The quality of the air we breathe in the South Hams is generally very good as you would expect. However the Council (like all other district and unitary councils in England and Wales) has to assess and review the air quality periodically and to check for any possible hot spots of pollution that might arise from, for example, traffic or industrial processes.
The most recent overview of air quality issues in the District is available in the 
Updating and Screening Assessment and a more detailed investigation of sites where relatively high pollution levels have been found are given in the 
2007 and 2004 Detailed Assessment.
In 2005 a Progress Report was produced to provide an update on all air quality issues in the District.
The Council has also adopted an Air Quality Strategy 2002 which provides a focus for the air quality work that the Environmental Health Service must undertake. The Air Quality Strategy document outlines the relevant Government policies and the measures that the Council has taken (or will take) to implement them. It also identifies the key aims and objectives and the proposed approach to delivering, monitoring and reviewing the progress of the South Hams Air Quality Strategy.
One of the main statutory duties that the Environmental Health section has regarding air pollution control is to regulate certain industrial processes. Initially this was undertaken according to regulations made under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Now many of these regulations have been superseded by new ones made under a new Act termed the Pollution Prevention and Control Act 1999. A public register of all such regulated processes can be inspected at the Council offices and lists of these processes are available:Permitted Processes Register.
The Council operates a diffusion tube monitoring programme for Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2), a pollutant which is mainly associated with road traffic and some types of industrial process. Surveys of NO2 levels around most towns and major roads in the South Hams have been undertaken. Please view Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) in the South Hams to see some of the results of the monitoring programme illustrated by graphs. If you would like further information on this programme, please contact the Environmental Health Section: 01803 861234.
Other key pollutants are continuously monitored at locations close to, but not in, the South Hams. Thus you can see the current air quality forecast for the south west plus the very latest levels of pollutants such as ozone at Yarner Wood, Exeter and Plymouth and carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and sulphur dioxide at Exeter and Plymouth if you click on: air quality then on the south west region of the map on the screen and then on 'more information'.
- If you have any concerns regarding air quality issues or would like further advice on the Council's policy please telephone: 01803 861234.
- If the problem is an emergency and occurs outside normal office hours, telephone 01752 776000.
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Further information
There are huge amounts of information on air quality on the internet. Below are just a few examples of links that you may find useful:
