Hackney / Planning & development
Air quality assessment in Hackney
Planning a development in Hackney? ACP provides air quality assessment, monitoring and mitigation advice, from Old Street and Dalston to Hackney Wick.
Use local policy and measured pollution trends to plan the evidence for your site, its future users and nearby neighbours.
Discuss your projectLocal planning guidance
LP58, validation requirements and the Hackney Wick policy boundary.
Monitoring explained
Roadside trends, diffusion tubes, background levels and other pollutants.
Your project checklist
Six questions to organise the assessment and monitoring brief.
Local context / Sources, monitoring and exposure
Roadside exposure, neighbourhood streets and industrial legacy
Old Street, Dalston and the A10
Compare road-facing rooms, entrances and courtyards separately. Queuing traffic, buses, servicing and street geometry can create contrasts that a single background value misses.
Hackney Wick and mixed-use sites
Review historical land use alongside construction dust. Where excavation could release volatile compounds, coordinate air quality, odour and contaminated-land advice around the actual pathway.
Schools, homes and building services
Map vulnerable users and neighbouring receptors before positioning boilers, generators or extract outlets. Consider ventilation and noise together so that one design response does not undermine another.
AQMA / Current designation
The whole borough is designated
Hackney’s whole-borough Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) was declared on 29 June 2006. It covers annual and hourly NO₂ and daily PM₁₀. The designation remains active even though the 2025 monitoring results met these objectives.
Defra / 2025 reporting evidence
158 included NO₂ records met the objective
Defra’s 2025 dashboard shows 158 of 158 included NO₂ records compliant. These are submitted reporting records, not a census of all instruments, tubes or local sensors.
Highest monitored annual NO₂
µg/m³ at Urswick Road tube site 230, below the 40 µg/m³ objective.
A mixed year for NO₂
Of 137 tube sites measured in both 2024 and 2025, 74 fell and 63 rose.
Look beyond NO₂
Particle increases and ozone episodes remain part of the local picture.
2025 council ASR, executive summary and pages 32–34.
The monitoring network
The 2025 ASR reports seven automatic stations and 151 NO₂ diffusion-tube sites, including one triplicate site. Breathe London sensors are an additional, separate network. Table B shows NO₂ at all seven stations, PM₁₀ at six, PM₂.₅ at three and ozone at Old Street.
Measured trends / 2019–2025
Two local records, a shared scale
Annual mean NO₂ · µg/m³
Old Street
HK006 · roadside
27.9µg/m³ · 2025
Dalston Lane
HK014 · roadside
31.5µg/m³ · 2025
Dashed line: annual NO₂ objective, 40 µg/m³. 2025 ASR, Table D, PDF page 23.
Annual values and data capture
| Station | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2025 capture |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Old Street | 47 | 37 | 33 | 31 | 31 | 23.6 | 27.9 | 74.4% |
| Dalston Lane | — | — | — | — | 36 | 33.3 | 31.5 | 96.6% |
Old Street’s annual NO₂ rose from 23.6 to 27.9 µg/m³ between 2024 and 2025. Dalston Lane fell from 33.3 to 31.5. Both are below earlier recorded levels, but the latest year shows why a single trend cannot represent every street.
Old Street’s 2025 NO₂ capture was 74.4%; the ASR annualised the result. Dalston Lane achieved 96.6%. Missing early years at Dalston Lane remain blank. These are monitor-location concentrations, before any distance correction.
Street-level evidence / Diffusion tubes
What do the diffusion tubes show?
The council reported no annual NO₂ concentration above 40 µg/m³ at any monitor in 2025. Ten tube sites and the Dalston Lane automatic monitor still exceeded 30 µg/m³. These locations help identify where exposure deserves closer attention.
| Tube site | 2024 | 2025 | 2025 capture |
|---|---|---|---|
| 230 · Urswick Road | 33.2 | 33.7 | 82.7% |
| 63 · Delta Dalston Lane | 43.3 | 32.9 | 75.0% |
| 50 · Inspired Directions, Dalston Lane | 34.6 | 32.3 | 75.0% |
| 67 · Wick Road | 32.6 | 31.3 | 100.0% |
| 64 · Shoreditch Park, urban background | 17.6 | 20.3 | 50.0%* |
Bias-adjusted monitor-location values; annualisation applied where required. *Shoreditch Park’s 2025 result was annualised because of incomplete capture. These selected examples are not a complete site ranking. ASR Tables C/E, pages 15, 25 and 29.
Why do the report’s exceedance dates differ?
The 43.3 µg/m³ result at Delta Dalston Lane in 2024 was measured at the tube. The ASR’s AQMA history gives 2022 as the last annual NO₂ exceedance after distance correction to relevant exposure. Those are different comparisons. Neither statement means the AQMA has been revoked.
Background / Choosing assessment inputs
Separate street pollution from the wider background
Shoreditch Park’s increase illustrates the ASR’s finding of a possible rise in background NO₂ during 2025. The report also describes increases around Shoreditch, Hoxton and parts of Homerton, alongside reductions on several busy through-roads. Traffic changes, weather and the wider background must be considered together before attributing a change to one measure.
