Noise-sensitive development, assessed in minutes
Before commissioning a full acoustic survey, find out whether road or railway noise is even an issue for a site — and what mitigation it would need — using national datasets and the ISO 9613-2 standard.
Why developers use AcoustaPLOT
Noise is a material planning consideration for residential development near roads and railways, assessed against the LOAEL/SOAEL framework of the Noise Policy Statement for England. AcoustaPLOT gives you a desktop screen in under a minute — its risk bands are its own screening categories informed by that framework, not a planning determination — so you only pay for full surveys where they are actually needed.
- Estimated Lden and Lnight benchmarked against WHO and UK thresholds, for a single address or for every plot on a site.
- An honest uncertainty range and a clear steer on when a measured survey is needed.
For a single dwelling or a small number of properties, the standard report ladder covers it — including ISO 9613-2 barrier design using real ground elevation data, where a barrier is the mitigation being considered. For a development site with several plots, the Whole-Site Desktop Study places a receiver at each one and aggregates the screening-level Lden/Lnight results into a single site picture; it does not currently produce a barrier design for the site — for that, run barrier design against a representative address from the single-address ladder.
The Whole-Site Desktop Study is £750, covering up to 10 receivers (plots/dwellings) — larger sites priced on application.
Built for sites with more than one plot
Place a receiver at each plot or dwelling, up to ten per study — each is assessed individually, then rolled up into one site-wide picture, not ten separate reports to reconcile by hand.
Built on the same engine as every report
No separate or simplified model for a planning audience — the same national datasets and the same thresholds behind every AcoustaPLOT report.
Modelled from national datasets with the standard UK methods — and labelled as modelled, always.
Questions developers and planners ask
What's the difference between this and a single-address report?
The single-address ladder (Screening through Complete) answers for one property. The Whole-Site Desktop Study places a receiver at every plot or dwelling on a site -- up to ten -- and aggregates them into one site picture: a worst-case and a median across the whole layout, not just one point on it.
Does this replace a measured survey?
No. It's a desktop model built on national datasets, the right tool for early layout and feasibility work. Where a figure has to stand up formally -- a planning submission, a legal dispute -- that's a measured acoustic survey, not this.
What if my site has more than ten receivers?
The £750 study covers up to ten. Larger sites are priced on application -- talk to us and we'll scope it against the actual layout.
Does the site study include barrier design?
Not for the whole site, currently. If a barrier is the mitigation being considered, run ISO 9613-2 barrier design against a representative address from the single-address ladder instead.
What standard and data does this use?
ISO 9613-2 methodology against real ground elevation and national traffic datasets, with results read against WHO guidance and AcoustaPLOT's own screening categories, informed by (not identical to) the LOAEL/SOAEL framework from the Noise Policy Statement for England and not a planning determination -- the same engine and the same thresholds as every other report on this site, not a separate or simplified model for this audience.