The Government is ‘waking up’ to the need for action to reduce concentrations of particulates and nitrogen dioxide in the air to avoid legal action.

The Campaign for Clean Air in London has welcomed acknowledgement by the minister for local environmental quality, Jonathan Shaw, that ‘further national as well as local measures’ were needed to meet the UK’s obligations under the European Air Quality Directive.

The European Commission last month requested information on what steps the UK was taking to comply with the Directive by reducing particulate matter (PM10s) below the maximum allowable levels.

Simon Birkett, chair of the Campaign for Clean Air in London, is also hopeful that London mayor, Boris Johnson, will take steps to reduce air pollution following a pledge – in response to an open letter from the campaign – promising ‘bold actions’. The campaign had complained that Johnson had not announced ‘a single, significant new policy’ on air quality in the year since he was selected as candidate for mayor.

Birkett claimed that if the legal limits for particulates were to be complied with, a new, central low-emission zone (LEZ) applying to all diesel vehicles, and not only heavy goods vehicles as with the current LEZ, was needed.

While Transport for London has estimated that the current scheme has reduced the number of areas exceeding the air quality objectives for particulates, this was ‘not enough’ (Surveyor, 21 August).

A tougher inner LEZ would also help London comply with the legal maximum limits for NO2, a problem other UK cities used LEZs to tackle, according to Birkett – but required the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to lead on the issue by defining standards for abatement equipment.