1. Planning and Air Quality -The Role of Guidance
Roger Barrowcliffe

2. Content Why planning matters for air quality
A history of EPUK and IAQM involvement in guidance
Why guidance benefits all parties
Principles underlying the current guidance
How to use (and how not to use) the guidance
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3. The Influence of Land Use on Emissions
Air quality in towns and cities is dominated by transport emissions.
It follows that the way we use road transport determines air quality.
In turn, transport trips and distance travelled are influenced by the need to travel; land use dictates this.
Conclusion: where we choose to site shops, schools, places of work and leisure will influence road transport emissions.
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4. Some DfT Transport Statistics
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5. History of EPUK/IAQM guidance
2004 – NSCA publishes development control guidance
2006 – second version of guidance (as EPUK)
2010 – update published (with IAQM input)
2013 – 23 May, initial workshop held
2013 – working group activity
Dec 2014 – 16 Feb 2015, draft for consultation
May 2015 – initial publication
January 2017 – revised version
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6. What else is there?
National planning guidance – see DCLG view at
Highways England Interim Advice Notes
Low Emission Partnership – see
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7. The Role of Guidance The absence of guidance helps no-one.
All parties need a common and agreed set of ‘rules’:
Developers need to understand how best to design schemes;
Local authorities and other planning authorities require a basis for reaching decisions; and
Assessors have to know how to describe impacts and reach a conclusion on the significance of effect.
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8. For All Forms of Development
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9. Our Objectives
To encourage better development with regard to air quality
To send a signal to other ‘players’ that policies and plans should more explicitly account for air quality
To devise an assessment methodology that works for all parties
To be the preferred and recognised guidance for practitioners
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10. Document structure Context Chapters 1-4 Better by Design? Chapter 5
Screen for assessment
Chapter 6
If no requirement, then write
a short note explaining grounds
Undertake assessment
Chapter 6
Is overall impact a significant effect?
Chapter 7
Is mitigation required?
Chapter 8
Write report

11. Impact Descriptors
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12. Impact Descriptors
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13. Expressed in terms of NO2
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14. How to use these descriptors
Do:
Pay attention to the accompanying notes
Consider the inherent uncertainty in the numbers
Calculate for individual receptors
Don’t:
Apply false precision to the numbers
Confuse severity with significance
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15. A thorny issue – cumulative development
Two possibilities for describing the impact:
Future Baseline Concentration at Receptor
Incremental Change at Receptor
Without any specific contribution from other new development
New scheme + cumulative contribution of other new development
With the contribution from other new developments
New scheme in isolation
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16. Example – development sites in Cheshire
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17. Example – Traffic flows from one site in Cheshire
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18. Significance
A key stage of the assessment, following an assessment of the impact severity.
Describing the impact is tightly defined by the method; but
Concluding on the overall significance on the effect is a professional judgement on the part of the assessor.
Judgement takes into account several factors, including:
The future baseline air quality, the number of people exposed and the inherent uncertainties.
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19. Concluding thoughts
The EPUK/IAQM guidance is the result of more than a decade of its development and use;
It is also the product of a working group representing all points of view;
The review workshop held last summer suggests that its content is working well for most participants.
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