Proposed New Business Unit at Time Technology Business ...€¦ · Daniel Green MIOA Senior...

Proposed New Business Unit at Time Technology Business Park Blackburn Road, Simonstone

Application for Extension of Operating Hours Noise Impact Assessment Report Report 19919.NIA.01

Screwfix Direct Ltd Trade House Mead Avenue Houndstowe Business Park Yeovil BA22 8RT

First Issue date: 09/10/2019

Revision History

Report 19919.NIA.01

A D

B E

C F

Written by: Checked by: Approved by:

Daniel Green MIOA

Senior Acoustic Consultant

Aidan Tolkien MIOA

Senior Acoustic Consultant

Kyriakos Papanagiotou MIOA

Managing Director

Disclaimer

KP Acoustics Ltd. has used reasonable skill and care to complete this technical document,

within the terms of its brief and contract with the resources devoted to it by agreement with

the client. We disclaim any responsibility to the client and others in respect of any matters

outside the stated scope. This report is confidential to the client and we accept no

responsibility to third parties to whom this report, or any part thereof, is made known. KP

Acoustics Ltd. accepts no responsibility for data provided by other bodies and no legal liability

arising from the use by other persons of data or opinions contained in this report.

KP Acoustics Ltd. 2019

Contents

1.0 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... 1

2.0 APPROVED AND PROPOSED OPERATING HOURS ........................................................... 1

3.0 SITE SURVEYS .................................................................................................................. 2

3.1 Site Description ........................................................................................................................... 2

3.2 Environmental Noise Survey Procedure ..................................................................................... 3

3.3 Equipment ................................................................................................................................... 3

3.4 Results ......................................................................................................................................... 3

4.0 NOISE ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY ............................................................................. 4

5.0 NOISE ASSESSMENT GUIDANCE ...................................................................................... 6

5.1 DEFRA Noise Policy Statement for England (NPSE) .................................................................... 6

5.2 Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB) ........................................................................... 6

6.0 DISCUSSION ..................................................................................................................... 7

7.0 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................... 8

List of Attachments

19919. TH1 Environmental Noise Time History

Appendix A Glossary of Acoustics Terminology

19919.NIA.01 11 October 2019

19919: Proposed New Business Unit, Time Technology Business Park, Simonstone Page 1 of 8

Planning Compliance Review

1.0 INTRODUCTION

KP Acoustics Ltd has been commissioned by Screwfix Direct Ltd, Trade House, Mead Avenue,

Houndstowe Business Park, Yeovil, BA22 8RT, to undertake a noise assessment in support of

a proposal to extend the operating hours at the proposed new business unit at Technology

Park, Blackburn Road, Simonstone, BB12 7TY.

The existing planning consent will allow the unit to operate six days a week. However, Screwfix

wishes to extend the consented operating hours to allow a later operating hours Monday to

Friday, and extended hours over the weekend, as detailed within this report.

This report presents the overall methodology and results from an environmental survey

undertaken on site, followed by calculations to demonstrate the feasibility of the extension of

operating hours to ensure the amenity of the closest noise-sensitive receivers is protected.

2.0 APPROVED AND PROPOSED OPERATING HOURS

The approved and proposed operating hours for the unit are detailed below.

Approved operating hours are as follows:

• Monday to Friday: 07:00 – 19:00

• Saturday: 08:00 – 13:00

• Sunday: Not permitted to operate

Proposed operating hours:

• Monday to Friday: 07:00 – 20:00

• Saturday: 07:00 – 18:00

• Sunday: 09:00 – 16:00

In summary, the proposal is for the Screwfix store in question to open 1 hour later Monday to

Friday, to open 1 hour earlier and close 5 hours later Saturday, and to operate between 09:00

to 16:00 on Sunday where current operation is not permitted.

19919.NIA.01 11 October 2019



3.0 SITE SURVEYS

3.1 Site Description

As shown in Figures 3.1 and 3.2, the site is bounded by Blackburn Road to the South, and

existing commercial and industrial uses to all other cardinal directions.

Figure 3.1 Site location plan (Image Source: Google Images)

Figure 3.2 Site location plan (Image Source: Google Images)

Closest noise sensitive

receiver to site

Closest noise sensitive

receiver to site

19919.NIA.01 11 October 2019



Initial inspection of the site revealed that the background noise profile at the monitoring

location was dominated by road traffic noise from Blackburn Road.

