This is according to a supplement to the Government’s air quality plan, which has been published following studies carried out by 33 authorities on the steps they can take to comply with roadside nitrogen dioxide limits.

Further studies will now be required in eight areas which were previously predicted to be compliant by 2021 at the latest, but have now identified roads that will remain in breach beyond 2022 without serious action.

Bolsover, Bradford, Portsmouth, Broxbourne, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Stoke-on-Trent, Leicester and Liverpool have until the end of October 2019 to present more detailed studies and proposed measures to Government. This could include the implementation of clean air zones on routes with persistent air quality challenges.

But environmental law firm Client Earth has expressed frustration at the slow pace of progress. “Amazingly, ministers have now ordered more plans, which means more delays,” said the firm’s clean air lawyer Katie Nield. “It shows a shocking lack of leadership on a key public health issue.”

In order to ‘inject some urgency’ into the process, Government says it is expecting initial plans by the end of January including a shortlist of options, and will ensure the councils have access to Government funding and expertise.

The supplement to the air quality plan also includes details of how 10 authorities – including three of those requiring detailed studies – will take forward new measures to reduce pollution levels with Government funding.

They are Dudley, Leicester, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Portsmouth, Reading, Wolverhampton, Sandwell, Solihull, Basingstoke & Deane and South Gloucestershire.

Action includes the retrofitting of buses with technology to reduce emissions, traffic management measures such as adjustments to signalling to reduce congestion and behavioural change campaigns to reduce people’s contribution to air pollution.

Environment Minister Thérèse Coffey said: “While air quality has improved significantly in recent years, we know urgent action is still required to tackle roadside air pollution in our towns and cities.

“This is why through our £3.5Bn national air quality plan, we are working with local authorities across the UK and I am pleased ten local authorities will now implement new measures to drive down pollution.”

The remaining 18 authorities of the 33 that submitted studies are either already operating within legal air quality limits or have not identified any measures to bring compliance sooner. They will be expected to maintain any current work to reduce pollution.

Also this week, a report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says that limiting global warming to just 1.5 °C would require rapid, far reaching changes to society, including transport.

“Limiting global warming to 1.5°C compared with 2°C would reduce challenging impacts on ecosystems, human health and wellbeing, making it easier to achieve the United Nations sustainable development goals,” said co-chair of one of the report’s working groups Priyardarshi Shukla.

Meeting the challenges set by the IPCC report will require different thinking about how cities are planned and built, says CIHT. The Institution will shortly be publishing guidance for practitioners around how to better integrate planning and transport.

Image credit: Department for Transport