Air monitoring in two Mid Devon towns set to be switched back on

Equipment in Cullompton and Crediton to restart

Air monitoring devices in two Mid Devon towns are to be switched back on in the new year and levels of emissions recorded.

Both Cullompton and Crediton have air quality improvement areas, but devices that read and monitor emissions levels haven’t been operational since June last year.

Cllr James Buczkowski (Liberal Democrat, Cullompton St Andrews) said that he wanted air quality metrics added to a dashboard of data the councl monitors.

“This administration has been working diligently to reinstate real-time air quality monitoring which was not funded by the previous administration and switched off in June last year,” he told this week’s cabinet meeting.

“But we will have a return of real-time monitoring by January 2025 after an elongated process since they were switched off, and so I think air quality should be a key metric on the dashboard.”

The council created air quality management areas (AQMAs) in the two towns nearly 20 years ago. The areas are where specific pollutants exceed the government’s air quality targets and are on residential roads where vehicles raise levels of polluants.

The first AQMA to be designated in 2004 was at Exeter Road and the High Street in Crediton. A second AQMA was created two years later in parts of Station Road, Higher Street and Fore Street in Cullompton.

Cullompton also has an air quality action plan.

Richard Marsh, director of place and economy at the district council said he would consider how to include this on the dashboard once the right targets had been established.

“To a degree we are subject to the environment, so the measures in our direct control to ensure we meet those standards are obviously limited,” he said.

“But I appreciate that there is a value in reporting the data for transparency and awareness, so I don’t think there will be a problem in terms of using that data as it will be at our disposal.”