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:
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carbon monoxide
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ozone
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nitrogen dioxide
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fine particles
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sulphur dioxide
Air Quality Reports
Our most recent Air Quality Annual Status 2023 has been completed and accepted by DEFRA. The report evaluates air pollution monitoring results for the district for 2022 and identifies new or significantly changed sources that could lead to potential air quality problems.
We have examined the results from monitoring in the district. There were no exceedances of the annual mean NO2 objective in 2022. Two sites, DV-30 and DV-38 recorded annual mean concentrations above 36 µg/m3 (within 10% of the AQS objective). Site DV-30 is adjacent to 19 High Street, within the High Street/ Ladywell AQMA boundary. Site DV-38, which is outside the declared AQMAs, is adjacent to the roundabout at London Road, Deal.
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).
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 have submitted for examination a new Dover District Local Plan to assess 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
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.
Environmental Permitting »
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.
Garden Bonfires »
General Enquiries
Should you have an enquiry in rleation to Air Pollution or Air Quality Monitoring please use the reporting form on the following link:
REPORT