Whilst air quality has improved in Hart in recent years, there are some areas where local action is needed to protect people from the effects of air pollution.
Improvement to local air quality is recognised as being part of an ongoing process. This strategy will be kept under review, with areas of good practice identified and new policy promoted.
Hart District Council is undertaking several measures to help improve local air quality:
- Promoting the uptake of low and zero emission vehicles through the installation of electric vehicle charging points in car parks
- Upgrading council vehicles to electric as part of the Council’s commitment to net zero by 2035
- Updating policies (staff travel, maintenance and repair, procurement, home working) to encourage behaviour change
- Auditing energy efficiency and heating on all council-owned buildings and assess the district for heat network potential
- Protecting air quality through the planning process, local plan and local transport plans and strategies. Active travel infrastructure is being encouraged through the framework set in place by the Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan and the inclusion of better connections for pedestrian and cyclist access to new developments and proposals for possible infrastructure improvements
- Publishing and adopting measures detailed in the climate change action plan
- Continuing passive monitoring throughout the district and securing compliance with the air quality objectives.
Partnership working
Hart is committed to working closely with all partners and neighbouring authorities. Good air quality does not stop at borders and it is recognised that the most effective improvements can often be achieved by working with others. Hart will look to work with our neighbouring authorities and coordinate inputs with county-wide groups and stakeholders.
Hart will actively seek all opportunities to strengthen local air quality controls or promote wider policy development through Local Government Reorganisation or combined working.
Air quality management and climate change
In April 2021, Hart District Council declared a climate emergency, committing to become a carbon neutral authority by 2035 and a carbon neutral district by 2040.
Hart District Council’s climate change action plan lays out the actions which the Council has committed to completing. This plan has numerous co-benefits such as the reduction of air pollution from transport.
The action plan contains a range of measures grouped under key themes; Buildings, Energy, Transport, Communications and Reporting, District-wide actions.
How Hart District Council’s planning policy will mitigate air pollution
Hart District Council adopted the Hart Local Plan (Strategy and Sites) 2032 on 30 April 2020. There are no AQMAs in the district for the adopted Hart local plan 2032 to take account of. The Hart local plan 2032 was prepared in accordance with national planning policy and guidance and includes policy NBE11 Pollution. The policy complies with and contributes towards European Union limit values and national objectives for pollutants and the cumulative impacts on air quality from individual sites in local areas (in Hart District Council, LAQM Annual status report 2025 1 in accordance with National Planning Policy Framework paragraph 199 2, and National Planning Policy Guidance 3).
Policy NBE11 Pollution contained in the Hart local plan 2032 reads as follows:
Development will be supported, provided:
a) it does not give rise to, or would be subject to, unacceptable levels of pollution (including cumulative effects)
b) it is satisfactorily demonstrated that any adverse impacts of pollution, either arising from the proposed development or impacting on proposed sensitive development or the natural environment, will be adequately mitigated or otherwise minimised to an acceptable level.
Where development is proposed on or near a site that may be impacted by, or may give rise to, pollution, such a proposal must be accompanied by an assessment that investigates the risks associated with the site and the possible impacts on the development, its future users and the natural and built environment. The assessment shall propose adequate mitigation or remediation, when required, to achieve a safe and acceptable development. Impacts on air quality should be considered in combination with other relevant plans or projects.
The Hart local plan 2032 also contains policy INF3 Transport which requires that developments that would generate a significant transport impact incorporate measures to reduce the need to travel by car and promote sustainable forms of travel, for example through travel plans. For more on travel plans, see Hampshire County Council's travel plans webpage.
Supplementary planning guidance
In December 2023, Hart’s Cabinet adopted a Cycle and Car Parking in New Development Supplementary Planning Document (SPD). A key objective of the SPD is to ensure sufficient, well-designed and secure cycle parking which is convenient to encourage modal shift for shorter trips. This is achieved through a requirement for a greater quantity of residential cycle parking and an emphasis on high-quality cycle parking layout and design.
Developer contribution towards transport improvements including sustainable transport
The Council secures developer contributions for transport improvements on behalf of Hampshire County Council (see Hart’s Community Infrastructure Policy and Hampshire County Council’s Transport Contributions Policy). These contributions go towards the implementation of the new Hampshire Local Transport Plan, and other schemes for which there is an up-to-date evidence base. These include measures to promote sustainable transport or alleviate traffic congestion. Hampshire County Council control the spending of transport contributions.
Local Transport Plans and strategies
The following documents are prepared by Hampshire County Council and aim to promote sustainable travel and reduce congestion:
- Hampshire Local Transport Plan 2011-2031
- Local Transport Plan 4 2024
- Hart District Transport Statement, 2013
- Hart Transport Statement Live Scheme List, December 2013
- Walking Strategy, 2016
- Cycling Strategy, 2015
Local Transport Plan 4 (LTP4)
Hampshire County Council has prepared a new Local Transport Plan setting out how the county’s transport system should develop over the next 30 years. LTP4 proposes transformational change which:
- shifts away from planning for vehicles towards planning for people and places
- reduces the reliance on private car travel
- promotes active lifestyles
- meets national priorities to decarbonise the transport system by reducing transport related carbon emissions to net zero by 2050.
LTP4 was endorsed by Hampshire County Council's Cabinet in February 2024.
Local cycling and walking infrastructure plan (LCWIP)
In September 2022, Hart District Council and Hampshire County Council jointly commissioned Sustrans to prepare an LCWIP for Hart district. LCWIPs identify cycling and walking infrastructure improvements at a local level and provide a long-term plan for developing local cycling and walking networks with the aim of promoting a shift away from private cars towards active travel.
Hart’s LCWIP enables the Council to:
- demonstrate a clear commitment to walking and cycling through the identification and prioritisation of infrastructure improvements
- make the case for future funding for active travel infrastructure and developer contributions
- ensure that consideration is given to active modes of travel through the integration of the LCWIP with local planning and transport strategies and policies.
The LCWIP was adopted by Hart’s Cabinet in January 2024.
Environmental permitting regulations
Industrial processes that pollute the atmosphere are regulated by Hart District Council or the Environment Agency. The Council administers many of the permit types whilst others, such as waste carrier licences, are issued by the Environment Agency.
Businesses must have an environmental permit if they operate a regulated facility in the district. For further information on Hart District Council’s permitting processes, please visit our Environmental permits webpage.