Air Quality Assessments in Manchester

Development in Manchester

Manchester is now one of the fastest growing cities in the UK and Europe. It has been an economic powerhouse of the UK since the onset of the Industrial Revolution with the world’s first modern railway and domination of the cotton industry.

Manchester’s continued boom has seen a complete transformation of the skyline, as captured above by ChrisClarke88, and the city has no plans to slow down. There has been a swathe of new projects in recent months, as well as countless more coming to city and surrounding boroughs. 2024 saw the opening of the Co-op Live, the UK’s biggest indoor arena, and will see a complete regeneration of Piccadilly Gardens, as well as a £450 million new life science cluster along Oxford Road. With such growth, comes more people, buildings, vehicles and consequently, an environmental impact, of which air pollution is a main player. Given that poor air quality is now the largest environmental risk to public health in the UK, it is essential that the effect from such soaring growth is managed effectively. Air Quality Assessments in Manchester are a crucial part of the development process to enable a sustainable and clean air future for local residents.

Air Quality in Manchester

Manchester has had a long standing history with poor air quality. Recent studies have found Manchester to be one of the most polluted cities in Europe. Long term trends show that there has been improvement, particularly after the COVID-19 pandemic, though there are still exceedences of the UK Air Quality Objectives at a number of locations across the city and surrounding boroughs.

Manchester is seeking to reduce pollutant concentrations further over the coming years. This will be through the implementation of Manchester’s Clean Air Plan. The Plan boasts initiatives such as the zero-emission ‘Bee Network’ and the Clean Taxi Fund, claiming an £86.7m investment in lower emission measures. It is crucial that developments continue to support an improvement in air quality. This should be managed through sound determination and effective mitigation of air quality impacts associated with proposals. This is why Air Quality Assessments in Manchester are needed.

Air Quality Assessments for Planning

Air Quality Assessments in Manchester are now required in support of nearly all planning applications for new developments. Typically, these comprise assessment of three main elements. These are:

• Potential exposure of future occupiers to harmful pollution levels.
• The impact of emissions from vehicles travelling to and from the scheme.
• The impact of dust emissions generated during construction.

Addressing these as part of your application could be the deciding factor for its success or refusal.

Air Quality Assessments in Manchester

Success of your planning application could be aided by Redmore Environmental’s 20 years of experience undertaking Air Quality Assessments in Manchester. You will gain advice on planning applications and discharging conditions to addressing consultation responses and public comments. We have produced Air Quality Assessments in Manchester for residential and educational schemes, as well as industrial and commercial facilities. Last year alone, over 500 assessments were completed in support of developments similar to yours.

Across Greater Manchester, we have been involved in a number of exciting projects in recent years. These include:

• Medlock Street, Manchester – Demolition of the existing hotel and redevelopment of the site to provide office and commercial spaces, as well as 1,014 purpose built student accommodation units. The scheme was an essential step to tackling the student housing crisis;
• Etihad Campus, Manchester – Erection of a two storey side extension to a former bank to form a training facility for Manchester City Football Club’s Women’s Team. The scheme formed a £10m proposal to integrate women’s football into the heart of Manchester City;
• Mount Road, Gorton – Erection of a youth, sports and community hub, two football pitches, combined netball and basketball court, cricket strip, 36 residential apartments and 267 residential dwellings;
• Wingates Lane, Westhoughton – Full planning application for a new access, road realignment, altered landform, planting and associated infrastructure for the consented strategic employment development. The project seeks to bring in £100m a year to the Bolton economy; and,
• Radcliffe Civic Hub, Bury – Redevelopment of Radcliffe Civic Hub to provide a library and learning facilities, office units, wet and dry leisure facilities and an improved public realm area. The proposal will form the centrepiece of Bury’s regeneration project.

Air Quality Assessment Services

Our air quality experts specialise in all aspects of air quality consultancy. Those relating to planning include:

• Air Quality Assessments in support of planning applications.
• Air Quality Assessments in support of Environmental Permit applications.
• Environmental Impact Assessments.
• Dispersion Modelling Assessments.
• Odour Assessments.
• Construction Dust Risk Assessments and Management Plans.
• Low Emissions Strategies.

Additional Services

We also have expertise in the following areas:

• Bioaerosol Risk Assessments.
• Ambient Air Quality Monitoring.
• BREEAM Indoor Air Quality Assessments.
• Indoor air quality testing.
• Kitchen Odour Assessments.
• Ecological and Ammonia Assessments.
• Local Air Quality Management reports.
• Air Quality Constraints and Screening Opinions.
• Dust and Odour Management Plans.
• Expert Witness.

Get in Touch

If you are concerned about air quality or require an Air Quality Assessment in Manchester undertaking to support a planning application for your development, then please get in touch today to discuss how we can help you ensure permission is granted.