Background
The client had been granted planning permission by the London Borough of Camden (LBC) for a 27-unit, five storey residential development. Before works could commence, a planning condition relating to air quality monitoring had to be discharged.
Issue
The proposed development site was categorised as ‘Medium Risk’ with regards to dust impacts during construction. Planning condition No. 14 stated that real-time Particulate Matter (PM) monitoring should be implemented at the site prior to and during the works. Furthermore, the neighbouring sites are also active construction sites with historic dust and PM issues.
Solution
DustScanAQ operate a fleet of real-time PM monitors which are available for short or long-term hire. To discharge the planning condition, DustScanAQ followed Greater London Authority (GLA) guidance and liaised with LBC on behalf on our client. It was agreed that DustScanAQ would undertake real-time PM monitoring at two locations. The PM monitors have MCERTS ‘indicative’ certification and if agreed thresholds were exceeded, alerts were sent to DustScanAQ, LBC and the contractor. DustScanAQ acted upon the alerts by notifying the contractor, leading to instant mitigation. LBC warned the site about high PM concentrations in mid-2019. DustScanAQ liaised with LBC and argued that the high concentrations were cross-boundary pollution from the adjacent sites, which ensured the client was not held responsible for exceedances out of their control.
Outcome
DustScanAQ continued monitoring at the site until the construction works completed. Monthly compliance reports were produced for LBC: an excerpt from one is shown at the top of the page.