Air Quality Assessments in Sheffield

Development in Sheffield

Sheffield, colloquially known as the “Steel City”, played a key role in the Industrial Revolution. Growing rapidly throughout the 19^th Century, today it holds the title of the largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The city, as captured above by Tim Green/ CC BY 2.0, has seen extensive redevelopment in recent years, with lots of excitement surrounding the £470 million Heart of the City regeneration scheme. The ongoing mixed-use project includes highlights such as the recently opened flagship Radisson Blu hotel which boasts 154 rooms and a rooftop bar and restaurant. This joins the already established Cambridge Street Collective: Europe’s largest purpose-built food hall and HSBC’s new Global IT Hub: Grosvenor House.

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 Sheffield are a crucial part of the development process to enable a sustainable and clean air future for local residents.

Air Quality in Sheffield

Sheffield has had a long standing history with poor air quality. Sheffield City Council estimate that air pollution contributes to approximately 500 premature deaths per year in the city. Long term monitoring trends suggest that concentrations were gradually decreasing in recent years and large reductions were seen in 2020 as a result of COVID-19 pandemic control measures. Although concentrations have risen since 2020, they have remained below pre-pandemic levels. Despite this, there are still exceedences of the UK Air Quality Objectives at a number of locations across the city.

Sheffield is seeking to reduce pollutant concentrations over the coming years. The Sheffield Clean Air Zone (CAZ) was launched in February 2023 and aims to improve air quality within the city centre by reducing the number of older and more polluting vehicles from entering this zone. To assist this objective, a number of financial support measures are available to assist local businesses and residents to upgrade their existing non-compliant vehicles. A review of the Clean Air Strategy has also been undertaken.

Alongside these council backed measures, it is crucial that developments also 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 Sheffield are needed.

Air Quality Assessments for Planning

Air Quality Assessments in Sheffield 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 Sheffield

Success of your planning application could be aided by Redmore Environmental’s 20 years of experience undertaking Air Quality Assessments in Sheffield. You will gain advice on planning applications and discharging conditions to addressing consultation responses and public comments. We have produced Air Quality Assessments in Sheffield 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 Sheffield, we have been involved in a number of exciting projects in recent years. These include:

• Hollis Croft, Sheffield – Demolition of existing structures and subsequent construction of a 26-storey student accommodation development and associated infrastructure.
• Scotland Street, Sheffield – The proposals comprise the demolition of existing building on site and the development of an 11-storey apartment scheme to provide 229 residential units along with a fitness suite, rooftop garden, an external courtyard, a communal lounge, workstations, and a multimedia room.
• Europa Link, Sheffield – Construction of a 2,787m² industrial unit with up to 300m² ancillary offices at first floor level and associated infrastructure.
• Bawtry Road, Sheffield – Construction of 147 dwellings and associated infrastructure.

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 Sheffield 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.