1 February 2023
Location: Gallows Hill, Warwick
About the project:
Opus Land LLP commissioned M-EC to undertake an air quality assessment for a proposed development comprising a hotel and car dealership.
The proposed site, which was in arable use, lies approximately 2km southeast of Warwick town. The site is bound to the south by Gallows Hill and to the west by Warwick Technology Park. The land to the east has been granted planning permission for residential development, with the parcel to the north having residential allocation as part of the Development Plan.
The assessment was undertaken with reference to the advice provided within the Land-Use Planning and Development Control: Planning for Air Quality, ‘Guidance from Environmental Protection UK, the Institute of Air Quality Management for the consideration of air quality within the land-use planning and development control processes’, May 2017, and the Warwick District Council’s ‘Low Emission Strategy Guidance for Developers’ April 2014.
The assessment results indicated that, with the exception of one receptor, which was located within the Warwick AQMA at the junction of Coten End and Coventry Road, annual mean NO2 concentrations were predicted to remain below the annual mean objective at all remaining assessed receptor locations.
With regard to impact, for the majority of receptors, the assessment showed that the development would not lead to the exceedance of the objective at any receptor location. Relative to the Air Quality Assessment Levels (AQAL) of the latest EPUK and IAQM guidance, the development’s impact on local air quality was defined as ‘Negligible’.
For two receptors (one within the AQMA and one adjacent to the A452 roundabout), the impact due to development was classed as ‘Slight’.
Annual mean PM10 concentrations were expected to remain below the annual mean objective at all assessed receptor locations, and the impact due to development was again classed as ‘Negligible’. None of the changes exceed 1% of the AQAL.
On this basis, mitigation was provided in accordance with Warwick District Councils Air Quality Guidance. This included: • Electric Vehicle Charging; • Provide a fleet emission reduction/strategy/ low emission strategy, including the uptake of low-emission fuels and technologies, such as ultra-low-emission service vehicles
A damage cost analysis (DCA) was undertaken as part of the mitigation with the purpose being to identify the pollutant damage costs associated with the development proposal and calculations to estimate the additional pollutant emissions from proposed development traffic using the methodology provided by Defra ‘Air Quality appraisal: damage cost methodology. The DCA was used to calculate a figure that will be used to contribute to funding elements of the WDC’s Air Quality Action Planning work.
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