3.2 Environmental Noise Survey Procedure

Continuous automated monitoring was undertaken for the duration of the noise survey

between 14:46 on 07/10/2019 and 13:56 on 08/10/2019 at the location detailed in Table 3.1.

The choice of the position was based both on accessibility and on collecting representative

noise data in relation to the nearest noise sensitive receivers relative to the premises.

Weather conditions were generally dry with light winds and therefore suitable for the

measurement of environmental noise. The measurement procedure complied with ISO 1996-

2:2007 Acoustics ‘Description, measurement and assessment of environmental noise - Part 2:

Determination of environmental noise levels’.

Icon Descriptor Location Description

Noise Measurement

Position

The microphone was installed at the top of the site

perimeter hoarding located on site, as shown in Figures

3.1 and 3.2

Table 3.1 Measurement position and description

3.3 Equipment

The equipment calibration was verified before and after use and no abnormalities were

observed. The equipment used is described within Table 3.2.

Measurement instrumentation Serial no. Date Cert no.

Kit 1

Svantek Type 957 Class 1 Sound Level Meter 12399

14/02/2018 14007294-1 Free-field microphone Aco Pacific 7052E 55951

Preamp Svantek SV12L 33537

Svantek External windshield N/A N/A N/A

B&K Type 4231 Class 1 Calibrator 2147411 04/02/2019 04130/1

Table 3.2 Measurement instrumentation

3.4 Results

The LAeq: 5min, LAmax: 5min, LA10: 5min and LA90: 5min acoustic parameters were measured throughout

the duration of the survey. Measured levels are shown as a time history in Figure 19919.TH1.

Average ambient noise levels are shown in Table 3.1.

19919.NIA.01 11 October 2019



Time Period Average Ambient Noise Level LAeq, T dB(A)

Daytime (07:00-23:00) 68

Evening (19:00-23:00) 64

Night-time (23:00-07:00) 61

Table 3.3 Representative background noise levels

4.0 NOISE ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY

It is understood that there will be no deliveries, or forklift truck movements, during the

proposed extended operating hours. Therefore, the main noise source under consideration

when assessing impact on residential amenity would be customer vehicles.

As the ambient noise profile of the area is currently dominated by road traffic noise, additional

vehicle movements within the context of this noise footprint would be considered to be

similar both spectrally and in amplitude. Therefore, this assessment will aim to compare the

additional vehicle movements to existing ambient noise levels.

As ambient noise levels have been measured during a weekday and could be lower during the

weekend, we would propose to assess the noise impact from additional customer vehicles

against the ambient noise level of 61dB captured during night-time. Although the proposed

Screwfix store would not be operating at night-time, this would create a robust assessment

scenario in terms of a benchmark ambient noise level during the proposed operating hours.

Further to consultation with Screwfix, it is anticipated that the likely number of customers

during the proposed extended operating hours are as follows:

• 61 customers/transactions on Saturday between 13:00-18:00

• 114 customers/transactions on Sundays between 09:00-16:00

Based on the number of vehicle movements noted above, noise levels have been derived as

shown in Tables 4.1 and 4.2 for Saturday and Sunday respectively.

In order to present a representative source level of additional vehicle movements, corrections

have been applied to extrapolate the noise source over a 1-hour time period with a number

of 20 customer vehicles, as shown below.

19919.NIA.01 11 October 2019



Source Noise During

Saturday

Octave Band Centre Frequency

dB(A)

63Hz 125Hz 250Hz 500Hz 1kHz 2kHz 4kHz 8kHz

Vehicle source level

(Sound Power Level) 84 86 79 75 73 64 69 65 79

Acoustic feature

correction for

impulsivity (Car doors

and boot slamming)

9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9

Normalisation

extrapolation to 1

hour for daytime. 15

second movement,

including parking at

site and slamming of

doors/boot

-24 -24 -24 -24 -24 -24 -24 -24 -24

Correction for 61 No.

vehicles 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18

Assessment Source

Level 87 89 82 78 76 67 72 68 82

Table 4.1 Assessment source level of customer vehicle movements on Saturday (1300-1800)

Source Noise During

Sunday

Octave Band Centre Frequency dB(A)



(Sound Power Level) 84 86 79 75 73 64 69 65 79

Acoustic feature

correction for

impulsivity (Car doors

and boot slamming)

9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9

Normalisation

extrapolation to 1

hour for daytime. 15

second movement,

including parking at

site and slamming of

doors/boot

-24 -24 -24 -24 -24 -24 -24 -24 -24

Correction for 114

No. vehicles 21 21 21 21 21 21 21 21 21

Assessment Source

Level 90 92 85 81 79 70 75 71 85

Table 4.2 Assessment source level of customer vehicle movements during Sunday (0900-1600)

19919.NIA.01 11 October 2019



5.0 NOISE ASSESSMENT GUIDANCE

Typically for a commercial unit such as this, the British Standard utilised for assessment is

BS4142:2014. However, the BS4142:2014 scope purely covers noise from factories, industrial

premises, fixed plant unit installations, or sources of noise of an industrial nature. As this

assessment is purely considering vehicle movements to and from site, the guidance outlined

in BS4142:2014 assessment would not be considered strictly appropriate for this assessment.

