TNEI was commissioned to provide Noise Expert Witness Services at a Public Inquiry for the continued operation and extension of an established sand and gravel quarry in Cumbria. The scheme was recently awarded Planning Consent at Appeal and all recommendations provided by TNEI’s Noise Expert Witness were accepted by the Planning Inspector.
Preparing for the Public Inquiry TNEI’s Noise Expert Witness, Stephen Arnott had to review the noise impact assessment provided within the Environmental Statement together with all recent monitoring data, to ensure it met the requirements of recently introduced guidance, before following up with a site visit to evaluate the local noise environment together with options for optimising noise control onsite.
Two Proofs of Evidence were then prepared, one for the S78 Appeal and the second for an Enforcement Notice Appeal, which requires a different approach as the outcome can result in criminal sanctions. Further work included input into the Statement of Common Ground and negotiating draft conditions.
During the Inquiry, Stephen was able to answer all queries raised by the Mineral Planning Authority, the Planning Inspector and local residents and to explain current guidance within the National Planning policy Guidelines (NPPG) regarding noise limits, tonal and impulsive noise at quarries. This proved sufficient to satisfy the Inspector and most importantly overcome requests from the Environmental Health Officer to apply additional tonal penalties, even though there was no substantive evidence of noise problems and no history of tonal issues at this site.
Stephen Arnott, TNEI’s Expert Witness said:
“‘The efforts we made to resolve noise concerns, both prior to and during the conditions session was ultimately worthwhile, resulting in a pragmatic set of noise related conditions that comply with the spirit and letter of the NPPG and should effectively protect the amenity of residents without being unreasonably onerous for the operator. This was a very interesting project to work on.’
To read more about TNEI’s noise services please go to www.tnei.co.uk/noise. To get in touch with a member of our team,please go to our contacts page.