For a new assessment, Defra currently provides 2021-based background maps for NOₓ, NO₂, PM₁₀ and PM₂.₅, with annual estimates to 2040. Select the site’s grid square and assessment year, then compare with suitable local measurements. A 1 km grid estimate describes background; local roads and plant need their own assessment.
Defra background maps and supporting guidance · Council analysis, pages 33–37.
Particles and other pollutants
PM₁₀ · coarse particles
Annual means ranged from 16.7 µg/m³ at Graham Road to 22.9 at Homerton Library in 2025. Both national PM₁₀ objectives were met. Old Street (20.2) and Homerton exceeded the council’s lower 20 µg/m³ annual benchmark.
Old Street’s 68.5% capture required annualisation. Compare all six stations in ASR Tables G/H.
PM₂.₅ · fine particles
Annual means were 11.3 µg/m³ at Old Street, 10.3 at Northwold Road and 9.5 at Graham Road. The first two exceeded the 10 µg/m³ benchmark used in the ASR. This comparison is distinct from the current AQMA declaration.
Old Street’s 73.9% capture required annualisation. The other two sites had 100% capture. See Table I.
Ozone · episodic pollution
Old Street recorded 14 days when the running eight-hour mean exceeded 100 µg/m³. This exceeded the ASR’s stated objective of no more than ten days. Capture was 73.1%, so some episodes may have been missed.
Ozone is a secondary pollutant with regional and weather influences. See Tables J/K; annual means and episode counts answer different questions.
2025 ASR, Tables G–K, pages 59–66.
Turn the evidence into a site brief
Match the pollutant, measurement height, source setting and period to the question being assessed. Use ratified annual data for trends and distinguish provisional live readings. Keep monitor quality, background-map version and local source assumptions in the assessment record.
For ecological receptors, identify the habitat and exposure pathway before selecting deposition or concentration methods. In the former LLDC area, policy BN.11 explicitly links potential significant air-quality effects on European sites to project-level Habitats Regulations Assessment. Human-health objectives do not replace habitat-specific criteria.
Council report and quality notes · London policy and assessment framework
Full-report data year: 2025. Defra dashboard data year: 2025. Sources checked 19 October 2026.
Local requirements / Policy, guidance and validation
Hackney planning evidence: the current documents
LP58: assessment and mitigation
LP33, adopted on 22 July 2020, requires Air Quality Neutral standards and minimised exposure. Part C lists five AQA categories: major development; new build in substandard air; proximity to sensitive uses; sensitive uses; and significant demolition and construction. Parts D/E address mitigation, with on-site measures first.
Validation: match the application
The linked checklist repeats the five categories on page 3. It covers full and outline applications and relevant variations of conditions. Its introduction excludes advertisement consent and prior approval. Check the correct application route rather than applying one checklist to every proposal.
Construction: dust, logistics and plant
The Code of Construction Practice links site categories to construction dust assessment and a construction management plan. Set out activities, dust risks, mitigation and monitoring where appropriate. Use the Mayor’s current NRMM standards when specifying machinery, as older documents describe earlier zones and dates.
Sustainable design and construction SPD
The adopted 2016 SPD links ventilation, energy systems and pollution. Its CHP submission checklist calls for air-quality modelling. Read its older energy-policy references alongside LP33 and the current London Plan; a carbon benefit alone does not establish acceptable local emissions.
Planning obligations and local SPDs
The adopted 2020 Planning Obligations SPD, paragraph 77, allows proportionate measures to improve or monitor air quality where a development’s impacts justify them. Also check relevant place guidance, such as the adopted 2025 Dalston Plan, and applicable 2026 retrofit or alterations SPDs.
Hackney Wick: LLDC policy BN.11
Planning powers returned in December 2024, but the 2020–2036 LLDC Local Plan remains applicable within its boundary. BN.11 covers emissions, Neutral standards, AQA for major development in poor-air areas and potential effects on protected habitats. Check the site boundary before choosing policies.
Council register of adopted and emerging SPDs · Mayor’s current NRMM requirements
Neutral, Positive and the impact assessment
An impact assessment considers pollution and exposure. Air Quality Neutral compares development emissions with the applicable benchmarks. Hackney’s planning guidance also points larger EIA development towards Air Quality Positive requirements. Identify the applicable London Plan route and prepare the design statement early, alongside construction dust and management evidence.
Hackney’s air-quality planning guidance · London policy and assessment framework
02 / Practical approach
Choose evidence that answers the question
Use annual-status reporting to identify available monitoring and its context. Then check whether the location and measurement period represent the proposed assessment receptors.
A long-running roadside record may answer a different question from a courtyard or elevated intake. Record the limitations clearly and identify whether modelling or additional monitoring would fill a material gap.
