Air Quality Studies Secure Planning for Inner City Housing Scheme

Air quality studies carried out by environmental firm, SLR Consulting (UK) have helped to secure the planning green-light for a proposed development of 51 mixed tenure homes at Abbey Street in Southwark, south east London.

The Notting Hill Home Ownership residential development scheme, adjacent to the busy Abbey Street/Jamaica Road junction in Southwark, is located within an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA). Proposals had to demonstrate that air quality for future residents wouldn’t be compromised as a result of the project’s location.

“Unlike similar urban schemes, this development’s design includes homes at ground floor level – so potential air quality constraints needed to be considered at an early stage in order that any necessary mitigation could be integrated into the building design,” said SLR Associate, Graeme Blacklock.

Baseline modelling was carried out to determine pollutant concentrations at each proposed residential unit and floor of the scheme, at elevations relevant to potential exposure within the breathing zone. In addition the air quality impact resulting from additional road vehicles travelling to and from the development was also assessed to predict the air quality impacts upon existing receptors within the declared Air Quality Management Area.

The work included dispersion modelling of baseline and future scenarios traffic flows both with and without development, in order to predict pollutant concentrations resulting from road-traffic exhaust emissions on the surrounding road links. Concentrations of nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter from road-traffic exhaust emissions were predicted at locations of potential exposure through dispersion modelling, corresponding to discrete residential units of the development site.

“This methodology allowed for the identification of individual units which would require mechanical ventilation as part of the design, rather than having to propose a whole-house ventilation system across the development.” added Graeme.

This work helped to inform the optimum level and positioning of air intake vents for the mechanical ventilation systems, which was acted upon by the project’s architects and mechanical engineers. 

“By ensuring that the location of air intake points would be away from road traffic exhaust emissions – a source of elevated pollutant concentrations, we could show that concentrations of nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter within ventilated air would not be in excess of the Air Quality Objectives, which would have been of detriment to the health of occupants and contravene Southwark’s planning policy,” said Graeme.

Kelly Harris, Planning Manager at Notting Hill Housing, said: “Approval for the scheme by London Borough of Southwark’s planning committee was unanimous and we grateful to the SLR team whose input helped in a smooth planning process.”

SLR additionally provided archaeology, ecology and noise statements in support of the planning application, which achieved planning consent in February 2013.