Council approves plans to tackle air pollution
Friday 11 April 2025: Hillingdon Council's Air Quality Action Plan (AQAP), a five-year vision for tackling air pollution and protecting the health and wellbeing of residents, was approved for consultation by the council's Cabinet last night (10 April).
It also highlights the council's ambitions, which include:
- reducing and mitigating against pollutant emissions
- removing inequalities in exposure to poor air quality and protecting vulnerable residents
- using planning measures to ensure development doesn't negatively impact air quality
- raising awareness of the health impacts of poor air quality
- achieving the World Health Organisation (WHO) air quality guidelines as quickly as possible.
The council already has a strong record of tackling air quality issues, such as vehicle engine idling, with more fixed penalty notices issued for this offence than any London borough. And many schools already work with the council to minimise car journeys by using walking maps and sustainable travel plans.
The AQAP will build on this foundation and identifies five priority areas to focus on:
- monitoring and reporting (including creating more sites capturing data on ultrafine particles around Heathrow Airport to inform further actions)
- enhancing the urban environment
- cleaner transport
- protecting the vulnerable
- education and awareness.
Cllr Eddie Lavery, Hillingdon Council's Cabinet Member for Community and Environment, said: "We have a duty of care to protect the health and wellbeing of residents, and this action plan is a commitment to build on our existing progress and to prevent unnecessary pollution where we can.
"Air pollution poses a range of health risks to residents of all ages but particularly the vulnerable. While we will continue to monitor pollutants and protect residents with a range of mitigation measures, we also remain deeply concerned how any proposed expansion of Heathrow could further impact this and will continue to oppose these detrimental plans."
This AQAP 2025-2030 is a statutory document and has been produced as part of our duty to London Local Air Quality Management.
The plan will go through consultation with stakeholders and residents later this year before being formally adopted.
For more information, visit www.hillingdon.gov.uk/airpollution
