Air Quality

In London and other urban areas, air quality assessments are now a common requirement for all planning applications for new dwellings, or developments where there will be increased traffic, such as supermarkets, retail parks and sports stadia.

Air quality assessments will typically have a number of elements:

• Site suitability – determine whether the site has low levels of air pollution anddetermine whether the site is suitable for housing;
• Traffic impact assessment – determine whether the traffic generated by the developmentwill have an impact on the air quality of the area;
• Construction dust assessment – determine whether the development of the site is likely tohave a temporary impact on air quality during construction. 

Typically, the Local PlanningAuthority is concerned about Nitrogen Dioxide and Particulates in the air; however we are able to consider other pollutants, such as hydrocarbons andcarbon monoxide.

For small developments, airquality monitoring is not normally required and our assessment is based onexisting air quality monitoring data from the local authority, as well as air pollution modeling using known background concentrations for the area, as wellas traffic flow statistics. We typically use the DMRB modeling technique or for more detailed schemes we can also use dispersion models. However, in some instancesit is necessary to conduct air quality monitoring, which we are able toconduct, such as nitrogen dioxide diffusion tube surveys and construction dust monitoring.

Hawkins Environmental are specialist consultants in air quality and our staff have worked extensively on projects around the UK and Ireland, especially within the London Boroughs. Our air quality team is fully qualified and experienced in air quality assessment. Our experience extends to air quality assessment for planning applications,Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), statutory nuisance and environmentalpermitting. We have worked extensively on a variety of projects including:

• Housing developments
• Mixed use schemes
• Commercial developments
• Waste facilities
• Industrial schemes
• CHP plants
• Biomass boilers
• Schools
• Care homes
• Road schemes

If an air quality assessment is required for a development site, it is likely that a noise assessment willalso be required. There are very few companies that are able to offer both ofthese surveys in tandem; therefore there can be considerable cost savings using Hawkins Environmental for both the air quality and noise assessment reports.