High Court Rule in Favour of NGO ClientEarth over UK Air Quality

Non-Government Organisation, ClientEarth, won its case against the Government’s failure to battle air pollution across the UK, in High Court. The group claimed that the Environment Secretary had failed to tackle high air pollution around the UK in an efficient manner. Mr Justice Garnham questioned Defra’s five year modelling, stating it was inconsistent with taking […]

Sadiq Khan – Cleaning up London’s Air Quality

Sadiq Khan spoke out this week of plans to introduce an Ultra- Low Emission Zone in central London from 2019. Khan’s bold vision is to create a London which has rid itself of toxic air, but, has emphasised that this will be a slow process to give time to the private sector to adapt. An […]

Environment Agency takes over Air Quality Duties from DEFRA

The Environment Agency has taken over responsibility for managing the UK’s air quality monitoring networks from DEFRA. The handover took place on 1 April 2016. The role involves supervising contractors that maintain and provide quality assurance for the 300 monitoring stations around the UK. Noise mapping and monitoring may follow soon. Southdowns provide air quality […]

London Mayor Tackles Air Pollution

The newly-elected Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has outlined plans for a ‘major’ package of measures to tackle air pollution in the capital. The proposals include the possibility of bringing forward the introduction of the Ultra-Low Emission Zone to begin earlier than 2020, as well as potentially extending its reach to the North and South […]

UK Urban Areas Exceed EU Limit Values for Protection of Human Health

The World Health Organisation has published details of 40 urban areas in the UK where fine particulates (PM2.5) exceeded the EU limit values for protection of human health. The WHO have previously said that air pollution is now a global “public health emergency” that will have untold financial implications for governments. Air pollution was described […]

National Policy Statement – National Networks

The Government has produced the National Policy Statement for National Networks and it was ‘designated’ on the 15th January 2015. National Policy Statements (NPSs) give reasons for the policy set out in the statement, and must include an explanation of how the policy takes account of Government policy relating to the mitigation of, and adaptation […]

Environmental Noise: Valuing Impacts

Defra has published a report informed by the Interdepartmental Group on Costs and Benefits Noise Subject Group (IGCB(N)) entitled ‘Environmental Noise: Valuing impacts on: sleep disturbance, annoyance, hypertension, productivity and quiet’. This contemporary Government position details current understanding of the links between environmental noise and various effects including sleep disturbance, annoyance, hypertension and related diseases. […]

Planning Practice Guidance – Noise

On 6 March 2014 the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) launched this planning practice guidance web-based resource. For the first time, planning practice guidance is now available entirely online in a usable and accessible way. DCLG states that important information for any user of the planning system previously only published in separate documents […]

New National Planning Practice Guidance

Following the recommendations set out in the Taylor Review, draft National Planning Policy Guidance for noise and other environmental disciplines was published earlier this week and can be found on the DCLG web-site. The draft planning practice guidance on this site is subject to testing and comment over a six week period, prior to publication […]

Planning Guidelines for Hydraulic Fracturing and other Onshore Oil and Gas Activities

Following recent publicity and various headlines about shale gas exploration in the UK and the environmental issues associated with hydraulic fracturing (aka. fracking), the Department for Communities and Local Government has now published guidance on the planning issues associated with each separate phase of onshore hydrocarbon extraction. This guidance is intended to supplement other planning […]