Fareham has met the legal nitrogen dioxide limit two years running and is asking to leave the government's NO2 programme. Its worst spot: the Delme roundabout.
Fareham is asking to be released from a government order to cut roadside air pollution, nine years after it was first issued. The order came in 2017, when ministers forecast illegal levels of nitrogen dioxide on the A27 and around the Delme roundabout.
The council’s Executive is asked tonight, Monday 2 November, to approve an “exit plan” for the national NO₂ Programme. The plan then goes to the government’s Joint Air Quality Unit (JAQU), which has to agree to it. That is set out in the report to the Executive.
Why Fareham can leave
The legal limit for nitrogen dioxide is an annual average of 40 micrograms per cubic metre. JAQU has checked Fareham’s monitoring in stages. Fareham has now passed the last of them.
- Monitoring year 2023: passed. “In 2023 there were no exceedances observed across all locations considered by the assessment.”
- Monitoring year 2024: passed. “In 2024 there were no exceedances observed at all locations considered by the assessment.”
JAQU rated the risk of a future breach as low. It put the chance of one at the 2024 levels at under 0.2%. Both findings are quoted in the exit plan itself.
An earlier check, on 2021 figures, was rated “inconclusive”. That is why the process has taken until now.
What was done, and what it cost
The government directed Fareham and Hampshire County Council on 19 March 2019 to carry out four measures. The exit plan says all four are finished:
- A taxi upgrade grant to swap old diesel taxis for cleaner Euro 6 vehicles. 66 taxis were upgraded, against a target of 130. The plan says take-up was lower than expected because the scheme was voluntary.
- Live bus times at 55 stops, all fitted by January 2020.
- Cycle route improvements at nine places across Fareham and Gosport: wider shared paths, new sections, better crossings and signs.
- Smarter traffic lights at the Quay Street roundabout, where the A27 meets the A32, also finished by January 2020.
The government paid for all of it. Fareham received £900,000 in grants from Defra, and Hampshire about £1.1 million. Fareham has £28,829 left over. The council says it has spent the remainder on two extra air quality sensors.
None of the measures will be removed. That is why Fareham skips the final “State 4” check, which tests whether pollution stays down after measures are taken away.
The roundabout that is still close to the limit
The borough’s own monitoring shows the problem has not vanished. The council’s 2026 Air Quality Annual Status Report, covering 2025, found no site above the legal limit. But one site came within 10% of it.
That is tube CM2, on Cams Hill by the Delme roundabout exit. It recorded 36.3 micrograms in 2025, up 1.4 on 2024. In 2021 the same tube read 47.4.
The report says the tube sits beside a major road where nobody lives. Adjusted for the distance to the nearest home, the 2025 reading falls to 26.7. It also says the 2022 figures across the borough were pulled down by an unusually low adjustment factor, so 2022 is not a fair comparison.
Elsewhere the trend is down. Across Fareham’s sites, average readings in 2025 were 4.1 micrograms lower than in 2021. The tube on the A27 itself fell from 37.6 in 2021 to 26.2 in 2025.
Fareham revoked its two Air Quality Management Areas, at Portland Street and the wider Fareham area covering part of Gosport Road, in August 2024, the report says. There are now none in the borough.
What it means for you
- Nothing changes on the roads. The bus displays, cycle routes and Quay Street signals all stay.
- Monitoring carries on. The council says its diffusion tubes stay where they are, under its Air Quality Strategy 2025 to 2030.
- To see the readings near you, Table A.2 of the annual status report lists every tube in Fareham and Gosport, with five years of figures.
- The final say is the government’s. Exit depends on JAQU and ministers approving the plan. We will report when they do.
For travel on the roads mentioned here, see our Fareham roadworks and travel page.
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