Hackney Council has officially approved its new Air Quality Action Plan (AQAP) for 2026-2030, a crucial document outlining the borough's strategy to combat air pollution over the next five years. The plan has now been submitted to the Mayor of London for final approval.
The Officer Executive Decisions committee met on Friday, May 15, 2026, to endorse the submission of the final AQAP. This plan is a statutory requirement for Hackney Council, which has had an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) in place since 2006 due to exceedances of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and particulate matter (PM10) objectives.
The new AQAP replaces the previous plan, which covered the period 2021-2025. Development of the latest plan began in July 2024 and involved extensive consultation with stakeholders. While NO2 concentrations in Hackney have seen a significant downward trend since 2017, attributed largely to reduced road traffic emissions, PM10 and PM2.5 levels have not followed the same pattern. This is likely due to a more diverse range of sources, including non-exhaust traffic emissions, construction, and wood burning.
Minor amendments were made to the AQAP following its initial submission to the Mayor of London. These changes, affecting specific actions within the plan, were deemed minor as they did not alter the core actions, policy direction, or overall intent of the plan. Some wording was clarified for greater precision, and targets were refined for improved reporting. Specifically, five minor amendments were made to actions numbered 2, 3, 4, 11, and 32. These amendments focused on clarifying wording to reduce ambiguity or be more specific, and refining targets to be more precise or time-bound for progress reporting. Additionally, minor updates were made to supporting evidence in Section 2 of the AQAP to reflect more recent statistics.
The decision to approve the submission was made under authority delegated by the Cabinet on January 26, 2026. This delegation allowed the Director of Environment and Climate Change to implement minor amendments requested by the Mayor of London and formally adopt the final version. The AQAP 2026-2030 aligns with Hackney Council's commitment to tackling air pollution and the Mayoral priority of improving quality of life by addressing air quality issues.
Extensive consultation, including an early engagement phase and a statutory consultation between July and September 2025, informed the plan's development. Equalities and sustainability implications were also carefully considered throughout the process.
The AQAP 2026-2030 includes an expanded matrix that provides, at a high level, the proposed actions and assigns each an estimated value. Some actions are recorded as 'business as usual,' assuming financial impact is contained within existing budgets. For actions that may require additional funding, the plan mentions potential sources such as grants and other contributions. Any action requiring resources beyond current planned budgets would need to follow normal council financial processes for additional funding, such as capital bids or revenue business cases.
The risk of the AQAP not being accepted by the Mayor of London is considered low, given the prior consultation. The final AQAP will be formally adopted as Council policy upon approval by the Mayor of London, with progress reported annually. The full public reports pack for the Officer Executive Decisions meeting can be found here.