An Update on Aether's Recent AQA Services

22 March 2024

Aether’s air quality team has been busy providing air quality consultancy services across the UK. From supporting planning applications requiring Environmental Impacts Assessment (EIA) to supporting changes to consented schemes and discharging conditions. Aether has also supported planning applicants responding to air quality queries resulting from the review of planning applications referred by the Greater London Authority (GLA).

Aether recently completed two Environmental Impacts Assessments (EIA) for a residential development with up to 650 dwellings in South Somerset and a mix-use development with up to 400 dwellings and employment area in North Somerset. The ADMS-Roads dispersion model was used to determine the impact of emissions from road on existing sensitive receptors and future site occupiers and predicted concentrations were compared with the air quality objectives. The sites was deemed suitable for the proposed developments without the need for additional mitigation. The proposed developments were not expected to generate significant air pollutant emissions, however, to further reduce the impacts of traffic associated with the developments several measures will be implemented to further encourage trips by sustainable and healthy active means.

Another example of a recent air quality assessment is an outdoor air quality and odour assessment in support of a full planning application for partial demolition, rebuild and retrofit of an existing office building in Westminster. A detail analysis of air quality constraints, including dispersion modelling, was provided during design stage to inform the redevelopment MEP and ventilation strategy. The ADMS-Roads dispersion model was used to determine the impact of existing poor air quality on future site occupiers and predicted concentrations were compared with the air quality objectives. Recommendations for the location of the air intakes and the use of filtration were given in line with the dispersion model results.

Other recent examples include:

  • Aether prepared a Dust Risk Assessment and Air Quality Dust Management Plan (AQDMP) required to discharge a planning condition for the provision of a community centre within the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames.
  • Aether prepared a Emission Control Statement required to discharge a planning condition for a retirement home in Tunbridge Wells.
  • Aether prepared an emergency generator assessment for two planning applications referred to GLA within London Borough of Southwark and London Borough of Islington.
  • Aether prepared an assessment for a temporary energy plant for a consented scheme required due to delays with the planned connection to a district heating network within London Borough of Brent.

Please contact us at the following email address if you need any air quality assessment work: enquiries@aether-uk.com

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Testimonial

Don't just take our word for it...

“Aether is a great partner for work in the area of European Air Emissions. The team was committed, reliable, well organised and had a deep technical understanding and motivated other partners with their good spirit.”

Umweltbundesamt: Environment Agency Austria

“It has been a pleasure to work with Chris Dore and Richard Claxton from Aether: they did their job in a very professional and timely manner. The workshop was organized and carried out in a cooperative spirit; the information provided to the workshop participants was complete and clear.”

Alina Novikova, UN/ECE Secretariat

“The support provided by Aether for this project was especially remarkable considering the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic. The tools and methods used in order to engage local stakeholders really added value to the capacity building of the national team.”

Shanna Emmanuel, Saint Lucia BUR Project Coordinator

“Aether delivered training workshops and generated learning materials for our SSN members, providing technical content in a manageable and comprehendible format. We particularly benefitted from their extensive knowledge and ability to interpret the needs of our members into the training materials.”

Jennifer Anderson, Sustainable Scotland Network

“Aether's approach to couple innovative visualisation with high expertise manpower delivered valuable insights for our inventory work.”

Umweltbundesamt (Germany)

“Chris was excellent to work with and always very pro active in making suggestions, taking work forward and applying his considerable technical knowledge in effective ways.”

Robert Vaughan, Defra Air Quality Team

“Saint Lucia embraces the professional approach with which this project was undertaken by Aether, particularly their ability to develop mentorship relations with local government experts. This provides a basis for ensuring that the pool of local experts remain engaged and recognized over successive processes.”

Annette Rattigan-Leo, Chief Sustainable Development and Environment Officer

“Both the face-to-face training and the online version have been of high quality, with dynamic methods and a practical orientation that have allowed students to reach a solid knowledge base. The products have been delivered within the stipulated deadlines with an excellent quality and the team has always shown willingness to make adjustments according to the requirements of CONAF. We are very satisfied with the work. ”

Javier Cano Martín, Professional Unit for Climate Change and Environmental Services, CONAF (National Forestry Corporation), Chile

“A heartfelt thank you to all the Aether team for this very comprehensive review – this is certainly turning out to be one of the most beneficial capacity building projects I have ever been involved in.”

Saviour Vassallo, Senior Environment Protection Officer, Malta Resources Authority

“The Aether team were a joy to work with and I would recommend the consultancy - the service provided throughout the process was exceptional.”

Clare Bayley, Defra

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