Community air alert
Case reference FOI2026/01624
Received 3 August 2026
Published 24 August 2026
Request
I would like to request the following data from you, under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004:
Information Request – I am writing to request the following information relating to the air quality monitoring provision within your local authority area.
1. Current monitoring provision
a) Does the authority operate its own air quality monitoring stations or sensors, independent of Defra's national networks?
b) How many air quality monitoring stations or sensors are currently in operation across the authority's area?
c) What type of monitoring equipment is used (manufacturer, model, and parameters measured, for example PM2.5, PM10, NO2, or O3)?
d) Where is each monitoring unit located (addresses or geographic coordinates)?
e) Who operates the monitoring system (an in-house team or an external provider)?
f) What system is used to present and publish the monitoring data (web platform, mobile application, or public information display)?
Please provide the URL if the data is published online.
2. Ownership and contracts Is the monitoring equipment owned by the authority? If so, please state:
the date of acquisition,
the cost of acquisition,
who services the equipment and under what agreement (provider name, type of contract, and contract term).
If the equipment is not owned by the authority, under what arrangement is it used (rental, lease, hire, loan, or other)?
Please state: the start date of the current agreement, the end date of the agreement, the name of the provider.
3. Costs What was the total cost of purchasing and commissioning the current monitoring system?
a) What is the annual cost of running the system, including servicing, calibration, data transmission, and hosting of the presentation platform?
b) What budget has been allocated to air quality monitoring for the 2026/27 financial year?
4. Development plans
a) Are any modifications to, or expansion of, the current monitoring system planned? If so, please state: what changes are planned (for example additional sensors, a change of technology, or expansion of the data platform), the intended timescale, the estimated budget.
b) If the authority does not currently operate an air quality monitoring system, does it plan to implement one?
If so, please state the intended timescale and the budget envisaged.
5. External funding
a) Does the authority plan to apply for any grants or external funding related to air quality monitoring?
b) Which funding programmes are being considered or have already been identified (for example Defra's Air Quality Grant, or other national, devolved, or regional schemes)?
c) Has the authority previously drawn on external funding for this purpose? If so, from which sources and in what amounts?
6. Collaboration and data integration
a) Does the authority collaborate on air quality monitoring with any other organisations (for example universities, non-governmental organisations, Defra, or neighbouring authorities)?
b) Is the data from the authority's monitoring system integrated with any publicly accessible air quality platforms (for example UK-AIR)?
c) Does the authority use air quality monitoring data to inform operational decisions (for example issuing air quality alerts, managing traffic, or Local Air Quality Management action planning under Part IV of the Environment Act 1995)?
d) Does the authority use air quality monitoring data to inform or educate residents?
7. Air quality in planning and environmental permitting
These questions concern the authority's planning and environmental permitting functions, which may be handled by teams other than the air quality monitoring team.
a) When determining major development proposals (for example large construction, infrastructure, industrial, or minerals and waste schemes), does the authority require air quality or dust assessment, and does it attach conditions requiring air quality monitoring, dust management, or a Construction Environmental Management Plan during the works?
b) For industrial installations that the authority regulates through environmental permitting, does it set air emission limits or air quality monitoring requirements as permit conditions?
c) Where such conditions or permit requirements are imposed, is the operator required to carry out the monitoring, and is the resulting data reported to the authority or made publicly available?
Response
Thank you for your recent request under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.
Please find the answers to your queries below:
I would like to request the following data from you, under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004:
Information Request – I am writing to request the following information relating to the air quality monitoring provision within your local authority area.
1. Current monitoring provision
a) Does the authority operate its own air quality monitoring stations or sensors, independent of Defra's national networks?
No, Guildford Borough Council does not have any automated monitoring stations or sensors.
b) How many air quality monitoring stations or sensors are currently in operation across the authority's area?
N/A.
c) What type of monitoring equipment is used (manufacturer, model, and parameters measured, for example PM2.5, PM10, NO2, or O3)?
N/A.
d) Where is each monitoring unit located (addresses or geographic coordinates)?
N/A.
e) Who operates the monitoring system (an in-house team or an external provider)?
N/A.
f) What system is used to present and publish the monitoring data (web platform, mobile application, or public information display)?
N/A.
Please provide the URL if the data is published online.
2. Ownership and contracts Is the monitoring equipment owned by the authority? If so, please state:
the date of acquisition,
the cost of acquisition,
who services the equipment and under what agreement (provider name, type of contract, and contract term).
If the equipment is not owned by the authority, under what arrangement is it used (rental, lease, hire, loan, or other)?
Please state: the start date of the current agreement, the end date of the agreement, the name of the provider.
N/A.
3. Costs What was the total cost of purchasing and commissioning the current monitoring system?
a) What is the annual cost of running the system, including servicing, calibration, data transmission, and hosting of the presentation platform?
b) What budget has been allocated to air quality monitoring for the 2026/27 financial year?
N/A.
4. Development plans
a) Are any modifications to, or expansion of, the current monitoring system planned? If so, please state: what changes are planned (for example additional sensors, a change of technology, or expansion of the data platform), the intended timescale, the estimated budget.
b) If the authority does not currently operate an air quality monitoring system, does it plan to implement one?
If so, please state the intended timescale and the budget envisaged.
N/A.
5. External funding
a) Does the authority plan to apply for any grants or external funding related to air quality monitoring?
b) Which funding programmes are being considered or have already been identified (for example Defra's Air Quality Grant, or other national, devolved, or regional schemes)?
c) Has the authority previously drawn on external funding for this purpose? If so, from which sources and in what amounts?
No external funding sources are being considered for air quality monitoring. We also have not obtained external funding previously for AQ monitoring system.
6. Collaboration and data integration
a) Does the authority collaborate on air quality monitoring with any other organisations (for example universities, non-governmental organisations, Defra, or neighbouring authorities)?
No, Guildford Borough Council has not collaborated with any university specifically for air quality monitoring purposes.
b) Is the data from the authority's monitoring system integrated with any publicly accessible air quality platforms (for example UK-AIR)?
N/A.
c) Does the authority use air quality monitoring data to inform operational decisions (for example issuing air quality alerts, managing traffic, or Local Air Quality Management action planning under Part IV of the Environment Act 1995)?
&
d) Does the authority use air quality monitoring data to inform or educate residents?
Guildford uses a combination of modelling data from borough wide modelling (last completed in 2019 and next one to be updated in 2027) and monitoring data from a network of diffusion tubes across the borough, for operational decisions.
AirTEXT has recently been launched for Guildford and CERC (Cambridge Environmental Research Consultants) provides modelled data for these alerts.
7. Air quality in planning and environmental permitting
These questions concern the authority's planning and environmental permitting functions, which may be handled by teams other than the air quality monitoring team.
a) When determining major development proposals (for example large construction, infrastructure, industrial, or minerals and waste schemes), does the authority require air quality or dust assessment, and does it attach conditions requiring air quality monitoring, dust management, or a Construction Environmental Management Plan during the works?
Yes, for major development projects, the applicants are required to provide an air quality assessment as a supporting document as the good design principles must be considered at the planning phase. Any conclusions and recommendations including dust management and/or air quality monitoring / construction management plan may then go on as conditions on the planning decision notice.
b) For industrial installations that the authority regulates through environmental permitting, does it set air emission limits or air quality monitoring requirements as permit conditions?
&
c) Where such conditions or permit requirements are imposed, is the operator required to carry out the monitoring, and is the resulting data reported to the authority or made publicly available?
Yes, air emission limits are set for certain permitted processes as per the Environmental Permitting Regulations and guidance documents. The reporting data can be requested by emailing the Regulatory Services, Guildford Borough Council, via the following email: regulatoryservices@guildford.gov.uk
Yours sincerely,
FOI Team
Guildford Borough Council
Documents
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