Crediton’s air-quality zone could be scrapped after 22 years

Pollution levels have remained within national limits for seven years, and consultation on removing Crediton’s special air-quality designation has ended. But the AQMA has not yet disappeared.

Mid Devon District Council consulted this summer on revoking Crediton’s Air Quality Management Area, or AQMA.

The four-week consultation closed on the 25th August, with the council saying monitoring had shown pollution remaining below the relevant national limits for at least seven consecutive years.

But the designation has not simply vanished.

As of the 30th September, Mid Devon’s general air-quality page continues to describe Crediton as one of its designated AQMAs, while the consultation page says the authority intends to revoke it.

I can find no subsequent published announcement confirming that the formal revocation has taken place.

Why was Crediton an air-quality problem?

Crediton’s AQMA dates back to 2004 and covers much of the built-up town, including the A377 through Exeter Road and the High Street.

It was introduced because levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) exceeded the national annual objective, with particulate pollution also an issue on Exeter Road.

Road traffic – particularly congestion and heavier vehicles using the confined route through the town – was identified as a major source.

So what changed?

There is no single intervention responsible for the improvement.

Mid Devon points to a combination of cleaner vehicles, increased use of electric vehicles, planning controls, traffic and highway changes, and continued monitoring.

One particularly significant Crediton project was the Lords Meadow Link Road, at Well Parks Hill.

When that road opened, one of its purposes was to remove some commercial and heavy-goods traffic from Exeter Road rather than forcing those vehicles through the narrow section of the A377. The link road itself had been included as a measure in Crediton’s formal Air Quality Action Plan.

How much has pollution fallen?

That is almost exactly a 50% reduction from the level recorded when the designation was introduced. For particulate pollution, Mid Devon says Crediton has recorded no relevant exceedances for more than ten years.

Why remove the designation at all?

AQMAs are not intended to remain permanently once the problem that triggered them has gone.

National guidance says councils should consider revocation after three consecutive years in which monitoring demonstrates compliance with the relevant air-quality objective.

Crediton has now achieved at least seven.

Mid Devon says Defra has supported its approach and advised that the AQMAs should now be revoked in line with national guidance.

The council’s 2025 Air Quality Annual Status Report had already identified completion of a revocation assessment for Crediton as part of its work programme.

What changes if the AQMA disappears?

The biggest change is regulatory rather than something residents will physically notice overnight.

Mid Devon would no longer be required to maintain and work towards a formal Air Quality Action Plan specifically for the AQMA.

The council says monitoring would nevertheless continue, including continuous monitoring equipment currently operating in the town.

Air quality can also remain a planning consideration where proposed development could materially affect pollution or expose residents to poor air quality.

So there will not suddenly be a day when monitoring equipment is switched off, and air quality ceases to matter.

What happens now?

The public consultation has finished.

The next substantive step is for Mid Devon to complete the process of deciding whether the AQMA should formally be revoked, taking account of the monitoring evidence and consultation responses.

At the time of writing, Crediton’s AQMA is still shown on the council’s published air-quality information, so Tidings will update this article when the authority confirms the final position.