Air Quality Assessment Gatwick Airport
Specialist air quality consultants for development near Gatwick Airport. Supporting planning applications across Crawley, Horley, Reigate and Banstead, and the wider Gatwick Diamond business area.
Air Quality Specialists for the Gatwick Area
Gatwick Airport is the UK's second busiest airport and operates one of the world's most intensively used single runways, with proposals for a second operational runway representing one of the most significant infrastructure planning decisions in the south-east of England. The airport sits at the heart of the Gatwick Diamond, a thriving business corridor that includes the Manor Royal Business District — one of the largest business parks in the south-east — alongside a constellation of logistics, manufacturing and commercial operations. Combined with residential growth in Crawley and the surrounding towns and villages, this creates a complex and sensitive air quality environment in which specialist environmental assessment is essential for any significant development.
Air quality in the Gatwick area is shaped by three principal source categories: aircraft emissions from landing, take-off and ground movement operations; road traffic on the M23 and A23 corridors that connect the airport to the wider motorway and A-road network; and on-airport activity including cargo handling, ground service vehicles and the energy centre serving the terminal complex. Crawley Borough Council and Reigate and Banstead Borough Council have both declared Air Quality Management Areas where these combined pressures result in nitrogen dioxide concentrations that exceed national objectives. An additional layer of environmental sensitivity is provided by the proximity of the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, where planning authorities and statutory bodies including Natural England take a particularly rigorous approach to potential impacts on air quality, nitrogen deposition and ecological integrity.
Air Dust Odour provides specialist air quality, dust and odour assessments for planning applications across the Gatwick area. Our Chartered Environmentalists understand both the technical demands of assessing air quality in an airport environment and the specific requirements of Crawley Borough Council, Reigate and Banstead Borough Council, Mole Valley District Council and other relevant planning authorities. Whether you are a developer progressing a hotel or logistics scheme on Manor Royal, an operator seeking planning permission for a new commercial kitchen, or an infrastructure promoter involved in Gatwick expansion work, we have the expertise to deliver a robust, clearly presented assessment that advances your project.
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Our Services Near Gatwick Airport
Air Quality Assessment
Detailed air quality assessments for hotel, residential, commercial and logistics development near Gatwick, incorporating aircraft emission contributions and addressing the requirements of Crawley, Reigate and Banstead, and Mole Valley planning authorities. We prepare screening assessments and detailed dispersion modelling studies, ensuring that aviation-source contributions to background concentrations are properly characterised and that reports are robust against scrutiny from planning officers and statutory consultees.
Learn more →Dust Assessment & CEMP
Construction dust risk assessments and Construction Environmental Management Plans for development in the Gatwick area. With residential communities in Crawley, Horley and surrounding villages in close proximity to many development sites, and the ecological sensitivity of the High Weald AONB, effective construction dust management is a key requirement for planning applications across the area.
Learn more →Kitchen Odour Assessment
Odour impact assessments for restaurants, hotels, airport catering operations and food businesses in the Gatwick area, prepared using the EMAQ+ methodology. Hotel development near Gatwick is particularly active, and kitchen odour assessments are a regular component of hospitality planning applications in the area. We advise on extraction system design and abatement requirements appropriate to the scale and setting of each operation.
Learn more →Odour Impact Assessment
Odour assessments for industrial, logistics and waste management operations near Gatwick and across the Gatwick Diamond business area. The presence of the High Weald AONB and rural communities close to industrial and commercial land uses in the area means odour can be a sensitive planning issue, and we prepare defensible assessments that address both planning policy requirements and the concerns of local authority environmental health teams.
Learn more →Areas and Communities We Cover
- Gatwick Airport
- Crawley
- Horley
- Reigate
- Redhill
- Hookwood
- Charlwood
- Three Bridges
- Tilgate
- Merstham
- East Grinstead
- Haywards Heath
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need an air quality assessment for development near Gatwick?
In most cases, yes. Crawley Borough Council and Reigate and Banstead Borough Council have both declared Air Quality Management Areas in the vicinity of Gatwick Airport, and planning applications for development within or close to these AQMAs — or that would generate significant additional traffic on the M23 or A23 corridors — will typically require an air quality assessment. The proximity of the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and other sensitive ecological receptors to the south and east adds a further layer of environmental sensitivity that planners and statutory consultees take seriously. We recommend seeking pre-application advice from the relevant local authority on whether an assessment is required for your specific proposal.
How do Gatwick aircraft emissions affect local air quality?
Gatwick is the UK's second busiest airport and operates from a single runway with one of the highest single-runway utilisation rates in the world. Aircraft landing and taking off, taxiing between runways and stands, and running engines during pushback and pre-departure procedures all generate nitrogen oxides, particulate matter and other combustion products that disperse across the surrounding area. These aviation-source emissions contribute to background concentrations of air pollutants in communities including Crawley, Horley, Hookwood and Charlwood that must be properly accounted for in air quality assessments. Standard Defra background concentration datasets do not fully capture aviation-source contributions in the Gatwick area, and specialist assessment methodology is needed to produce a defensible analysis.
What boroughs have AQMAs near Gatwick?
Crawley Borough Council has declared an Air Quality Management Area covering parts of the town where nitrogen dioxide concentrations associated with road traffic and airport operations exceed national objectives. Reigate and Banstead Borough Council has similarly declared AQMAs in areas affected by traffic on the M23 and A23 corridors. Mole Valley District Council also has areas of air quality concern in the vicinity of the airport access roads. Developers should check the current AQMA boundaries for each authority and consult the relevant local air quality action plans, as boundaries and declared pollutants can be updated as monitoring data evolves.
Can you help with air quality for Gatwick expansion-related development?
Yes. Gatwick Airport's proposed expansion, including the development of the existing emergency runway into a second operational runway, represents a major infrastructure project that will require extensive Environmental Impact Assessment work including detailed air quality chapters. Development directly associated with airport expansion, as well as enabling development and associated commercial schemes in the surrounding area, will require specialist air quality input addressing aircraft emissions, ground transport, construction dust and impacts on sensitive ecological receptors including the High Weald AONB. Air Dust Odour has the expertise to support developers, airport operators and their planning consultants through this complex process.
We are building a hotel near Gatwick — do we need an air quality assessment?
Yes, almost certainly. Hotel development near Gatwick is subject to the same air quality planning requirements as any other development introducing sensitive receptors in this environment. New hotel rooms are classed as sensitive receptors for air quality purposes, meaning that the assessment must demonstrate that guests and staff will not be exposed to pollutant concentrations above national air quality objectives or guideline values. The assessment will need to address contributions from road traffic on the M23, A23 and local roads, as well as aircraft emissions, and will typically require dispersion modelling at receptor locations on the hotel facades. We prepare hotel air quality assessments regularly and can advise on any mitigation measures — such as mechanical ventilation systems — that may be required to secure planning permission.