Air Quality Monitoring in the Dover District
We are part of the Kent Air Quality Partnership, which was established in 1992 to work towards improving the quality of Kent's air. The Partnership is made up of representatives from each district's transport, planning and environment departments, Kent County Council, the Environment Agency, National Power and other stakeholders related to air quality issues.
Ricardo Energy & Environment manage the Kent & Medway monitoring network throughout the County. The monitoring enables us to pinpoint problem areas such as congested roads or highly polluting industrial processes. It can be estimated how much pollution is attributable to local sources and how much is imported from Continental Europe.
Dover Council are currently working on a revised updated Air Quality Action Plan. Once the final Plan is complete and accepted by Defra, the Plan will be adopted.
Daily reports are published on levels of six pollutants:
-
carbon monoxide
-
ozone
-
nitrogen dioxide
-
fine particles
-
sulphur dioxide
Through DEFRA funding, the Kent & Medway Air Quality Partnership has produced a new central resource for learning about how air pollution affects our health.
The Clean Air Academy ‘Digital Resource’ has been designed for healthcare professionals and members of the community to learn how to identify, address, and alleviate the issues that could be affecting your health, as well as empower people with the knowledge so they may contribute towards the building of a healthier society.
Air Quality Reports
Our most recent Air Quality Annual Status 2024 has been completed and accepted by DEFRA air quality appraisal team. The report evaluates air pollution monitoring results for the district for 2023 and identifies new or significantly changed sources that could lead to potential air quality problems.
We have examined the results from air pollution monitoring in the district. There were no exceedances of the annual mean NO2 objective in 2023. The A20 AQMA has now been compliant within 10% of the annual mean NO2 for 6 consecutive years (see Section 3). The Council's Environmental Protection Team presented a full report to Cabinet on 1st April 2025 and the A20 AQMA has now been revoked in full. A copy of the Order is included below.
The High St/Ladywell AQMA reports its 4th year of compliance. However, as the annual NO2 AQS Objective was exceeded in 2019, Defra’s current guidance on the impact of COVID-19 on AQMA compliance means that complaint COVID-19 years (2020 and 2021) cannot be used to count towards revocation. Disregarding these years, the High Street/Ladywell AQMA now has two years’ compliance within 10% of the AQS Objective. If compliance is maintained in 2024, the AQMA will then have 3 consecutive years’ compliance and the Council will be able to begin considering revocation of this AQMA.
There have been no exceedances of the PM10 AQS objective within the past five years at the single PM10 monitoring location on Townwall Street (Dover Centre). Issues have been identified with the TEOM performance and due to it’s age, now that the A20 AQMA has been revoked, the TEOM site has been de-commissioned.
On the 17th of July 2024 our Air Quality Action Plan (AQAP) for 2024-2028 was formally adopted by Dover District Council. The AQAP looks for Dover District Council to work with our partners to improve air quality across the district by focusing on five broad topics:
-
Priority 1- Transport- Provision of additional transport infrastructure; changes to road layout or operation; formulation of traffic plans with the aim being to encourage the use of greener modes of transport, and/or reduce congestion and associated vehicle emissions.
-
Priority 2- Behavioural Change- Encouragement of wider behavioural changes in local population with respect to their travel choices, raise awareness and educate members of the public on the impact of air pollution.
-
Priority 3- Strategies and Policy Guidance- Working with partners and stakeholders to direct the use of legislation and targeted enforcement to control air pollution.
-
Priority 4- Planning and Infrastructure- Mitigate potential air quality impacts effectively by being involved in decision making early on for future developments required to support the growth of DDC.
-
Priority 5- Air Quality Monitoring (Evidence for Improvement)- Ensure satisfactory air quality monitoring data is available to track outcomes of the implemented AQAP measures.
In March 2023 the Council submitted for examination a new Dover District Local Plan including assessment on how future development will impact air quality within the area, with particular attention paid to any scenarios that will negatively impact air quality in sensitive areas, such as within AQMAs or within any of the internationally designated sites within the district. The New District Local Plan and Main Modifications consultation was completed on 24th May 2024.
Air Quality Management Areas
Environmental Permitting
The Environmental Protection Act 1990 introduced measures to reduce and control emissions to air, land and water from specified industrial processes and now the operators of specified installations are required to obtain a permit to operate.
Please click on the below to take you to our Environmental Permitting webpage.
Garden Bonfires
Garden bonfires produce smoke which contains carbon monoxide and toxic fumes and can ruin a neighbour's enjoyment of their garden, prevent windows being opened and prevent them hanging out their washing.
Please click on the below to take you to our garden bonfires webpage.
General Enquiries
Should you have an enquiry in relation to Air Pollution or Air Quality Monitoring please use the reporting form on the following link: