EU legal action raises air quality as significant planning issue

Published on 18-05-2016 by Dr Paul Beckett

Last updated 06-03-2021

A number of EU member states have failed to reduce air pollution to agreed standards. This has culminated in legal action by a group of lawyers called Client Earth. The upshot is that the UK is likely to be fined for the failure of its Local Air Quality Management (LAQM) framework to provide effective Air Quality Action Plans (AQAPs) to address pollution, mainly from road traffic, in  polluted urban centres. The government has said that it will likely pass on the costs to local authorities, who will therefore be much more careful about what development they approve in locations of poor air quality. You can read further information in this mailshot that Phlorum recently sent out to our clients on the issues likely to affect developers:

Impact of EU Legal Action on Air Quality Assessments for Proposed Development