Dacorum Borough Council 2014 Air Quality Progress Report for Dacorum Borough Council In fulfillment of Part IV of the Environment Act 1995 Local Air Quality Management October, 2015 Dacorum Borough Council Local Authority Officer Danielle Newnham Department Regulatory Services Civic Centre, Marlowes, Hemel Hempstead, Address Hertfordshire, HP1 1HH Telephone 01442 228441 E-mail [email protected] Report Reference 2014 Progress Report number Date October 2015 i LAQM Progress Report 2014 Dacorum Borough Council Executive Summary The 2014 Progress Report provides an update on the air quality issues affecting Dacorum, including the results of pollutant monitoring and information on new residential, industrial and transport developments that might affect air quality in the Borough. The publication of this 2014 Progress Report was delayed to enable the Council to concentrate on the production of its Air Quality Action Plan (AQAP), which was formally adopted in December 2014. Although this report covers the 2013 calendar year as regards monitoring data, relevant information which post dates the report’s original deadline of April 2014 has also been included (e.g. the creation and formal adoption of the Air Quality Action Plan in December 2014, the production of the Air Quality Strategic Plan for Hertfordshire during 2014/15 (approved by the Health & Wellbeing Board on 4 June 2015), the installation of particulate matter (PM) monitoring equipment within the existing automatic monitoring station at High Street, Northchurch following the receipt of Public Health funding and the outcomes of planning decisions and publication of guidance documents. A comprehensive review of the diffusion tube monitoring network was undertaken during 2013, in which seven monitoring sites were decommissioned, thirteen new monitoring sites commissioned and additional tubes (two) added to eight existing monitoring sites within the AQMAs to create triplicates for accuracy and precision purposes. The review of air quality monitoring data for 2013 indicated that the annual mean air quality objective for NO2 was exceeded at five monitoring sites within the Borough, specifically Lawn Lane, Hemel Hempstead 1 (DC57, DC100 and DC101); Lawn Lane, Hemel Hempstead 3 (DC65, DC104 and DC105); London Road, Apsley (DC66, DC98 and DC99); High Street, Northchurch (DC50, DC90 and DC91) and Watford Road, Kings Langley (DC54). With the exception of Watford Road, Kings Langley (DC54), all other exceedances identified were situated within the three AQMAs. The Watford Road, Kings Langley (DC54) site is not representative of relevant exposure. Following the guidance/calculation outlined in Box 2.3 of LAQM.TG(09), the annual average NO2 concentration at the nearest receptors/sites of relevant exposure to the DC54 monitoring site was calculated to be 28.1µg/m3, and therefore below the relevant air quality objective. No exceedance of the annual mean air quality objective for NO2 was observed at the other diffusion tube monitoring sites in 2013. ii LAQM Progress Report 2014 Dacorum Borough Council The data presented for the five year period (2009 to 2013) shows an overall decline in annual mean NO2 concentrations at long-term background, roadside and kerbside sites during this time. In general, annual mean NO2 concentrations were highest in 2010 within each setting and lowest in 2012 (at long-term background and kerbside sites) and 2013 (long-term roadside sites). Over the past five years, the annual mean NO2 objective has been consistently exceeded year on year at four of the roadside monitoring sites (Watford Road, Kings Langley; Lawn Lane, Hemel Hempstead 1; Lawn Lane, Hemel Hempstead 3 and London Road, Apsley). No exceedances of the annual mean NO2 objective has been noted at any of the long-term background (eight) or kerbside (two) monitoring sites over the past five years. A review of major planned developments for the Dacorum area highlighted a number of sites with potential for air quality impacts. These included sites where the development itself may be the source of the air quality impact, for example large developments that result in increased traffic flows to the area, as well as developments being built within or close to AQMAs, busy road junctions or roads with high traffic flows, which could potentially expose the residents to air quality exceedances. The 2013 monitoring data has not identified the need to proceed to a Detailed Assessment for NO2 at any new locations outside of the current AQMA boundaries. The Further Assessment undertaken by Air Quality Consultants Ltd in March 2013 identified a modelled exceedance outside of the High Street, Northchurch AQMA boundary. It was advised that the boundary of this AQMA be revised accordingly to potentially incorporate any other residential locations within the area predicted >36µg/m3. In October 2013, following a 12-week consultation period, the High Street, Northchurch AQMA boundary was