Policy information sourced from the Mole Valley Local Plan

EN12: POLLUTION CONTROL

1. Development should minimise exposure to, and the emission of, pollutants including noise, odour, air and light pollution. Proposals should ensure that they mitigate or avoid any adverse site-specific or environmental impact that arises as a consequence of the development. In particular, proposals should:

Contaminated Land

  • Be supported by a preliminary risk assessment to determine the likelihood of contamination if the proposed development is located on or near to potentially contaminated sites. The scope of the preliminary risk assessment should be agreed with the Council and carried out by a suitably qualified person. Where necessary, proposals should be supported by a detailed site investigation, undertaken prior to construction, to assess the nature and extent of contamination and any potential associated risks. Where unacceptable risks are identified, proposals must ensure the appropriate remediation of land, agreed with the Council.
  • Take account of and address adverse ground conditions and land instability.

Water Quality

  • Maintain or improve the environmental quality of any watercourses, groundwater and drinking water supplies, and prevent contaminated run-off. Where impacts of a development on water quality are likely, applications should be supported by an assessment of the likely impacts and appropriate mitigation strategies.
  • Where development falls within a sensitive groundwater location such as a Source Protection Zone or Safeguard Zone, as defined by the Environment Agency, consider the impact of the development on the quality of the water supply and take appropriate measures to eliminate contamination risks.
  • Connect to mains foul sewage systems, wherever possible. Where this is not possible, justification will be required. Non-mains foul drainage will be refused in sensitive groundwater areas./
  • Ensure that, for any additional demand for water supply, surface water drainage, foul drainage and sewerage treatment capacity arising from additional dwellings, the applicant, together with the relevant statutory undertaker, has demonstrated that sufficient capacity exists to serve the development and that the development would not lead to shortages for existing users.

Air Quality

  • Avoid increasing exposure to poor air quality, including odour, particularly where vulnerable people are located (such as health facilities, care homes or schools).
  • Contribute towards the achievement of national air quality objectives by demonstrating that significant new emission sources will be suitably mitigated to be as low as reasonably practicable. Proposals that would have significant adverse impacts on air quality or expose the public to existing sources of air pollution, either as a result of the on-site activities or traffic movements, will be resisted unless appropriate mitigation measures are put in place to reduce these impacts to acceptable levels.
  • Be supported by a technical odour assessment where they are a sensitive development located close to a Sewage Treatment Works or other odorous source. The technical assessment should be undertaken in consultation with the relevant statutory undertaker to confirm that there is no adverse amenity impact on the future occupiers, or that the adverse amenity impacts can be sufficiently mitigated.

Noise and Vibration

  • Avoid locating noise and vibration-sensitive uses, such as health facilities, housing and schools, close to existing noise disturbance, unless the impact can be shown to be acceptably mitigated.
  • Avoid locating noise and vibration-generating uses, such as transport and industrial activities, close to existing noise-sensitive uses, unless the impact can be shown to be acceptably mitigated.
  • In high noise or vibration environments or where there is a reasonable possibility of significant adverse noise or vibration impacts (including volume, pitch, time of day, frequency and pattern), incorporate the site zoning of sources and receptors and include other mitigation measures, where appropriate, to ensure existing and future occupiers are not subjected to an unacceptable level of noise disturbance, both within buildings and externally. Such proposals should be supported by a noise assessment that determines whether the overall effect of noise exposure (including construction impacts) would be acceptable with regards to the Noise Policy Statement for England.

Light

  • Incorporate measures to minimise the intrusiveness of artificial lighting and thus the potential adverse impacts on residential amenity, character, public safety, sensitive wildlife, watercourses and quality of life. These measures could include full cut-off luminaries (to emit no direct uplighting), recessed lighting, dimmers, timers and equipment which minimises blue light emission.

Construction Impacts

  • Minimise the impacts of air pollution, dust, odour, noise, vibration, water pollution, soil contamination and CO2 emissions on nearby sensitive locations arising from demolition and construction.

Other

  • Mitigate or avoid any other adverse site-specific or environmental impact that arises as a consequence of the development.

For more information please see the Mole Valley Local Plan