Air Quality Management Areas (AQMAs)

Local authorities in the UK are required to carry out reviews and assessments their area’s air quality. This involves measuring air pollution and using data to predict how it will change over the next few years. These reviews help make sure that the national air quality objectives will be achieved throughout the UK by the relevant deadlines. These objectives have been put in place to protect people's health and the environment.

If a local authority finds an area where the objectives are not likely to be achieved, it must declare an Air Quality Management Area there. This could be localised to a single street or cover a whole town, depending on how people and pollution are distributed. An Air Quality Action Plan will be produced to lay out how the air quality will be improved.

Many of the assessments and action plans produced by the local authorities which are members of the Kent and Medway Air Quality Network can be found in the KentAir Reports Library. More information about AQMAs can be found at the UKAIR website.

AQMA Map

To view more details about local authorities and the AQMA zones follow this link.

List of AQMAs by LA

Below is a table listing the active Air Quality Management areas declared by each Local Authority that is a member of the Kent and Medway Air Quality Network.

Local Authority Active AQMA Name Pollutants
Ashford Borough Council None
Canterbury City Council
AQMA Canterbury No 3
  • Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2)
Canterbury AQMA Herne No 1
  • Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2)
Dover District Council
A20 AQMA
  • Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2)
High Street/Ladywell AQMA
  • Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2)
Folkstone and Hythe District Council None
Gravesham Borough Council
Gravesham A2 AQMA
  • Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2)
  • Particulate Matter (PM10)
Northfleet Industrial Area AQMA
  • Particulate Matter (PM10)
Gravesham A227 Wrotham Road/B261 Old Road West AQMA
  • Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2)
Gravesham A226 One-way system AQMA
  • Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2)
Maidstone District Council
Maidstone Borough Air Quality Management Area
  • Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2)
Medway Council
Central Medway AQMA
  • Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2)
Rainham AQMA
  • Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2)
Gillingham AQMA
  • Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2)
Four Elms Hill AQMA
  • Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2)
Swale District Council
Newington AQMA
  • Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2)
AQMA No 2/6 Ospringe Extended
  • Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2)
AQMA No 3 – East Street, Sittingbourne, Kent
  • Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2)
AQMA No 4 – St Pauls Street, Sittingbourne, Kent
  • Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2)
  • Particulate Matter (PM10)
Teynham AQMA No5
  • Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2)
AQMA No7 Keycol Hill, Sittingbourne, Kent
  • Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2)
Thanet District Council
Thanet Urban AQMA
Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council
Tonbridge and Malling – M20 AQMA
  • Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2)
  • Particulate Matter (PM10)
Tonbridge and Malling – Larkfield AQMA
  • Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2)
Tonbridge and Malling – Tonbridge High Street AQMA
  • Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2)
Tonbridge and Malling – Wateringbury AQMA
  • Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2)
Tonbridge and Malling – Aylesford AQMA
  • Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2)
Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council Air Quality Management Area No 7 Borough Green
  • Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2)
Tunbridge Wells Borough Council
A26 AQMA
  • Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2)