Air Quality Assessment

Air Quality Assessments for Planning, AQMA Sites and Environmental Compliance

Air Quality Assessments (AQA) provide planning-ready evidence on how a proposed development may affect local air quality and how future occupants may be exposed to pollution. Assessments typically focus on key pollutants such as NO2, PM10 and PM2.5, and are used to support planning decisions, reduce objections, and satisfy Environmental Health Officer and Local Authority requirements. A robust AQA combines baseline review, proportionate monitoring where needed, dispersion modelling, and clear mitigation recommendations aligned to EPUK / IAQM Planning for Air Quality guidance and local development plan policy. Alkali Environmental delivers Air Quality Assessments UK-wide across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland — add an Air Quality Assessment to the online quote basket, upload your site plan and planning brief, and a senior air-quality consultant returns a fixed-fee scope within 24 hours.

When an Air Quality Assessment Is Required

• A development introduces new sensitive receptors near busy roads or emission sources
• A scheme may generate additional traffic emissions or changes to vehicle movements
• The site is within or near an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA)
• Combustion plant, energy centres or generators may affect local air quality
• Planning conditions require an assessment to demonstrate policy compliance
• There is a need to demonstrate mitigation and exposure reduction (layout, ventilation, filtration)

Purpose of the Service

The purpose of an AQA is to reduce planning risk by providing clear, defensible answers to the questions planners and consultees ask: what changes, where are impacts, who is exposed, is it significant, and what mitigation is required? A good assessment avoids generic wording and focuses on the site-specific planning decision.

Scope and Methods (Modelling, Monitoring and Mitigation)

• Baseline review using local authority and Defra/UK-AIR datasets and relevant nearby monitoring
• Traffic and development emissions assessment including screening and significance testing
• Dispersion modelling (where required) to predict NO2 and PM changes and assess exposure
• Construction phase assessment where dust and emissions risk may be material
• Mitigation including layout adjustments, ventilation and filtration strategy, and operational controls

What the Service Delivers

• A planning-ready Air Quality Assessment report aligned to local authority expectations
• Clear scope, methods, assumptions and limitations (transparent and defensible)
• Modelled and/or monitored evidence where required to support conclusions
• Mitigation recommendations that are practical, proportionate and condition-ready
• Support for planning queries and stakeholder engagement where required

Who This Is For

• Developers, planning consultants and architects preparing planning submissions
• Projects near busy roads, AQMAs or other emission sources
• Sites incorporating combustion plant, energy centres or logistical operations
• Projects requiring clear exposure assessment and mitigation justification

Related Air Quality Services

Not sure if a full AQA is required for your site? Start with an air quality screening assessment to confirm scope before commissioning a full report. Air Quality Assessments routinely combine ADMS-5 air dispersion modelling with baseline ambient air quality monitoring to verify model inputs. Construction-stage exposure is then handled through PM10 construction dust monitoring and, in London, Air Quality Neutral and Positive assessments. Where odour or noise are also in scope, the AQA runs alongside an IAQM odour impact assessment and noise impact assessment. For larger schemes the report becomes the air-quality chapter of an Environmental Impact Assessment, and combustion sources are coordinated with environmental permit applications.

Air Quality Assessment for Planning Applications

An air quality assessment for planning applications provides Local Planning Authorities with the evidence required to determine whether a proposed development is acceptable in air quality terms. It addresses two questions: how the development affects local air quality (e.g. additional traffic emissions, combustion plant, construction dust) and how future occupants will be exposed to existing pollution. Reports are structured to satisfy EPUK & IAQM Planning for Air Quality Guidance and local development plan policies, with conclusions and mitigation written so planning officers and Environmental Health Officers can condition them directly. Where modelling is required, results are produced using ADMS air dispersion modelling.

What Pollutants Are Assessed: NO2, PM10, PM2.5, Dust and Other Relevant Pollutants

The pollutant suite is scoped to the development and its setting. Most planning AQAs assess nitrogen dioxide (NO2), particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) and construction dust. Combustion plant, energy centres and industrial processes may add SO2, CO, NOx as NO2, VOCs, metals or dioxins. Sites near road networks are dominated by NO2 and PM, while sites with biomass, CHP or backup generators require combustion-emission modelling. Construction phases are assessed separately for dust soiling, PM10 human-health and ecological risk using the IAQM construction dust framework — typically supported by PM10 construction dust monitoring.

Air Quality Management Areas (AQMAs) and Sensitive Receptors

An AQMA is an area declared by a local authority where national air quality objectives (most commonly the annual mean NO2 objective of 40 µg/m3) are exceeded or at risk of exceedance. Developments inside or adjacent to an AQMA receive heightened scrutiny and almost always require a detailed AQA. Sensitive receptors include residential properties, schools, hospitals, care homes, playgrounds and designated ecological sites. The assessment identifies worst-case receptor locations, predicts pollutant concentrations at each, and compares results against air quality objectives, EU limit values and ecological critical levels/loads.

Traffic Emissions, Combustion Plant and Development Impacts

Development impacts typically arise from one or more of: changes to vehicle movements on the local road network, new combustion plant (boilers, CHP, generators, biomass), industrial process emissions, or operational activity such as logistics and HGV manoeuvring. Traffic-derived impacts are screened using the EPUK/IAQM significance criteria and, where needed, modelled in ADMS-Roads with verified background and emission factor toolkit (EFT) inputs. Combustion plant is assessed against the H1 framework and, for installations 1–50 MWth, the Medium Combustion Plant Directive permit requirements.

Mitigation and Planning Condition Support

Where impacts are predicted to be significant, the AQA sets out proportionate mitigation that planners can condition. Typical measures include layout adjustments to move sensitive uses away from roadside façades, mechanical ventilation with filtration (G4+F7 minimum, often F7+activated carbon), low-NOx boiler specifications, electric vehicle charging provision, travel plans, and dust management plans for the construction phase. Mitigation is written to be specific, measurable and deliverable so it survives Section 106 negotiations and discharge of conditions.

Odour, Noise and Wider Environmental Considerations

Sites near sensitive receptors often require parallel assessments. Where odour is a planning concern (food production, waste, sewage, restaurants), an IAQM-compliant odour impact assessment runs alongside the AQA. Where noise is in scope, we coordinate with the noise impact assessment (BS 4142/BS 8233) so cumulative environmental effects are presented consistently.

What We Need From You to Quote an Air Quality Assessment

• Site address, red-line boundary and proposed site layout
• Description of the development (use class, unit counts, floor areas, operational profile)
• Trip generation or transport assessment data (existing and proposed AADT)
• Combustion plant details if any (fuel, rated thermal input, stack parameters)
• Any local authority scoping correspondence or pre-application advice
• Required submission date so we can confirm turnaround on a fixed-fee basis

Request a Fixed-Fee Air Quality Assessment Quote

We provide fixed-fee scopes for air quality assessments with regulator-ready reporting and direct access to the senior consultant running the work. Request a planning assessment quote and we will respond with a scoped fee, methodology summary and turnaround.