formally extended to include 84 – 96 High Street, Northchurch. The need to address cumulative impact of developments was identified. This is where a number of developments planned for an area, which on their own may be considered insignificant in terms of their air quality impact but taken together may result in poor air quality. This situation will be addressed via the planning system. The next stage of the on-going assessment of air quality in Dacorum will be the submission of the 2015 Updating and Screening Assessment. In parallel, work will be undertaken on the actions within the recently published Air Quality Action Plan. iii LAQM Progress Report 2014 Dacorum Borough Council Table of Contents 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Description of Local Authority Area 1 1.2 Purpose of Progress Report 2 1.3 Air Quality Objectives 3 1.4 Summary of Previous Review and Assessments 4 2 New Monitoring Data 11 2.1 Summary of Monitoring Undertaken 11 2.2 Comparison of Monitoring Results with Air Quality Objectives 20 3 New Local Developments 51 3.1 Road Traffic Sources 51 3.2 Other Transport Sources 52 3.3 Industrial Sources 52 3.4 Commercial and Domestic Sources 53 3.5 New Developments with Fugitive or Uncontrolled Sources 53 4 Local / Regional Air Quality Strategy 55 5 Planning Applications 56 6 Air Quality Planning Policies 60 7 Local Transport Plans and Strategies 65 8 Conclusions and Proposed Actions 68 8.1 Conclusions from New Monitoring Data 68 8.2 Conclusions relating to New Local Developments 70 8.3 Other Conclusions 71 8.4 Proposed Actions 76 9 References 78 iv LAQM Progress Report 2014 Dacorum Borough Council List of Tables Table 1.1 Air Quality Objectives included in Regulations for the purpose of LAQM in England Table 1.2 Key Findings of Previous Review and Assessment Reports Table 2.1 Details of Automatic Monitoring Site Table 2.2 Herts and Beds Automatic Monitoring Stations operational during 2013 Table 2.3 Details of Non- Automatic Monitoring Sites Table 2.4 Results of Automatic Monitoring for NO2: Comparison with Annual Mean Objective Table 2.5 Results of Automatic Monitoring for NO2: Comparison with 1-hour Mean Objective Table 2.6 Results of NO2 Diffusion Tubes 2013 Table 2.7 Results of NO2 Diffusion Tubes (2009 to 2013) Table 8.1 Summary of Action Plan Measures List of Figures Figure 1.1 Location of the Borough of Dacorum Figure 1.2 Detailed Map of the Borough Figure 1.3 AQMA Order No. 1 - Lawn Lane, Hemel Hempstead Figure 1.4 AQMA Order No. 2 - London Road, Apsley Figure 1.5 AQMA Order No. 3 - High Street, Northchurch Figure 1.6 AQMA Order No. 3a - High Street, Northchurch Figure 2.1 Location of Automatic Monitoring Station Figure 2.2 Annual Mean NO2 Concentrations at Long-term Monitoring Sites 2009-2013 Figure 2.3 Annual Mean NO2 Concentrations at Long-term Background Sites 2009 - 2013 Figure 2.4 Trends in Annual Mean NO2 for Long-term Background Sites 2009 - 2013 Figure 2.5 Annual Mean NO2 Concentrations at Long-term Roadside Sites 2009 - 2013 Figure 2.6 Trends in Annual Mean NO2 for Long-term Roadside Sites 2009 - 2013 Figure 2.7 Annual Mean NO2 Concentrations at Long-term Kerbside Sites 2009 - 2013 Figure 2.8 Trends in Annual Mean NO2 for Long-term Kerbside Sites 2009 - 2013 Figure 2.9 Annual Mean NO2 Concentrations at New Monitoring Sites 2011 - 2013 Figure 2.10 AQMA 1 - Diffusion Tube Monitoring Sites Figure 2.11 AQMA 1 - Annual Mean NO2 Concentrations 2009 - 2013 Figure 2.12 AQMA 2 - Diffusion Tube Monitoring Sites Figure 2.13 AQMA 2 - Annual Mean NO2 Concentrations 2009 - 2013 Figure 2.14 AQMA 3a - Diffusion Tube Monitoring Sites Figure 2.15 AQMA 3a - Annual Mean NO2 Concentrations 2009 - 2013 v LAQM Progress Report 2014 Dacorum Borough Council Appendices Appendix A QA/QC Appendix B NO2 Monitoring Data Appendix C LA-IPPC and LAPPC Installations vi LAQM Progress Report 2014 Dacorum Borough Council 1 Introduction 1.1 Description of Local Authority Area The Borough of Dacorum comprises a mix of urban and rural land uses situated on the western edge of Hertfordshire. Located approximately 30 miles northwest of central London, the Borough has a usual residential population of approximately 148,2001 (Office for National Statistics, 2014), which is predominantly centred on the towns of Hemel Hempstead, Berkhamsted and Tring. Major roads within the area include the M1, which crosses the eastern side of the borough, the M25, which is located near the southern boundary of the borough, and the A41, which closely bypasses Hemel Hempstead, Berkhamsted and Tring, linking Aylesbury to the west with Watford to the east. The area is well connected to London and the midlands via a major rail link that traverses the borough and terminates at London Euston. Car ownership within the borough is higher than the national average. Based on the last national census conducted in 2011, 84 per cent of households within Dacorum had at least one car, compared to 74 per cent nationally.