Expert air quality, dust and odour assessments across Dudley and the Black Country. Our chartered professionals support planning applications throughout the West Midlands.
Dudley Metropolitan Borough is the largest of the Black Country authorities, stretching from Dudley town centre and its historic castle in the north to Stourbridge and Halesowen in the south, and encompassing Brierley Hill, Kingswinford and Cradley Heath across its broad urban extent. The borough carries one of the most complex environmental legacies in the West Midlands, shaped by centuries of metalworking, glass-making and heavy industry that have left a dense patchwork of brownfield sites, active industrial areas and tightly interwoven residential neighbourhoods. This landscape presents genuine technical challenges for developers and their environmental consultants, and a thorough understanding of local conditions is essential for producing assessments that satisfy Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council.
Dudley MBC has declared Air Quality Management Areas covering the A4123, A461 and the town centre, reflecting persistent exceedances of the annual mean nitrogen dioxide objective along these heavily trafficked routes. Beyond the formal AQMAs, the A-road network that connects Dudley's distinct town centres — Brierley Hill, Stourbridge, Halesowen and the borough's many district centres — generates localised air quality impacts that must be carefully assessed for developments in proximity to these roads. The planned West Midlands Metro extension to Brierley Hill is already stimulating development interest along the route, and schemes coming forward in anticipation of improved connectivity will face scrutiny from both the local planning authority and Transport for West Midlands.
The regeneration of Brierley Hill and the Merry Hill area — one of the UK's largest out-of-town retail and leisure destinations — alongside the ambitious Dudley Town Centre regeneration scheme, means that air quality and dust assessment is a live requirement for a broad range of current and forthcoming planning applications across the borough. At Air Dust Odour, our Chartered Environmentalists bring direct experience of the Dudley planning environment and the specific technical demands of Black Country brownfield development, delivering assessments that are authoritative, clearly written and capable of supporting a successful planning outcome.
Tell us about your project and we will provide a tailored, no-obligation quote within 24 hours.
Request a QuoteScreening and detailed air quality assessments for residential, commercial and mixed-use developments across Dudley borough. We address the requirements of Dudley MBC's declared AQMAs and the wider road network, delivering dispersion modelling, exposure assessment and mitigation recommendations that satisfy planning officers and environmental health teams across the borough's diverse planning areas.
Learn more →Dust risk assessments and Construction Environmental Management Plans for demolition, remediation and construction on Dudley's brownfield sites. We address the particular challenges of contaminated ground disturbance and the proximity of sensitive receptors, following IAQM guidance throughout and producing practical CEMPs that can be readily approved by Dudley MBC's planning and environmental health officers.
Learn more →Odour assessments for industrial, waste management and food-related operations across Dudley borough, as well as assessments evaluating the impact of existing odour sources on proposed sensitive developments. The borough's mix of active industrial areas and residential neighbourhoods means odour is a regular consideration in planning applications across Brierley Hill, Cradley Heath, Lye and many other parts of the borough.
Learn more →EMAQ+ odour assessments for restaurants, takeaways, cafes and commercial kitchens across Dudley, Stourbridge, Halesowen and the Merry Hill retail and leisure complex. Dudley MBC's environmental health team routinely requests odour assessments for new commercial kitchen operations, and our EMAQ+ reports provide the evidence needed to demonstrate that cooking emissions can be adequately controlled.
Learn more →We provide air quality, dust and odour assessment services across Dudley Metropolitan Borough and the surrounding Black Country.
Yes. Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council has declared Air Quality Management Areas along the A4123, A461 and within the town centre where nitrogen dioxide concentrations have exceeded national objectives, and planning applications for developments that introduce sensitive receptors within or close to these corridors will require an air quality assessment. The council expects assessments to follow IAQM and EPUK guidance, addressing both the direct impact of new development on local air quality and the exposure of future occupants to existing roadside pollution. Even outside the formal AQMA boundaries, schemes on or near busy A-roads across the borough are likely to require at least a screening assessment.
The Black Country's centuries-long metalworking and manufacturing tradition has left a significant legacy of contaminated brownfield land across Dudley borough, and the remediation and redevelopment of these sites presents particular challenges for dust risk assessment. Ground disturbance on former industrial sites can mobilise metal-contaminated particulates and other hazardous materials, meaning that dust assessments must address not just nuisance impacts but also the potential health risks associated with contaminated dust. Dudley Council expects developers to follow IAQM guidance rigorously, and planning conditions routinely require a detailed CEMP to be approved before any demolition or groundworks commence.
A Construction Environmental Management Plan is a standard planning requirement for demolition and construction projects of any significant scale in Dudley. The borough contains a high density of residential properties in close proximity to former industrial and commercial sites, and Dudley Council is appropriately cautious about the dust, noise and disturbance impacts of demolition on neighbouring communities. The CEMP must address dust suppression, site management, vehicle movements, hours of operation and a monitoring and complaints procedure, and it must be approved by the local planning authority before work can commence.
Commercial kitchen operations near Merry Hill and across Dudley borough are routinely required to submit an odour assessment as part of the planning process, particularly where the premises are adjacent to or above residential accommodation. Dudley Council's environmental health team applies the EMAQ+ methodology as the standard framework for evaluating cooking odour impacts, which considers the cuisine type, the proposed extraction system, abatement technology and the proximity and sensitivity of neighbouring receptors. Engaging an odour specialist at the fit-out design stage — before the ventilation system is finalised — is the most effective way to ensure the assessment supports a successful planning application.
Fees depend on the type and complexity of the assessment required. Screening assessments for straightforward applications typically start from around £500, detailed air quality assessments with dispersion modelling from around £1,500, and EMAQ+ kitchen odour assessments from around £800. Construction dust risk assessments and CEMPs are priced according to site size, the nature of existing contamination and the proximity of sensitive receptors. We provide free, no-obligation quotes tailored to your specific project and the requirements of Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council.
