Hackney leads the way in cleaner air with bold new five-year action plan

An ambitious new air quality action plan (AQAP) that puts Hackney at the forefront of UK efforts to improve air quality, has been agreed by the Council’s Cabinet.

The plan sets targets based on the World Health Organization’s air quality guidelines, going beyond levels set in the UK’s current National Air Quality Objectives. It outlines how Hackney will reduce air pollution and deliver cleaner, healthier air over the next five years.

Hackney has already made significant progress on air quality since the last plan was published in 2021, with nitrogen dioxide levels having lowered by around a half since 2017.

Key achievements include:

• Expanding our network of automatic monitors and low-cost sensors to better understand air quality across Hackney
  
  
• Launching the Hackney Community Energy Fund and investing almost £1 million into local community organisations to help them reduce energy bills and switch to cleaner power
  
  
• Making Hackney’s air quality easy to understand and track, with the Defra-funded Air Aware web tool
  
  
• Helping Hackney’s businesses and residents switch to low emission deliveries through cargo bike grants, hire and training, as part of the Zero Emissions Network
  
  
• Rolling out new low traffic areas to support walking, cycling and public transport in the borough
  
  
• Leading the way in making cycling easy, accessible and secure, with over 1,300 cycle hangars installed across Hackney
  
  
• Delivering the Parking and Enforcement Plan with emissions-based parking charge bands
  
  
• Making journeys to school cleaner and safer for thousands of children with the roll out of School Streets across the borough

With exhaust pollution from road traffic reduced, the 2026–2030 Air Quality Action Plan will place greater focus on cutting emissions from heating and power sources such as gas boilers and diesel generators, as well as from wood and coal burning and commercial cooking. It will also strengthen links between air quality and public health, and introduce new actions to tackle indoor air pollution.

Key proposals include:

• Set stricter targets to reduce air pollution levels across Hackney by 2030
  
  
• Do more to cut pollution from building and construction sites, including dust, machinery, vehicles and smells
  
  
• Take clearer action to manage and reduce pollution from wood burning
  
  
• Link air quality work more closely with the Council’s energy saving and low-carbon home improvement programmes
  
  
• Introduce new steps to reduce smoke and fumes from commercial kitchens and takeaways
  
  
• Review parking and enforcement rules
  
  
• Step up enforcement to reduce engine idling (drivers leaving engines running when parked)
  
  
• Look at ways to improve air quality on Hackney’s waterways
  
  
• Work more closely with health services and NHS partners on air quality and health
  
  
• Launch new projects to improve indoor air quality, including a loan scheme for home air quality monitors

"We have made huge progress in improving air quality in Hackney, thanks to our bold environmental policies and the work we have delivered alongside our partners and residents. From School Streets and low traffic neighbourhoods to cycle lanes, street trees, rain gardens and the Zero Emissions Network, we are taking action to ensure everyone has cleaner air to breathe.

"However, air pollution remains one of the biggest environmental threats to our health. It affects people at every stage of life and is linked to conditions including asthma, heart disease and dementia. While our data shows that nitrogen dioxide levels have fallen significantly, we know there is more to do. This new plan builds on our successes and sets out how we will go further to meet new more stringent WHO air quality targets."

Cllr Sarah Young, Hackney Council Cabinet Member for Climate, Environment and Transport