Air Quality

London’s air quality has improved dramatically since the 1950s when ‘clean air’ legislation was introduced to prevent the infamous great smogs that resulted from burning coal. However, air pollution is still an issue today and poor air quality can affect health and everyday quality of life.

Nowadays, the main sources of pollution in London are road transport (including lorries, buses and cars) and emissions from boilers burning gas for heating. High levels of pollution tend to be associated with busy main roads and a lot of work has already been done to bring pollution levels down.  With the introduction of the London-wide Low Emission Zone and the Congestion Charging Zone, benefits are already been seen. 

Westminster City Council has been working to improve air quality since the late1980’s and has a number of projects to reduce pollution and protect residents and visitors to the city.  The Council has its own ‘Westminster Air Quality Action Plan’ and has undertaken many measures to improve air quality such as installing recharging infrastructure and reducing parking charges for zero-emission electric vehicles.  The Council has also made significant improvements to its own fleet of vehicles.

Click on the links to the left to find out more about the work of the City Council and air quality.