In the absence of other guidance for assessing the impact of vehicle movements to and from

site to a nearby receiver, the guidelines included in the National Planning Policy Framework

will be followed, as outlined below.

5.1 DEFRA Noise Policy Statement for England (NPSE)

• Government policy to “avoid significant adverse impacts on health and quality of life”

due to noise

• Uses SOAEL (Significant Observed Adverse Effect Level), described as “the level above

which significant adverse effects on health and quality of life occur”

• In order to achieve no adverse effect on health and quality of life, inaudibility should

be achieved. However, when considering noise sources which are already present in

the environment, a degree of increase in noise should be deemed acceptable

5.2 Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB)

DMRB provides guidance which relates various changes in noise to impact on residential

amenity, as shown in Table 5.1.

Noise Change LA10, 18hr Magnitude of Impact

0 No change

0.1 – 0.9 Negligible

1 – 2.9 Minor

3 – 4.9 Moderate

5+ Major

Table 5.1 DMRB classification of magnitude of impacts

DMRB purely considers road traffic noise and uses LA10, 18hr as the acoustic descriptor. LA10, 18hr

levels correlate closely with a LAeq, 16hr level, which would be appropriate when correlating the

assessment source level as outlined in Tables 4.1 and 4.2 with the environmental noise survey

data shown in Table 3.3.

19919.NIA.01 11 October 2019



Based on the guidance outlined above, existing guidance would suggest that an increase in

noise of 1dB would be preferable to ensure that any noise impact is negligible.

6.0 DISCUSSION

All vehicles accessing the site would do so via the entrance to the site on Blackburn Road, with

the designated parking area being directly outside the Screwfix unit to the front of the site.

The most effected properties due to additional vehicle movements during the extended

operating hours would be the property shown in Figure 2.1, which would be subjected to noise

as vehicles park.

Using source noise levels as outlined in Tables 4.1 and 4.2, the following assessments show

expected noise levels at 1m from the windows of the closest receiver during the extended

operating hours on Saturday and Sunday respectively.

Noise Propagation

Assessment


dB(A)



as per Table 4.1 87 89 82 78 76 67 72 68 82

Distance from

source to receiver

(min. 50m)

-34 -34 -34 -34 -34 -34 -34 -34 -34

Noise level at 1m

from residential

windows

53 55 48 44 42 33 38 34 48

Table 6.1 Expected noise level at 1m from closest residential windows during Saturday extended hrs

Noise Propagation

Assessment


dB(A)



as per Table 4.2 90 92 85 81 79 70 75 71 85

Distance from

source to receiver

(min. 50m)

-34 -34 -34 -34 -34 -34 -34 -34 -34

Noise level at 1m

from residential

windows

56 58 51 47 45 36 41 37 51

Table 6.2 Expected noise level at 1m from closest residential windows during Sunday extended hrs

19919.NIA.01 11 October 2019



As shown in Tables 6.1 and 6.2, noise levels of vehicular activity during the proposed extended

operating hours on Saturdays and Sundays would be a minimum of 10dB below the current

ambient background noise level on site. The addition of extra traffic movements (51dB) on

the existing noise profile of the area (61dB) would result in a 0dB increase in the noise profile

of the area at the receiver, falling within the ‘No change’ category of the Design Manual for

Roads and Bridges Guidelines.

As such, additional traffic movements due to the proposed operating hours of the Screwfix

site would not be expected to negatively impact the residential amenity of the surrounding

residents.

7.0 CONCLUSION

A noise assessment and environmental noise survey have been undertaken in support of a

proposal to extend the operating hours at the proposed new business unit at Technology Park,

Blackburn Road, Simonstone, BB12 7TY.

A suitable noise emissions criterion has been derived from DEFRA Noise Policy Statement for

England (NPSE), part of the National Planning Policy Framework, and guidance provided within

the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges.

