Air quality

North Tyneside Councils Air Quality Strategy specifies how we will strive to improve air quality across the borough and how we will monitor the effectiveness of the actions and measures being taken to reduce the pollutant levels.

Under the Environment Act 1995 we are responsible for assessing the local air quality. We carry out this assessment by real and proactive monitoring of pollutants and by screening planning projects. The results of air quality monitoring are compared against air quality objectives on an annual basis. The air in North Tyneside currently meets these air quality objectives. We have two operational real time monitoring stations in the borough.

They are located at the following locations:

• East Howdon, Northumbria Sewage Works
• Wallsend, High Street East

The stations continuously monitor for nitrogen dioxide and particulates.

We also monitor nitrogen dioxide with diffusion tubes in 27 locations in the borough, which provide an indicative measurement on the air quality.

If the objectives for air quality were not met North Tyneside would need to declare an air quality management area and would then be required to create an action plans to reduce the air emissions from that pollutant. The most current annual review of air quality has now been renamed as the annual status report to incorporate the requirements of the DEFRA Technical Guidance TG16.

Smoke is known to contribute to fogs, cause respiratory problems and ill health. Smoke control orders were introduced in the 1950s to control smoke emissions from chimneys by the creation of The Clean Air Act 1993.

North Tyneside Council has created 61 smoke control areas that cover the majority of North Tyneside. It is an offence to create smoke from a chimney except during lighting up when kindling maybe used.

If you use an an open fire you must use authorised fuels (often known as smokeless fuels) or use an exempt fireplace that will prescribe the fuel that may be burnt.

Find out more at GOV.UK.

A daily air pollution forecast is provided by the Met Office. The forecast is given as a 5 day outlook on the pollution levels for the UK. The pollution index is scored from 1 to 10, 1 being low and 10 very high. The air quality forecast is based on 5 key pollutants: ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, PM2.5 and PM10 particles, that can have an impact on your health. You can view the forecast here.

The forecast can also be obtained by ringing Freephone 0800556677.

North Tyneside Council is supporting the Clean Air Night campaign, taking place on 24 January 2024 to support a 'No Burn Night'. The campaign will share uncomfortable truth about wood burning. The first ever Clean Air Night will highlight the following:

• Wood burning harms your health.  Lighting fires is the largest source of harmful small particulate air pollution in the UK.
• Wood burning harms the planet.  Wood burning creates harmful CO2 emissions and we cannot grow trees fast enough to offset the CO2 emitted from burning wood.
• Wood burning harms your wallet. It is almost more expensive than other forms of heating.

For more information visit cleanair