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PART IV THE ENVIRONMENT ACT 1995 - LOCAL AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT - DRAFT REVISED POLICY GUIDANCE
Chapter 7 Air Quality and Land Use Planning
Background
7.1 The land use planning system is integral to improving air quality. Local authorities need to understand the links between air quality and land use planning policies if the planning system is to contribute to the air quality objectives set out in the Air Quality Regulations. This chapter should be read in conjunction with Planning Advice Note (PAN) 51:
Planning and Environmental Protection. PAN 51 advises on the policies and practices that should be adopted by local planning authorities and others involved in planning new development and redevelopment.
7.2 The Scottish Executive expects local authorities to ensure that the guidance in this chapter and PAN 51 is taken into account by all relevant departments. The guidance is designed to help planning departments within local authorities to carry out their functions and may be material in preparing development plans and in determining planning applications. It will also help businesses, SEPA and the public, and anyone else involved in the planning process.
The land use planning context
7.3 Local authorities should integrate air quality considerations within the planning process at the earliest possible stage. Although the land use planning system does not offer any quick-fix solutions to areas of poor air quality, it can do much to improve local air quality in the longer term.
7.4 Planning policies relevant to local authorities' air quality responsibilities are contained in the National Planning Policy Guidelines (NPPGs). These:
Set out the Scottish Executive's policies on land use planning;
Explain how the planning system can help meet the objectives of sustainable development;
Are regularly reviewed and updated;
Should be applied to development plans; and
May also be a material consideration in individual planning applications.
Among the most relevant to LAQM are:
NPPG 1:
The Planning System
NPPG 2:
Business and Industry
NPPG 4:
Land for Mineral Working
NPPG 6:
Renewable Energy Developments
NPPG 16:
Opencast Coal and Related Minerals
NPPG 17:
Transport and Planning
7.5 The Scottish Executive updates NPPGs from time to time. Details of all current NPPGs and other planning information can be found on the Scottish Executive's website at
www.scotland.gov.uk/planning
7.6 Local planning authorities should also be aware of the good practice guide on air quality and land use planning, prepared by Arup Environmental on behalf of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) in April 1999. This sets out in general terms the relationship between air quality issues and planning decisions. It also tries to establish how far the planning process itself can contribute to air quality objectives.
Planning and pollution control
7.7 PAN 51 explains the relationship between the land use planning and pollution control systems. The systems are separate but complementary. Close co-ordination between planning authorities and pollution control regulators helps to minimise unnecessary duplication of effort.
7.8 If a proposed emission source does not require a pollution control permit (e.g. if the source is not regulated under Integrated Pollution Control (IPC) or Local Air Pollution Control (LAPC), gradually being replaced by Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPCC), or if only some of its emissions are regulated under the Clean Air Act 1993) then local planning authorities might, in some circumstances, consider adding conditions to the planning permission to tackle the source's possible effect on land use or amenity. These conditions might require a scheme of monitoring and mitigation, covering planning concerns to be approved by local planning authorities before any development went ahead. In these cases, local planning authorities should work closely with SEPA and/or the environmental health department, as appropriate. Where conditions are not enough to overcome the planning objection to a development proposal, it may be appropriate for the parties to enter into a planning agreement. Section 75 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 enables any person interested in land in the area of a local planning authority to enter into a planning agreement with the authority. Local planning authorities, should, however, avoid unnecessary conditions or agreements that duplicate the effects of other controls. Also, conditions that conflict with other controls would be
ultra vires (beyond the authority's powers) because they are unreasonable.
Development plans
7.9 Some issues that should be considered in the preparation of development plans, and may also be material in the consideration of individual planning applications, are as follows:
Ensuring that the land use planning system makes an appropriate contribution to the achievement of air quality objectives;
the need to identify land, or establish criteria, for the location of potentially polluting developments and the availability of alternative sites;
inclusion of policies on the appropriate location for new development, including reducing the need to travel and promoting public transport;
the potential effects of particular types of developments on existing and likely future air quality, particularly in and around AQMAs; and
the requirements of air quality action plans.
- Environmental impact assessment and the planning process
7.10 Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is an important procedure for ensuring that potentially significant environmental effects (both direct and indirect) of a proposed development are fully understood and taken into account before the development is allowed to go ahead. The types of development for which an EIA may be required are given in the Environmental Impact Assessment (Scotland) Regulations 1999.
7.11 The developer of a project which is subject to EIA is required to prepare an environmental statement describing the likely effects of the project. The planning authority must take this into account when considering the planning application. The information to be included in the environmental statement is described in Schedule 4 to the Regulations. It must include a description of the development, potentially significant environmental effects (including air quality before and after the proposed development), mitigating measures envisaged, a description of any alternatives considered by the applicant and the reasons for the final choice, and a non-technical summary.
Air quality as a material consideration
7.12 Air quality is capable of being a material planning consideration, in so far as it affects land use. Whether it actually is will depend upon the facts of the case. Wherever a proposed development is likely to have significant air quality impacts, close co-operation will be essential between planning authorities and those with responsibility for air quality and pollution control. The impact on ambient air quality is likely to be particularly important where:
the proposed development is inside or adjacent to an AQMA;
the development could result in designation of a new AQMA; and
the granting of planning permission would conflict with, or render unworkable, elements of a local authority's air quality action plan.
7.13 It is not the case that all planning applications for developments inside or adjacent to AQMAs should automatically be refused if the development is likely to result in a deterioration in local air quality. Such an approach could sterilise development, particularly where authorities have designated large areas as AQMAs. All such applications will continue to be considered according to their individual merits on the basis of all available information.
7.14 In considering whether a site inside an AQMA is an appropriate location for new housing, planning authorities should consider where within the AQMA likely exeedences have been identified, how great these exceedences are and when it is forecast that the objectives will be met.
Summary
7.15 This chapter is intended to serve only as a brief summary of some of the main ways in which land use planning can help deliver air quality objectives. It builds on the detailed advice contained in the relevant NPPGs and PAN 51, but is not intended to serve as a substitute for them. For further information and advice on a range of planning issues, authorities may wish to visit the Scottish Executive website.
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