The Director of Economy, Regeneration and Sustainability submitted a report to request that Cabinet approve adoption of Oxford’s Air Quality Action Plan (2026-2030, as amended) following public consultation.

Cabinet is recommended to:

1.    Approve the adoption of Oxford’s Air Quality Action Plan 2026-2030

Cabinet resolved to:

1.    Approve the adoption of Oxford’s Air Quality Action Plan 2026-2030

The Director of Economy, Regeneration and Sustainability submitted a report to request that Cabinet approve adoption of Oxford’s Air Quality Action Plan (2026-2030, as amended) following public consultation.

Councillor Railton presented the report. She outlined how the report had progressed through consultation and the positive feedback they had received. She discussed how air quality had improved through the previous Air Quality Action Plan and how the proposed plan would continue this work. Councillor Railton presented the list of measures which they would be undertaking and noted that some of the measures in the report were outside of the control of the City Council. She said that this was a fantastic piece of work and thanked the officer for their excellent work.

Pedro Abreu, Principal Air Quality Officer, said that the public consultation responses had shown strong support for the plan. He noted that 71% of respondents either agreed or strongly agreed with the new targets and that 69% of respondents fully endorsed the priority areas of interventions. He said that they had received very positive feedback from the public consultation.

Councillor Brown acknowledged the successes they had in this area already and those measures in the plan which were outside of the control of the City Council. She said that the work of air quality in the city was one of significant success thus far.

Councillor Smith said that she welcomed the report. She said that it was right for the report to evaluate measures by other authorities and their impacts on air quality in the city. She emphasised that by supporting the report, they were not voting for the measures which were outside of the control of the City Council.

Councillor Hollingsworth noted the plan’s reference to the Local Plan. He asked if there was any work beyond 2045 in the action plan that they would need to reconsider in light of the new local plan which was undergoing consultation.

The Principal Air Quality Officer responded that there was no significant impact and that he would amend the dates in the covering report to reflect the dates of the new local plan.

Cabinet resolved to:

1.       Approve the adoption of Oxford’s Air Quality Action Plan 2026-2030