Improving air quality

We have developed actions under 6 broad topics:

• emissions from developments and buildings: emissions from buildings account for about 15% of the NOX emissions across London so are important in affecting NO2 concentrations
• public health and awareness raising: increasing awareness can drive behavioural change to lower emissions as well as to reduce exposure to air pollution
• delivery servicing and freight: vehicles delivering goods and services are usually light- and heavy-duty diesel-fuelled vehicles with high primary NO2 emissions
• borough fleet actions: our fleet includes light- and heavy-duty diesel-fuelled vehicles such as mini-buses and refuse collection vehicles with high primary NO2 emissions. Tackling our own fleet means we will be leading by example
• localised solutions: these seek to improve the environment of neighbourhoods through a combination of measures
• cleaner transport. Road transport is the main source of air pollution in London. We need to encourage a  change to walking, cycling and ultra-low emission vehicles (such as electric) as far as possible

Our priorities are:

• to control emissions from new developments. Tackling emissions from construction sites and construction vehicles through compliance with the Council’s Town Centre Construction Logistics Plan
• tackling emissions due to servicing and freight vehicles, and so have completed a feasibility in reducing deliveries to the Council and also investigate setting up a delivery consolidation centre with other South London Boroughs
• to reduce exposure to air pollution and to raise awareness for residents and those who work in Croydon. By working with Public Health we want to raise awareness through school projects, local community projects and local businesses

The AQAP outlines how we plan to effectively use local levers to tackle air quality issues within our control.  However, we recognise that there are a large number of air quality policy areas that are outside of our influence (such as Euro standards, national vehicle taxation policy, taxis and buses), and so we will continue to work with and lobby regional and central government on policies and issues beyond Croydon’s influence.

Download Croydon air quality action plan 2017-2022 (PDF, 2.1MB)

As part of our commitment to improving air quality in Croydon, we have teamed up with 5 other South London councils to develop the Love Clean Air website. It has information to help people learn more about air quality, features local air quality maps, an interactive diagram of air pollutants and their sources, as well as videos about the issue and its health implications.