Sustainable Development

Sustainable development is about ensuring a better quality of life for everyone, now and in the generations to come. The idea is not a new one, nor is it complicated. The task, however, is substantial.

The drive to improve air quality for the benefit of human heath and the environment is at the heart of sustainable development. Air Quality is one of the 15 headline indicators of sustainable development in the UK. Headline indicators are intended to raise public awareness of sustainable development, to focus public attitudes on what sustainable development means and to give a broad overview of the progress.

The air quality headline indicator is expressed as the average number of days per monitoring site in a year that air pollution is at moderate or higher concentrations. Data up to 2003 is shown below.

Further information can be found on the government's sustainable development web site: www.sustainable-development.gov.uk

The council is also working hard to improve its environmental performance and to promote understanding of sustainable development. For further information please visit the Getting Greener page.