Environmental Noise Assessment

An environmental noise assessment is necessary where a development is potentially adversely affected by way of noise.

The potential noise source(s) could be road traffic, railways, aircraft, industrial noise, or community and entertainment use.

An environmental noise assessment is normally required as part of the planning process where a new noise sensitive development is to be located in close proximity to the above noise source(s).

The assessment involves measuring the baseline existing noise climate, determining the likely source(s) of noise affecting the development, predicting the overall impact of the noise source(s) on the sensitive receiver(s) and where the impact is likely to have an adverse effect we would provide mitigation advice.

The aim of the advice would be to achieve satisfactory conditions internally and externally to the sensitive receiver(s). We would advise on building layout and orientation, barrier and embankments locations, building fabric constructions (such as the glazing specification) and suitable ventilation provisions.

Our advice will follow the relevant planning guidance within England and Wales. These include the following:

• National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF)
• National Policy Statement England (NPSE)
• National Planning Policy Guidance (NPPG)
• Planning Policy Wales
• Technical Advice Note 11 (TAN11)
• British Standard 4142:2014 (BS4142:2014)
• British Standard 4142:1997 (BS4142:1997)
• British Standard 8233:2014 (BS8233:2014)
• British Standard 8233:1999 (BS8233:1999)
• World Health Organisation Guidelines for Community Noise (WHO 1999)
• Where necessary, we can also address the requirements of the former Planning Policy Guidance 24 (PPG24) which is still in use by some local authorities.

Where necessary, we liaise with the local authorities’ Environmental Protection department beforehand to ensure their requirements and expectations are met.

At Acoustic Consultants Limited we have a considerable experience in providing environmental noise advice. We use Class 1 sound level meters for all our assessments and proven in house techniques and 3D noise modelling software to aid in our advice.

We would issue our advice in a clear report format which can be understood by both acoustic consultants and those operating outside the industry. We would provide our calculations within the report to ensure we are open and clear to how we came about our findings.