Calculations show that noise due additional vehicle movements during the proposed

extended operating hours outlined in this report would be sufficiently low as to demonstrate

‘No change’ in the noise profile at the nearest noise sensitive receiver, when compared with

measured ambient noise levels on site.

Therefore, there would be no negative impact on the amenity of the closest noise sensitive

receivers should Screwfix operate between the proposed extended operating hours.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

110

Lev

el

(dB

re

2x

10

-5 P

a)

Time

Unit 1 Simonstone Business Park, Simonstone, Padiham

Environmental Noise Time History

From 07 October 2019 To 08 October 2019

LAMax

LAeq

LA10

LA90

Figure 19919.TH1

APPENDIX A

Glossary of Acoustic Terminology

GENERAL ACOUSTIC TERMINOLOGY

Decibel scale - dB

In practice, when sound intensity or sound pressure is measured, a logarithmic scale is used in which

the unit is the ‘decibel’, dB. This is derived from the human auditory system, where the dynamic

range of human hearing is so large, in the order of 1013 units, that only a logarithmic scale is the

sensible solution for displaying such a range.

Decibel scale, ‘A’ weighted - dB(A)

The human ear is less sensitive at frequency extremes, below 125Hz and above 16Khz. A sound level

meter models the ears variable sensitivity to sound at different frequencies. This is achieved by

building a filter into the Sound Level Meter with a similar frequency response to that of the ear, an

A-weighted filter where the unit is dB(A).

Leq

The sound from noise sources often fluctuates widely during a given period of time. An average

value can be measured, the equivalent sound pressure level Leq. The Leq is the equivalent sound level

which would deliver the same sound energy as the actual fluctuating sound measured in the same

time period.

L10

This is the level exceeded for no more than 10% of the time. This parameter is often used as a “not

to exceed” criterion for noise.

L90

This is the level exceeded for no more than 90% of the time. This parameter is often used as a

descriptor of “background noise” for environmental impact studies.

Lmax

This is the maximum sound pressure level that has been measured over a period.

Octave Bands

In order to completely determine the composition of a sound it is necessary to determine the sound

level at each frequency individually. Usually, values are stated in octave bands. The audible

frequency region is divided into 11 such octave bands whose centre frequencies are defined in

accordance with international standards. These centre frequencies are: 16, 31.5, 63, 125, 250, 500,

1000, 2000, 4000, 8000 and 16000 Hertz.

Environmental noise terms are defined in BS7445, Description and Measurement of Environmental

Noise.

APPENDIX A

Glossary of Acoustic Terminology

APPLIED ACOUSTIC TERMINOLOGY

Addition of noise from several sources

Noise from different sound sources combines to produce a sound level higher than that from any

individual source. Two equally intense sound sources operating together produce a sound level

which is 3dB higher than a single source and 4 sources produce a 6dB higher sound level.

Attenuation by distance

Sound which propagates from a point source in free air attenuates by 6dB for each doubling of

distance from the noise source. Sound energy from line sources (e.g. stream of cars) drops off by

3dB for each doubling of distance.

Subjective impression of noise

Hearing perception is highly individualised. Sensitivity to noise also depends on frequency content,

time of occurrence, duration of sound and psychological factors such as emotion and expectations.

The following table is a guide to explain increases or decreases in sound levels for many scenarios.

Change in sound level (dB) Change in perceived loudness

1 Imperceptible

3 Just barely perceptible

6 Clearly noticeable

10 About twice as loud

Transmission path(s)

The transmission path is the path the sound takes from the source to the receiver. Where multiple

paths exist in parallel, the reduction in each path should be calculated and summed at the receiving

point. Outdoor barriers can block transmission paths, for example traffic noise. The effectiveness of

barriers is dependent on factors such as its distance from the noise source and the receiver, its

height and construction.

Ground-borne vibration

In addition to airborne noise levels caused by transportation, construction, and industrial sources

there is also the generation of ground-borne vibration to consider. This can lead to structure-borne

noise, perceptible vibration, or in rare cases, building damage.

Sound insulation - Absorption within porous materials

Upon encountering a porous material, sound energy is absorbed. Porous materials which are

intended to absorb sound are known as absorbents, and usually absorb 50 to 90% of the energy and

are frequency dependent. Some are designed to absorb low frequencies, some for high frequencies

and more exotic designs being able to absorb very wide ranges of frequencies. The energy is

converted into both mechanical movement and heat within the material; both the stiffness and

mass of panels affect the sound insulation performance.

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