Illustrative project brief
A proposed residential layout includes street-facing rooms and a rear courtyard. A single borough monitoring result should not be assumed to describe both environments without a representativeness review.
03 / Interactive project checklist
Hackney evidence planner
Answer six questions to organise the assessment brief. Choose “Not sure yet” where information is missing; those points remain visible in your results.
Answers stay in this page. The planner organises evidence; it does not certify compliance or decide planning requirements.
04 / A clear assessment package
From the brief to the planning evidence
01 / Scope
Define the question
Bring together the local requirement, proposal, sources and receptors. Identify missing information before detailed work begins.
02 / Assess
Use consistent inputs
Align the baseline, traffic, plant and programme. Explain assumptions and compare relevant scenarios.
03 / Respond
Connect findings to design
Record mitigation and the drawings or specifications it relies on. Review material changes as the project develops.
Our London Neutral and Positive evidence planner helps organise the wider policy workstreams. For construction, use the London assessment and monitoring guidance alongside the site-specific brief.
Where extract, fan noise or sensitive neighbours are involved, coordinate the noise assessment and odour assessment with the same plans. The main air quality service page explains the broader assessment and monitoring services.
On the horizon / Status checked 19 October 2026
What is changing in Hackney?
Hackney has adopted its 2026–2030 Air Quality Action Plan. Its new Local Plan is being prepared, with use expected in 2029. Keep the emerging plan separate from LP33 and the applicable LLDC policies. The action plan’s health ambitions do not redefine the national objectives.
Council update and policy status
At regional and national level, track adopted guidance separately from consultations. Use the London air quality hub and main air quality guide for the wider framework, then check the edition relevant to the application date.
05 / Send what you have
Start your Hackney air quality brief
Send the information available now. These details help us identify the next assessment steps and prepare an appropriate scope:
- Site address, plans and planning reference.
- Proposed use, scale and application stage.
- Council comments, conditions and relevant deadlines.
- Traffic, servicing, energy and extract information.
- Occupied spaces, windows and ventilation proposals.
- Construction activities and intended programme.
- Existing reports, monitoring and material design changes.
For Hackney, include the relevant street or junction, any combustion plant, the policy boundary and the nearest suitable monitoring evidence.
Local project questions
Hackney air quality questions
Policy, monitoring and the evidence to consider for your site.
Which Hackney policy governs air quality?
LP58 in the adopted Local Plan 2033 addresses pollution and assessment triggers. Within the former LLDC area, check the continuing 2020–2036 Local Plan and policy BN.11. The applicable boundary matters.
Does Hackney monitor with diffusion tubes?
Yes. Its 2025 ASR reports 151 NO₂ diffusion-tube sites alongside seven automatic stations. Tubes provide spatial coverage; they do not measure hourly peaks or PM₂.₅.
Why do the two charts move in different directions?
They represent different roadside locations. Traffic, weather, local activity and monitoring changes can affect annual results. The charts describe measured variation and do not attribute it to one intervention.
Which pollutants should a Hackney assessment consider?
NO₂ and particles are common starting points for traffic and combustion. Construction dust, VOCs or odour may also matter, especially where the works disturb contaminated ground. Ozone belongs in the wider monitoring context. Select the actual pollutants from the sources, receptors and assessment purpose.
Does the whole-borough AQMA mean every proposal needs the same assessment?
No. The active AQMA covers annual and hourly NO₂ and daily PM₁₀. LP58, the correct validation route and the site conditions determine the evidence to consider. Recent measurements below an objective do not automatically remove assessment requirements.
What is different about a Hackney Wick site?
Former industrial land can introduce contamination and odour pathways during excavation. The applicable planning-policy boundary also needs checking following the transfer of powers.
Can a nearby monitor describe a courtyard or upper floor?
Not automatically. Compare distance, height, street form, period and quality. Use appropriate modelling or monitoring where the available data cannot answer the design question.
Can air quality, dust, odour and noise be coordinated?
Yes. A shared site plan, works programme, plant schedule and receptor register help keep the evidence consistent. Each topic still needs its appropriate method.
Hackney / Your next step
Discuss your air quality project
Send the site, proposal and planning stage. Include any council request and programme constraints so ACP can identify the assessment steps.
Your details are handled under our privacy policy.
Evidence / Checked 19 October 2026
Hackney guidance and sources
- 2025 annual status report: monitoring, trends and quality notes
- Adopted Local Plan and relevant policies
- Current planning validation requirements
- Council air quality planning guidance
- Planning gateway and applicable plan area
- Current council action plan / policy updates
- Local Plan status and emerging plan
- Defra: current AQMA and history
- Defra: local-authority dashboard
- Council adopted and emerging SPD register
- 2016 Sustainable Design and Construction SPD
- 2020 Planning Obligations SPD
- Code of Construction Practice
- LLDC Local Plan 2020–2036, including BN.11
- Defra: current background maps
- Mayor of London: current NRMM requirements
Use the dated report tables and adopted documents alongside the latest council updates.