen dioxide levels rose from 2019 to 2021 at:

Bond End is one of four Air Quality Management Areas (AQMAs) declared by the council for previously breaching the legal limit of 40 micrograms of annual nitrogen dioxide per cubic metre of air.

The figure for Bond End, which has had traffic light upgrades to tackle pollution from idling vehicles, now stands at 38.3 – the highest in the district.

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For the first time in 15 years, the World Health Organisation (WHO) last year released new guidelines which mean the UK’s legal limits for the most harmful pollutants are now four times higher than the maximum levels recommended.

This is after research found air pollution from areas including vehicle exhausts and gas central heating is having a big impact on health, even at lower concentrations.

While not legally binding, the WHO guidelines are used as reference tools by policymakers around the world and impact on how legal limits are set.

The UK government has yet to approve new limits, with a bill currently going through the legal process.

If the WHO’s new target of 10 micrograms of annual nitrogen dioxide per cubic metre of air is introduced, just two locations in Harrogate would meet the new guidelines.

In its annual report, Harrogate Borough Council said it had no plans to declare any new AQMAs under the current rules, but added it recognised there was work to do to improve air quality.

It said:

“Concentrations have risen across the district in 2021, but this is following 2020 when there were multiple lockdowns.

“Whilst air quality has improved significantly in recent decades, and will continue to improve due to national policy decisions, there are some areas where local action is needed to improve air quality further.

“We work with colleagues within the highways, sustainable transport and public health departments at North Yorkshire County Council on air quality, and will continue to do this to improve local air quality.”