Under the Environment Act 1995, Cornwall Council monitors air quality against the Air Quality Objectives. If air pollution is higher than national objectives, we have to:
- designate an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) and produce an Action Plan to improve air quality in the area.
- revoke an AQMA when air pollution reduces to a concentration which is consistently below the national objective.
Air Quality Management Areas (AQMAs) have been declared for:
- Camborne, Pool, and Redruth (CPR) area (declared December 2005)
- Tideford (declared May 2011)
- Gunnislake (declared March 2014)
- Launceston (declared February 2018)
AQMAs which have been revoked and are now listed as Air Quality Areas of Concern (AQACs):
- Camelford (declared January 2017; revoked November 2024) - Camelford revocation report
- St Austell (declared March 2014) - St Austell revocation report
- Bodmin (declared July 2008) - Bodmin revocation report
- Grampound (declared: July 2017) - Grampound revocation report
- Truro (declared July 2015) - Truro revocation report
Cornwall Council have recently consulted on the Clean Air for Cornwall Strategy.
The Cornwall Air Quality Action Plan sits alongside the strategy. The Action Plan details the actions set out to improve air quality across the county and in each of Air Quality Managment Areas.