Pre-Application Consultation (PAC) Changes in Scotland

Celebrating World Environment Day at LUC

This year, World Environment Day focuses on air pollution. We work on a wide range of projects that help to limit and control air pollution. Here are just a few project examples below.

Green Infrastructure

Green infrastructure is a network of natural and semi-natural areas and features that provide a variety of benefits including contributing to the control of air pollution. LUC has worked on a number of green infrastructure projects, providing assessments and strategies to develop and enhance green infrastructure in cities and Local Authorities.

  • LUC was a 2018 RTPI Award finalist for the Connecting Communities for the Healthier Tower Hamlets project, which included increasing sustainable transport use, helping to control transport-related air pollution.
  • LUC was commissioned to produce the Hart Green Infrastructure Strategy, which identified opportunities for the use of woodland to help to buffer nearby communities from transport-related air pollution.

Landscape Management

LUC has worked on a variety of projects covering the use and management of landscape, which present opportunities to enhance the environment for air pollution management.

  • Peabody Group provides homes and services to more than 80,000 people across London. LUC’s Open Space Strategy supports the Peabody providing good quality affordable homes and promoting well-being through seeking to ensure all communities are able to access a good quality open space providing opportunities for formal and/or informal recreation. The overall strategy aimed to improve the quality of the landscape within the housing estates, which included improving air quality, as well as enhancing play spaces and creating community gardens.
  • Street trees can help to control air pollution. LUC was commissioned by the Woodland Advisory Group to develop a framework to address the challenges facing trees and woodland in London and to ensure that the benefits that they bring to the economic, environmental and social wellbeing of London are realised.

Renewable Energy

LUC provides a variety of support for renewables projects, which provide clean energy, limiting air pollution in comparison to traditional fossil fuel use.

  • LUC helped secure consent for the Brechfa Forest West Wind Farm in Wales, which won Renewable Energy Project of the Year at the Business Green Leaders Awards. LUC was involved in the project for many years and coordinated all aspects of the environmental impact assessment, produced the Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment (LVIA), visualisations, and the Ecological Impact Assessment (EcIA) which was informed by extensive baseline ecology surveys and stakeholder consultation. LUC also produced assessments on aviation, telecommunications, shadow flicker, socio-economics and recreation and land use.
  • LUC has provided EIA services to a number of renewable energy developments.  LUC submitted a request for an EIA Scoping Opinion to the Scottish Government Energy Consents Unit (ECU) for the Sheirdrim Renewable Energy Development in Argyll and Bute. LUC also provided expert EIA project management and review services for the proposed Wull Muir Wind Farm, near Heriot.

Landscape Design

LUC has worked on a range of landscape design projects, which present opportunities to enhance the design and planting of schemes to control air pollution.

  • LUC worked on the Saltram Countryside Park Masterplan, which delivered a flagship project identified in the Plymouth Green Infrastructure Plan. The overall masterplan included a range of habitat enhancements, which included increasing the woodland coverage as part of overall improvements. The increase of woodland aimed to mitigate the visual and environmental impact of the neighbouring housing development, improving the surrounding air quality, as well as visual impact and enhancing overall connectivity.

Strategic Planning

LUC offers a variety of strategic planning services, including Sustainability Appraisals (SA), Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEA) and Habitat Regulations Assessments (HRA), primarily for Local Plans and other development plan documents. These include an assessment of likely effects on air quality and provide recommendations to improve the sustainability of plans.

  • LUC prepared an update to the HRA of the West of England Joint Spatial Plan.  At the screening stage, we identified that the plan could lead to increased traffic, leading to significant adverse effects as a result of air pollution at Avon Gorge Woodlands SAC and the Severn Estuary SAC.  Using air quality modelling data and a detailed understanding of the habitats potentially affected, we were able to conclude that the plan would not result in adverse effects on the integrity of these designated sites.
  • LUC undertook the HRA of the South Oxfordshire Local Plan, where increased air pollution at European biodiversity sites was identified as a potential issue. Using traffic modelling data and air quality modelling, we concluded that the Local Plan would not have adverse effects on the integrity of any European site in terms of air quality.
  • LUC is carrying out the Sustainability Appraisal of the emerging Worcestershire Minerals Local Plan.  This includes consideration of whether the proposals in the plan are likely to exacerbate existing air quality issues, particularly in the existing Air Quality Management Areas within the county.

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