Air Quality Action Plan, progress and delivery
Our road transport, planning and development strategies are now all focused on improving air quality for residents and visitors of Newham.
The Air Quality Management Area
Certain pollutants in Newham exceed the World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines as well as the national air quality objectives for human exposure. In response, we issued a borough-wide Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) Order in December 2019 for particulate, and NO2 pollution and produced an action plan.
Air Quality Management Area Recourses
Map of Air Quality Management Area
Borough Wide Air Quality Management Area Order
The Air Quality Action Plan
The Air Quality Action Plan sets out the Council's programme of measures to improve air quality and reduce residents' exposure to air pollution. Newham's current Air Quality Action Plan covers the period 2019–2024 and remains the Council's adopted statutory action plan while a new Air Quality Action Plan for 2025–2030 is being finalised.
Many of the measures contained within the existing plan continue to be delivered, including improvements to air quality monitoring, School Streets, sustainable transport initiatives, planning controls, electric vehicle infrastructure and public engagement.
Progress against these actions is reported each year through the Air Quality Annual Status Report, ensuring that delivery continues while the updated Action Plan is prepared.
Read the full Air Quality Action Plan 2019–2024 (PDF) to learn more about how we are helping to create a cleaner and healthier borough for everyone.
Annual Review and Assessment Report
The London Borough of Newham's Air Quality Annual Status Report 2025 highlights the progress made under the current Air Quality Action Plan to improve local air quality and protect residents' health.
During 2025, the Council continued to expand its air quality monitoring network, providing one of the most comprehensive monitoring programmes in London. Healthy School Streets were extended to 52 schools, helping to reduce children's exposure to traffic pollution while encouraging walking and cycling. A full air quality assessment of the scheme is appended to the report.
The Council also supported the transition to cleaner transport by promoting electric vehicle charging infrastructure, active travel and sustainable transport initiatives. Through the planning process, strict air quality controls continued to be applied to new developments and construction sites, including measures to reduce emissions from non-road mobile machinery.
Alongside these actions, Newham delivered urban greening projects, public awareness campaigns and worked with Transport for London, the Greater London Authority and neighbouring boroughs to tackle pollution across the wider transport network.
The report also outlines how air quality has continued to improve overall, while identifying emerging challenges at a small number of locations where increased traffic has led to higher pollution levels. These findings will help shape the Council's new Air Quality Action Plan which is currently under development.
Read the full Air Quality Annual Status Report 2025 (PDF) to learn more about air quality monitoring, the actions delivered during the year and the Council's priorities for improving air quality across Newham.
