News
Air Quality: Pitfalls and Why Early Expert Engagement Saves Time, Money, and Effort
29/10/2025
Local authorities face growing pressure to deliver air quality improvements while balancing tight budgets, competing priorities, and stretched teams. It’s understandable that many councils try to manage specialist air quality tasks internally, but this often leads to unintended consequences: wasted effort, delays, and outputs that fall short of technical and regulatory objectives. This not only consumes valuable budgets but can undermine confidence and public trust.
Why does this happen?Air quality tasks demand deep technical knowledge, rigorous monitoring/modelling, and an understanding of evolving regulations, all of which require time and resources that many councils simply don’t have. Attempting to “do it all” internally can divert attention from core responsibilities and lead to inefficiencies.
It doesn’t have to be that way!Investing in seasoned experts delivers real value, and key saves money. By engaging Ricardo’s air quality specialists early, you gain access to decades of experience, with proven methodologies and deliverables. Our team delivers projects on time, within budget, and aligned with technical objectives, providing sound, defensible results that support compliance, community health, public engagement, and educational initiatives.
Early collaboration means we can identify potential constraints before they become issues, saving time and reducing costs while providing project resilience. Our approach goes beyond meeting regulatory standards, we help integrate air quality into strategies that prioritise your objectives. For example, engaging before infrastructure developments can secure ring-fenced budgets and ensure both council and community needs are met. Don’t let air quality become an afterthought. Make it a driver for better design and smarter decision-making. For further information on how we can help contact David Madle on 07968 707279 or by email at: david.madle@ricardo.com.
Ricardo's Air Quality Monitoring Experts Support Cambridge City Council, helping schools explore alternative lower pollution travel routes
29/09/2025
Ricardo is proud to support Cambridge City Council in helping local schools explore lower pollution travel routes. Through our air quality monitoring expertise, students have actively tracked pollution levels on their school journeys – empowering communities to make healthier travel choices. Read more about the initiative here. As a trusted independent advisor, Ricardo works with authorities more widely to deliver tailored solutions – from monitoring and reporting on cleaner travel routes, to helping the public understand and reduce their emissions and exposure to them. We also provide air quality monitoring around:
- - Energy from Waste plants
- - Quarries and industrial sites
- - Road traffic corridors
- - Fence line developments and more
If your authority is considering new or expanded air quality monitoring, we’re here to help. Contact David Madle: 07968 707279 or by email: david.madle@ricardo.com