Noise, Air, Odour and Light – Page 6
Environmental health topics in planning: noise, air quality, kitchen extraction, odour and lighting.
Noise, Air, Odour and Light articles – page 6
263 articlesNoise limiter planning conditions and why they fail
A noise limiter controls only the sound leaving the loudspeakers it is wired to. Here is how the setting is derived, why low-frequency music still causes complaints, and what to ask for instead of a bare device condition.
Agent of change: new flats beside a music venue
Build flats next to an established venue and you provide the mitigation, before occupation. The survey, the criterion and the facade all have to work at 63 and 125 hertz.
ProPG stages for a housing scheme beside a railway
Railway sites produce high maximum levels between long quiet periods, so the ProPG assessment turns on events rather than averages and on layout rather than glazing.
Choosing background measurement periods for a noise survey
The background sound level decides a BS 4142 result. Survey timing, weather exclusions and microphone position matter more than the arithmetic that follows.
Tonal and impulsive penalties in a BS 4142 assessment
Corrections of up to +6 dB for tonality, +9 dB for impulsivity and +3 dB for intermittency can move a BS 4142 conclusion without anything about the plant changing. What evidence each correction needs.
Measuring light spill at a bedroom window
Vertical illuminance measured in the plane of the glazing, with the source on and off, turns a light nuisance complaint into evidence. What to measure, with what, and what to record alongside it.
Odour complaints and statutory nuisance abatement notices
Odour from business premises is a statutory nuisance under Part III of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, a regime that runs independently of planning control. Abatement notices carry a 21-day appeal deadline and a criminal offence for contravention.
Siting roof plant without a noise objection
Roof plant reaches windows that ground level plant never would. How to place it, screen it properly, mount it to stop structure borne hum, and what to submit.
When an unattended noise survey is enough
Logged data gives time history and cannot identify the source or its acoustic features. How to decide duration, screen for weather, record calibration and report both data sets.
Air quality neutral requirements in London
Air quality neutral is a calculation against published benchmarks for building and transport emissions, required across Greater London. What to submit, and how air quality positive differs.
Nitrogen deposition on protected sites from traffic
Traffic from a new scheme can deposit nitrogen on a designated heath or woodland. How screening distances, critical loads and in combination effects are handled under the Habitats Regulations.
Vibration from railways and the assessment thresholds
Two effects from one source: vibration people feel and the rumble they hear. How the dose value method works, what to measure on an empty site and when the answer is to change the use.
Agent of change and protecting a music venue
Agent of change puts the mitigation burden on the party introducing the change. What that means for facade design, structure-borne noise, entrances and the legal mechanisms that follow.
Agreeing noise sensitive receptors with the officer
Agree the receptors and measurement positions in writing before monitoring begins. Which candidates to test, how free field and facade positions differ, and what to do when the officer disagrees.
Lighting design that protects bat commuting routes
A dark corridor is a designed element of a layout, not an absence of one. How to set a light level target at the retained feature and evidence it in the modelling.
Kitchen extraction: stack height, discharge and odour control
Terminating a metre above the ridge at the right efflux velocity does more for an odour case than any filter. What environmental health officers look for in a commercial kitchen extraction scheme.
Damage cost calculations for emissions mitigation
The arithmetic is simple. Whether the resulting payment is lawful as a planning obligation is the argument worth having, and design can remove most of the figure.
Section 60 notices and construction working hours
Section 60 of the Control of Pollution Act 1974 lets environmental health fix hours, plant and noise limits on a construction site. Breach is a criminal offence.
Construction noise limits and section 61 prior consent
Section 61 of the Control of Pollution Act 1974 lets you agree method, plant and hours before work starts, and section 65 then bars a section 60 notice.
Windows closed noise strategies and Part O overheating
Approved Document O ended the free ride on closed window acoustic strategies. Here is how to reconcile BS 8233 internal targets with TM59 overheating criteria.
ProPG stage 1 risk assessment for a noisy site
Stage 1 of ProPG places a residential site in a noise risk band and sets the scope of the acoustic design work. Run it before the layout is drawn, because arrangement is the cheapest mitigation available.
Unattended noise monitoring: duration, position, validity
An unattended noise survey succeeds or fails on duration, microphone position and how honestly you handle weather-affected data. The practical rules, and what belongs in the appendix.
Chimney heights, biomass boilers and the Clean Air Act
Section 14 approval is a consent in its own right, with its own thresholds and its own deadline. Getting planning permission for a stack that is too short is a common and expensive mistake.
Air quality assessment for a drive-through unit
Standard road traffic modelling assumes vehicles are moving. A drive-through queue is not, which is why these assessments need a different source term and a careful receptor list.
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