Expert air quality, dust and odour assessments across Solihull Metropolitan Borough. Our chartered professionals support planning applications near the HS2 Interchange, Birmingham Airport, the NEC and throughout the M42 corridor.
Solihull is one of the most prosperous and rapidly developing boroughs in the United Kingdom, situated to the south-east of Birmingham and home to some of the country's most strategically significant assets: Birmingham Airport, the National Exhibition Centre, the HS2 Interchange station and the vast UK Central Hub development zone that surrounds them. This concentration of nationally important infrastructure creates an air quality context of exceptional complexity. Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council has declared Air Quality Management Areas covering the M42 motorway corridor and parts of the A45 Coventry Road, where nitrogen dioxide monitoring has demonstrated persistent exceedances of national air quality objectives, and officers apply rigorous assessment expectations to development proposals across the affected areas.
The UK Central Hub is a mixed-use development programme of national significance encompassing new commercial, residential and infrastructure uses across land in the east of the borough around Birmingham Airport. HS2 construction activity and the associated enabling works represent a significant source of dust and traffic air quality impacts during the construction phase, while the long-term build-out of the Hub will generate cumulative effects on air quality that any individual planning application must address within its assessment. The combination of motorway emissions from the M42, airport operations and the scale of new development makes this one of the most demanding air quality assessment environments in the country.
At Air Dust Odour, our Chartered Environmentalists work with developers, architects, planning consultants and environmental impact assessment teams across Solihull and the wider West Midlands. We bring deep expertise in the IAQM guidance, ADMS dispersion modelling, airport emission inventories and the specific assessment requirements of Solihull MBC. We produce clear, robust reports that withstand scrutiny from planning officers and statutory consultees, and we support clients through pre-application discussions, planning determination and condition discharge.
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Request a QuoteScreening and detailed air quality assessments for residential, commercial and mixed-use developments across Solihull. We address the M42 and A45 AQMAs, airport emission contributions and the cumulative context of the UK Central Hub, and produce assessments that meet the specific requirements of Solihull MBC and the relevant statutory consultees including National Highways and the Environment Agency.
Learn MoreFull Environmental Impact Assessment air quality chapters for major development proposals within and around the UK Central Hub, HS2 Interchange and Birmingham Airport. Our EIA chapters address construction and operational phase impacts, cumulative assessment, health impact assessment and mitigation design, and are prepared to meet the requirements of the relevant scoping opinions and Environmental Impact Regulations.
Learn MoreDust risk assessments and Construction Environmental Management Plans for demolition, groundworks and construction projects across Solihull. The high volume of concurrent construction activity across the UK Central area means dust management is a particular planning priority, and a well-prepared CEMP is essential to satisfy conditions and protect neighbouring businesses, event visitors and residents from construction-phase impacts.
Learn MoreOdour risk assessments for restaurants, cafes, takeaways and commercial kitchens following the EMAQ+ methodology. Solihull town centre, Shirley and the borough's expanding food and drink sector generate regular demand for kitchen odour assessments, and we provide clear, practical reports that identify appropriate extract and abatement solutions to satisfy planning officers and environmental health teams.
Learn MoreWe cover all parts of Solihull Metropolitan Borough, including the following key locations.
The UK Central Hub around Birmingham Airport is one of the most significant development zones in the United Kingdom, bringing together the HS2 Interchange station, expanded airport facilities, new commercial and residential development and major infrastructure investment across a constrained air quality environment. Solihull MBC and the relevant statutory consultees will require robust air quality assessment for any significant development within or adjacent to the UK Central area, addressing both the construction phase and the operational emissions from new traffic, airport-related movements and HS2 infrastructure. Given the cumulative scale of development planned across the zone, early engagement with air quality consultants is strongly recommended to inform Environmental Impact Assessment scoping and pre-application discussions.
Birmingham Airport is a significant source of air pollutants including nitrogen oxides, particulate matter and volatile organic compounds from aircraft operations, ground support equipment and associated vehicle movements. Developments within the airport's air quality influence zone — particularly new sensitive receptors such as residential properties, hotels or schools in Marston Green, Chelmsley Wood and the wider eastern Solihull area — may need to quantify the contribution of airport emissions to local concentrations alongside road traffic sources. The airport's ongoing expansion plans and the associated increase in flight movements are also material considerations for air quality assessments covering the medium to long term.
Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council has declared an Air Quality Management Area covering parts of the M42 motorway corridor and the A45 Coventry Road, where monitoring and modelling have demonstrated exceedances of the annual mean nitrogen dioxide air quality objective. The M42 AQMA affects planning decisions for development in the eastern part of the borough, particularly around junction areas and along sensitive receptor frontages close to the motorway. Any development introducing new sensitive receptors within or near the AQMA boundary will require an air quality assessment quantifying exposure and demonstrating that proposed mitigation is sufficient to protect future occupants.
Construction projects near the National Exhibition Centre and the wider UK Central area operate in a complex environment with multiple concurrent large-scale construction projects, high visitor and event traffic and sensitive nearby land uses including hotels, offices and residential properties. Solihull MBC will typically require a Construction Environmental Management Plan for any substantial construction project in this area, addressing dust risk, HGV routing, site boundary hoarding and wheel wash provisions. A well-prepared CEMP following IAQM best practice guidance is an important tool for managing relationships with neighbouring businesses and demonstrating to planning officers that environmental impacts will be properly controlled throughout the construction programme.
New or materially altered commercial kitchen operations in Solihull town centre — including restaurants, cafes, takeaways and any food and drink use generating cooking odours — will generally require an odour assessment as part of their planning or change of use application. Solihull town centre has a growing food and drink offer with residential properties and sensitive uses in close proximity, and the council's environmental health team will expect an EMAQ+ assessment evaluating the kitchen type, cooking processes, proposed extract system and discharge point. The assessment will identify whether additional odour abatement such as carbon filtration or ultraviolet treatment is required to reduce impacts to an acceptable level.
