Haringey / Planning & development
Air quality assessment in Haringey
From Wood Green and Tottenham to Hornsey, Highgate and the Lee Valley, a useful assessment considers both the proposal’s emissions and the exposure of its future occupants.
ACP provides air quality assessment, monitoring and mitigation advice, connecting the local evidence with ventilation, energy, transport and construction design.
Discuss your projectLocal planning guidance
DM23, validation and sustainable-design requirements.
Monitoring and trends
Compare roadside, background and diffusion-tube evidence.
Your assessment brief
Organise sources, receptors and the design information.
01 / A local assessment brief
Different streets need different evidence
Wood Green and Hornsey
Assess the street frontage, servicing and proposed windows or intakes. The Wood Green automatic station and nearby diffusion tubes represent different positions, so their results should not be used interchangeably.
Tottenham, Seven Sisters and the Lee Valley
Bring major-road exposure, new homes, commercial activity and construction into the same site plan. Consider existing neighbours separately from the future occupants introduced by the proposal.
Highgate, Bounds Green and residential centres
Check road-facing façades, junctions and local combustion or extract sources. A borough-wide improvement can coexist with a street-specific issue, including along Archway Road or a busy town-centre corridor.
The whole borough remains an AQMA
Defra records Haringey’s designation from 1 July 2001 for annual NO₂ and daily PM₁₀. The AQMA remains declared across the whole borough.
Check the current Defra AQMA record · Council action plan and monitoring reports
02 / Monitoring evidence
What the latest measurements show
The 2025 annual status report, published in July 2026, records a longer-term fall in NO₂. Wood Green’s automatic annual mean fell from 41 to 37 µg/m³ in 2025; the other two automatic stations were unchanged from 2024.
Automatic stations
Two roadside settings and one urban-background setting in the 2025 report.
Diffusion-tube locations
NO₂ locations in Table C, with triplicate tubes sharing the High Road co-location site.
Wood Green annual NO₂
µg/m³ in 2025 at the automatic monitor, with 96.7% data capture.
Measured trend / 2019–2025
Roadside and urban background
Annual mean NO₂, µg/m³. The dashed line marks the national annual objective.
Haringey Roadside
639 High Road · roadside
25 µg/m³ in 2025
2025 valid data capture: 80.4%.
Priory Park South
Haringey South · urban background
14 µg/m³ in 2025
2025 valid data capture: 99.7%.
View annual values, including Wood Green
| Year | High Road | Priory Park | Wood Green |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 37 | 22 | — |
| 2020 | 33 | 16 | — |
| 2021 | 32 | 18 | 44 |
| 2022 | 30 | 17 | 44 |
| 2023 | 27 | 16 | 48 |
| 2024 | 25 | 14 | 41 |
| 2025 | 25 | 14 | 37 |
Values are at the monitoring location before receptor-distance correction. A dash indicates no result in this series. The measurements do not isolate the effect of one policy or establish conditions at every façade.
03 / Pollutants and exposure
Read the whole monitoring picture
| Station | NO₂ | PM₁₀ | PM₂.₅ |
|---|---|---|---|
| High RoadHaringey Roadside | 25 | — | — |
| Priory ParkUrban background | 14 | 12 | 7 |
| HG005Wood Green roadside | 37 | 14 | 10 |
Priory Park’s particle instruments were added in 2025; particle capture was 82.6%, compared with 96.7% at Wood Green. These are different measurement settings and pollutant coverage.
Diffusion tubes and receptor distance
The report gives 44.0 µg/m³ at HR31, near Wood Green High Road, and a distance-adjusted receptor estimate of 36.5. Retain the difference between the measured position and the assessed receptor.
Particles and ozone
PM₁₀ and PM₂.₅ are monitored at Wood Green and Priory Park. Priory Park also measures ozone; its rolling eight-hour results require a separate interpretation from annual NO₂ and particle means.
Local sensors
The report lists Breathe London sensors at Tottenham Hale, Holy Trinity school and Green Lanes. These provide additional context, with incomplete-year coverage in 2025. Check suitability before using sensor data for model verification.
Choose background evidence for the actual site
Compare the monitoring environment, year, instrument and capture with your assessment question. Use the relevant Defra background grid and local source information without double-counting road or plant contributions. Proposed windows and intakes need their own receptor positions.
Defra local-authority dashboard · Haringey monitoring and recent readings
Recent readings are provisional until ratified. The charts use reported annual measurements.
04 / Policy and submission
Connect DM23 with the planning evidence
Adopted DM23
DM23 addresses both the development’s effects on borough air quality and the conditions for its occupants or users. It requires assessments for all major development and other appropriate proposals, with adequate mitigation where needed.
Local validation requirements
The council gateway identifies a list effective from 29 August 2024. It lists air-quality evidence for major development, proposals affecting air quality and residential development in particularly poor air. Major schemes also have a dust, emissions and NRMM entry.
Current validation gateway · Published local list, pages 25–26
Sustainable Design and Construction SPD
The 2013 SPD, section 7.1, places air quality in the early design process and calls for mitigation before submission. Read its older energy and technical references alongside current London guidance and the project’s actual plant proposal.
Air Quality Action Plan 2025–2030
The council now publishes the 2025–2030 plan. Its latest annual report confirms formal adoption following consultation and GLA approval. Use the current actions relevant to transport, development and exposure.
