Draft Regulation 18 Sandwell Local Plan

Air Quality

6.29 Promoting healthy living is a key element of the Sandwell Local Plan. Reducing exposure to poor air quality will help improve the health and quality of life of the population and support the Plan's aims and objectives^[113]. The need to address climate change and its associated impacts will include the need to tackle pollution and poor air quality, especially where it has impacts on both human and environmental health.

6.30 The WHO published data on the impacts of ambient and household air pollution on human health for the European High-Level Conference on Non-Communicable Diseases held in April 2019. The paper stated that more than 550,000 deaths in the WHO European region were attributable to the joint effects of household and ambient air pollution in 2016, with over 500,000 being due to ambient air pollution and more than 50,000 to household air pollution^[114].

6.31 According to the 2019 Clean Air Strategy published by DEFRA^[115],

Air pollution is the top environmental risk to human health in the UK, and the fourth greatest threat to public health after cancer, heart disease and obesity. It makes us more susceptible to respiratory infections and other illnesses, and we estimate that the actions outlined in this document could cut the costs of air pollution to society by £1.7 billion every year by 2020, rising to £5.3 billion every year from 2030.

6.32 Paragraph 4.1 of the same publication outlines the impacts of air quality on economic growth. Cleaner air helps to reduce the likelihood of workplace absences through ill-health; the strategy identifies that particulate matter; nitrogen dioxide and ozone were estimated to be responsible for total productivity losses of up to £2.7 billion in 2012. Clean air also helps to create and sustain a pleasant and attractive living and working environment, which is more likely to encourage growth and investment in an area.

6.33 Following adoption of the Black Country Core Strategy in 2011 further guidance and advice was provided through the adoption of the Black Country Air Quality Supplementary Planning Document in 2016. This built on work undertaken on the West Midlands Low Emissions Towns and Cities Programme, including the West Midlands Good Practice Air Quality Planning Guidance (2014). The planning guidance offered further advice on issues around ambient and indoor air quality and model conditions for use by the local planning authorities.

6.34 This document will need to be revised and republished following adoption of the Sandwell Local Plan, considering new national legislation, regulations and targets and regional and sub-regional developments regarding air quality.

Justification

6.35 National planning guidance identifies the need for local planning authorities to address the problems created by pollution, in terms of poor air quality and its impacts on human and environmental health. Major air pollutants that impact on human health include particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5 and fine / very fine particulates) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). These gases may also combine to create ozone, a greenhouse gas that impacts on the atmosphere.

6.36 The main cause of poor air quality across the Black Country is related to vehicular transport. Locations have been identified that do not comply with current national objectives and that will result in relevant exposure; there are several air quality hotspots where on-going monitoring is required. Sandwell Council is working to reduce pollutant concentrations and to minimise exposure to air quality that does not meet with national objectives. Like the other Black Country Councils, it has declared air quality management areas to try to address the issue of poor air quality and provide protection for human health.

6.37 It is important that development likely to have a negative impact on air quality is fully assessed and measures taken to make it acceptable, particularly in parts of the Black Country where air quality is currently, or is likely to become, a concern. Most developments will have a moderate air quality impact, which can be dealt with through standard mitigation measures, without the need for an Air Quality Assessment (AQA), as detailed in the Black Country Air Quality SPD. These standard mitigation measures are designed to deal with the cumulative impact of many moderate impact developments over time and over a wide area.

6.38 AQAs should be proportionate to the type and scale of development proposed, in accordance with the guidance provided by the Black Country Air Quality Supplementary Planning Document and relevant national standards for air quality. National planning policy guidance on air quality offers several examples of what might usefully be incorporated in such assessments, including baseline conditions, specific concerns, the assessment methods to be adopted, the basis for assessing impact and determining the significance of an impact and mitigation^[117].

6.39 For some developments a basic screening assessment of air quality is all that will be required, whereas for other developments a full AQA will need to be carried out, using advanced dispersion modelling software. An appropriate methodology informed by the Black Country Air Quality SPD should be agreed with the relevant development management team / officer on a case-by-case basis.

6.40 Where a potentially adverse impact on air quality is identified, mitigation measures may include:

1. increasing the distance between the development and the pollution source;
2. using green infrastructure, particularly trees, to help absorb dust and other pollutants (see Policy SNE3 – care must be taken to ensure the type and location of such trees do not exacerbate air pollution by trapping it close to the street^[118]);
3. using ventilation systems to draw cleaner air into buildings;
4. improving public transport access to all development;
5. implementing travel plans to reduce the number of trips generated;
6. implementing low emission strategies;
7. controlling dust and emissions from construction, demolition and working projects.