Dust assessment for industrial and commercial sources close to a new mixed-use development.
Miller Goodall was instructed to complete air quality, odour and dust assessments to accompany a planning application for a mixed-use development at Lloyds Wharf, Sittingbourne, Kent consisting of 187 residential units (Use Class C3), 260sqm of commercial floorspace (Use Class E) and 104sqm of community floorspace (Use Class F2).
Background
The Lloyds Wharf development is located to the north of the town centre in a mixed commercial and industrial area. The site is a designated Local Wildlife Site and part of a recommended Marine Conservation Zone.
Due to the proximity of the site to waste facilities, wastewater treatment works and industrial uses, the potential impact of odour and dust on users of the development was requested by the local authority.
Odour
Potentially odourous sources close to the development were reviewed and assessed.
This resulted in the completion of a desk-based qualitative meteorological risk assessment using the source-pathway-receptor methodology and impact matrix tables of the screening assessment described in the Institute of Air Quality Management’s (IAQM) guidance ‘Guidance on assessment of odour for planning’. This considers FIDO factors (Frequency, Intensity, Duration and Offensiveness) alongside Location and sensitivity of the receptors.
The assessment concluded that the risk of odour impact is low as there is a large source odour potential but an ineffective pathway due to the low frequency percentage of winds from the source to receptor.
The magnitude of odour impact is considered slight adverse effect, as there is a low risk of odour impact on highly sensitive receptors. The IAQM guidance considers slight adverse effects to be insignificant.
Dust
Potentially dust-generating operations near the site include ready-mix concrete plant, and supplier of building materials.
A semi-quantitative meteorological assessment using the source-pathway-receptor methodology from the Institute of Air Quality Management ‘Guidance on the Assessment of Mineral Dust for Planning (2016)’ was completed.
This methodology considers the amount of time sensitive receptors may be downwind of dust generating operations and classifies the potential risk of dust using matrices from the guidance.
The risk of dust effects were calculated for four businesses located in various directions from the site. The pathway and potential effects were assessed at the proposed location of the new residential properties within the development.
The assessment predicted that the risk of adverse dust impacts to future residential receptors from all four surrounding
Action and Outcome
The methodology and findings of the report were accepted by the local authority. It was agreed that operational dust from the existing commercial premises in the vicinity of the development would not be detrimental to the new users/occupiers and that there were no grounds to object to planning permission based on odour.