Current action plan · Council plan and annual-report library
London Plan SI1: identify each requirement
Impact assessment considers emissions and exposure. Air Quality Neutral addresses the applicable building and transport benchmarks. Air Quality Positive applies to the relevant large-scale design approach. Keep these workstreams clear and use current GLA methods.
The London air-quality tools and policy guide helps organise the related evidence.
The published validation list is dated 2024. Confirm the version linked by the council when submitting an application.
05 / Practical design response
Assess both directions of impact
Protect future occupants
Locate bedrooms, classrooms, amenity areas and air intakes against roads and existing sources. Assess the relevant floor, façade and intake height, then align the ventilation and acoustic strategies.
Protect existing neighbours
Map the receptors affected by new traffic, servicing, energy plant or extract. Use the submitted equipment, hours and flue details. Keep a clear record when plant or layouts change.
Plan the construction stage
Describe demolition, earthworks, construction, trackout and access routes. Connect dust controls and monitoring to the risk assessment, programme, sensitive neighbours and applicable NRMM requirements.
For a restaurant or commercial kitchen, coordinate air discharge, odour treatment and fan noise with the same drawings. Where a source has a credible pathway to an ecological receptor, include that question in the assessment scope.
Local planning / Public record
Separate the assessment from its delivery controls
The 4 March 2025 committee record for 66 homes beside Seven Sisters Road and St Ann’s Road, application HGY/2024/3315, lists separate conditions for an air-quality assessment, NRMM and dust management. The committee resolved to grant permission subject to the recorded requirements.
This illustrates a useful project distinction: establish the exposure and emissions evidence, then carry the construction and mitigation commitments into the documents used to deliver the scheme.
06 / Interactive project checklist
Haringey evidence planner
Answer five questions to organise the assessment brief. Choose “Not sure yet” where information is missing; these points remain visible in your results.
Answers stay in this page. This planner organises evidence and does not certify compliance or decide planning requirements.
07 / 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 / Checked 20 October 2026
Keep emerging policy and data current
Haringey is preparing a consolidated replacement Local Plan. Its Regulation 18 draft consultation ran in 2025. The council’s forward record schedules a Regulation 19 and submission decision for 10 November 2026; that is a future scheduled decision, not an adopted replacement plan.
The current 2025–2030 Air Quality Action Plan and the 2025 monitoring report provide a newer evidence base than the earlier draft action plan. Review subsequent monitoring, consultation and policy updates when fixing the assessment year and submission scope.
New Local Plan overview · Scheduled Regulation 19 decision record · Current action plan and annual reports
At London and national level, distinguish adopted guidance, consultation material and health-based ambitions. Confirm the current GLA methods, Defra background data and IAQM guidance for the actual assessment.
08 / Send what you have
Start your Haringey air quality brief
Send the information available now so we can identify the assessment steps:
- Site address, plans, use and planning reference.
- Application stage, council comments and conditions.
- Existing sources and proposed occupied spaces.
- Traffic, servicing and energy-plant information.
- Ventilation, intake and extract proposals.
- Construction activities, access routes and programme.
- Previous assessments and material design changes.
Separate incoming exposure from the proposal’s effects on neighbours, while using one coordinated set of plans.
Questions / Local answers
Haringey air-quality FAQs
Is the whole of Haringey an Air Quality Management Area?
Yes. Defra records the whole borough as an AQMA, declared on 1 July 2001 for annual nitrogen dioxide and daily PM 10. The designation remains declared despite improvements in monitoring results.
What does DM23 require?
DM 23 asks development to address effects on borough air quality and on the occupants or users of the proposal. It requires assessments for major development and other appropriate proposals, with adequate mitigation where necessary.
Does Haringey still use diffusion tubes?
Yes. Table C of the 2025 report lists 35 NO 2 monitoring locations, including triplicate tubes at the High Road co-location site. Keep physical locations separate from the number of individual tubes and retain data-quality qualifications.
Has Wood Green met the annual nitrogen dioxide objective?
The automatic monitor reported 37 µg/m³ in 2025, compared with 41 in 2024. This was its first reported year below the 40 µg/m³ annual objective. Nearby tube and receptor values describe different positions and need their own interpretation.
Why do the Wood Green tube and receptor values differ?
The 2025 report gives 44.0 µg/m³ at HR 31 and a distance-adjusted receptor estimate of 36.5. The correction accounts for the different road distance; it is not another measured value at the tube.
Which other pollutants are monitored?
Wood Green and Priory Park monitor PM 10 and PM 2.5. Priory Park also measures ozone. The report separately lists indicative sensors measuring NO 2 and PM 2.5; instrument type, capture and averaging period matter when selecting evidence.
Is the replacement Local Plan already adopted?
The council is preparing a replacement consolidated plan. As checked on 20 October 2026, its forward record schedules a Regulation 19 and submission decision for 10 November 2026. A scheduled consultation decision does not adopt the plan.
What should a kitchen or extract proposal include?
Provide the use, operating hours, equipment, discharge position, treatment and nearby sensitive receptors. Coordinate the air-quality brief with odour and fan-noise evidence using the same plans.
Haringey / 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.
Sources / Local and London evidence
Haringey sources and further reading
- 2025 annual status report and monitoring quality notes
- Defra: Haringey AQMA
- Adopted Development Management DPD
- Current validation gateway
- Published local validation list
- Sustainable Design and Construction SPD
- Air Quality Action Plan2025–2030
- Replacement Local Plan overview
- Scheduled Regulation19 decision record
- Seven Sisters Road / St Ann’s Road committee record
- Defra local-authority dashboard
- London policy, borough finder and tools