Air Quality

Ampthill Town Council has taken over the air quality monitoring device located in Dunstable Street, Ampthill. The Town Council has taken out a two year contract for the monitoring device, starting from May 2021. You can view the status of air quality in Ampthill by visiting the Airly maps website or by clicking here

Air Quality in Ampthill

Although air quality in Ampthill is generally good, issues with traffic volume and congestion have meant that the centre of town is designated an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA). This is due to peak hourly levels of the pollutant Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2). This and other pollutants are monitored by Central Bedfordshire Council, to give year on year readings. Ampthill Town Council additionally now funds real time pollutant monitoring and reporting from a sensor on Dunstable Street. This information can be accessed by visiting the Airly maps website.

How can this information help?

The real time monitoring of NO2 and particulates can help with the management of breathing conditions such as asthma. Pollutant levels rise with traffic volumes, smoke from domestic chimneys, industrial emissions and certain climatic conditions, especially hot weather. Real time monitoring can alert sufferers to potential difficulties, so downloading the Airly app might be very helpful in managing your own or your child’s medication. 

Awareness of the pollution levels in our town centre has prompted many local residents to reduce their use of vehicles for in-town journeys. Ampthill has a number of back street and cut-through routes from residential areas to the town centre, so that pedestrians need not walk through traffic for these short trips. Cycling is popular locally, for leisure, errand trips and part of multi-modal commuting. Using the frequent public transport links to the rail station at Flitwick and to Bedford and Milton Keynes helps reduce traffic congestion too.

You can read more about the Ampthill AQMA and Central Bedfordshire Council's Air Quality Action Plan at https://www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/info/52/types_of_pollution/292/air_quality

You can also read about local residents’ suggestions for improving conditions for Active Travel in “Our Active Travel Charter”, compiled by Ampthill Climate Change Group and Flitwick for the Future: Action Against Climate Change, at 
https://ampthillclimatechange.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/ACCG-Our-Active-Travel-Charter.pdf